March 7, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Arizona State's Tuffy Gosewisch and Joe Persichina were each 3-for-3 and senior Nick Walsh added three RBI to lead the No. 6 Sun Devils a 7-5 victory over No. 18 East Carolina Sunday afternoon at a sun-drenched Packard Stadium. Sophomore right fielder Travis Buck also hit a home run in his fourth straight game in the victory as the Sun Devils won their ninth straight.
The Devils clinched the series sweep of the nationally ranked Pirates to remain unbeaten (8-0) against ranked teams this season. ASU has now won nine straight to improve to 15-2 overall and has won 19 straight at Packard Stadium dating back to the 2003 season. ECU (12-3) was swept after opening the season with 12 straight wins.
Gosewisch (Scottsdale) finished 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI and also recorded two sacrifice bunts to complete his perfect day. He knocked in a run with a two-out single in the first and also had a run-scoring single in the sixth. Persichina (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) had two doubles and scored three runs. The freshman first baseman also walked twice and finished the series a perfect 5-for-5. Walsh, ASU's lone senior position player, went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Freshman starting pitcher Zechry Zinicola (San Bernadino, Calif.) was impressive in his first start his career, mowing down the Pirates by allowing only one hit in three innings. The hard-throwing right-hander was forced to leave the game after the third inning with a slightly strained groin. Freshman Quentin Andes (Albuquerque, N.M.) earned his second win of the series striking out two in an inning and two-thirds and classmate Pat Cassa (Cypress, Calif.) earned his first save. ASU left a season-high 15 men on base, including eight in scoring position.
ECU starter Ricky Brooks (1-1) was saddled with the loss giving up three hits and three runs (one earned) in one-plus inning of work. Relievers Dustin Sasser, Mike Flye and Shane Mathews combined to give up four runs and 10 hits over the final seven innings.
The Devils jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the first inning. Buck homered for the fourth straight game with his fifth long ball of the year to plate two runs. Gosewisch added a single to left field to cap the scoring rally. Walsh plated runs in the third and sixth innings and added a sacrifice fly in the eight to extend ASU's lead to 7-4.
ASU would add single tallies in the third, fifth, sixth and eighth innings. ECU climbed to within one run at 5-4 after a three-run home run by pinch-hitter Mike Grace in the sixth. The Pirates were led by two hits each from leadoff hitter Jamie Paige and first baseman Ryan Norwood. Norwood got ECU on the board with his second homer of the series and fifth of the season with a solo shot in the fourth.
The Devils return to action next weekend with a three-game series against No. 8 Tulane. The series begins Friday at 7 p.m. (Mar. 12) and continues Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).
Game Notes: Redshirt freshman Seth Dhaenens had two infield singles for the first multi-hit game of his career... junior All-American shortstop Dustin Pedroia went 0-for-5 to have his 10-game hitting streak come to an end... he has recorded at least one hit in 15 of ASU's 17 games... junior Jeff Larish had a single in his last at-bat to extend his hitting streak to eight games. Arizona State 7, East Carolina 5 (Mar 07, 2004 at Tempe, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- East Carolina....... 000 103 001 - 5 9 1 (12-3) Arizona State....... 301 011 01X - 7 13 0 (15-2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: East Carolina - Brooks; Sasser(2); Flye(5); Mathews(6). Arizona State - Zinicola; Andes(4); Marotz(5); Blake(6); Cassa(6). Win-Andes(2-0) Save-Cassa(1) Loss-Brooks(1-1) T-3:05 A-2842 HR ECU - Norwood (5); Grace (1). HR ASU - Buck (5). --Sun Devil Baseball--