April 18, 2004
LOS ANGELES (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- UCLA shortstop Ryan McCarthy went 5-for-5 with a pair of home runs to lead the Bruins to a wild 11-10 victory over the No. 21 Arizona State Sun Devils Sunday afternoon in Pac-10 Baseball action at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
McCarthy's second blast, a two-run shot to straight-away center field off freshman Zechry Zinicola, proved to be the game winner in the eighth inning after the Sun Devils tied the game at 9-9 in the top half of the inning.
ASU made several comebacks in the game, trailing 5-1 and 9-4 before pulling even at 9-9. The Devils also rallied in the ninth to pull to within one run at 11-10 with a sacrifice fly by Dustin Pedroia, but Colin Curtis was thrown out on the play trying to advance to third base on the play to end the game.
The Bruins salvaged the series after dropping the first two games to the Sun Devils, improving to 20-16 overall and 4-5 in Pac-10 play. The Sun Devils had their three-game winning streak come to an end to fall to 26-12 overall and 5-7 in Pac-10 play.
UCLA freshman Kevin Brophy, the eighth Bruin pitcher in the game, picked up the win to improve to 4-0 on the year by working the final two innings by giving up one unearned run.
Zinicola (San Bernadino, Calif.) took the loss to fall to 3-2 on the year. The freshman was solid until giving up three hits in the bottom of the eighth to seal the fate of the game. Zinicola gave up five hits and two runs while striking out three.
Travis Buck (2-for-4, 2B) and Jeff Larish (2-for-4, 3 RBI) each had two hits for the Sun Devils, who tallied seven hits in the game.
The Bruins jumped out to the early lead with a run in the first frame. After a walk to Brett McMillan, McCarthy doubled down the left field line to put a pair of runners in scoring position from the Bruins. Whisler brought home a run on a sacrifice fly to deep center field to give the Bruins the early 1-0 lead.
UCLA added to its leads with a pair of home runs in the third inning to extend the lead to 5-0. McCarthy started the long ball rally with a two-run home run and catcher Chris Denove followed with a two-out, two-run shot to left field.
After Whisler cruised through the Sun Devil lineup the first time around without allowing a hit, ASU finally solved the 6-5 lefty with a four-run fourth inning. Junior first baseman Chris Cook (Mesa, Ariz.) started the really with a two-run double to the left field gap. After a run-scoring groundout from catcher Tuffy Gosewisch (Scottsdale, Ariz.), junior Jeff Larish (Tempe, Ariz.) completed the scoring with a two-out, run-scoring single up the middle to pull ASU to within one run at 5-4.
UCLA added some breathing room in the fifth with a four-run frame. Benefiting from the wildness of sophomore reliever Brett Bordes, the Bruins used only a pair of hits to account for the scoring. Bordes walked four in two-thirds of an inning to bring home two runs and leadoff hitter Mike Svetlic drove home a pair of runs with a two-out single off freshman lefty Josh Blake (Overland Park, Kan.).
The Devils answered again making a game of it with a three-run sixth inning to pull back to within two runs at 9-7. Just missing a pair of grand slams in the inning, Larish started the rally with a two-run double off the center field fence. Freshman Colin Curtis (Issaquah, Wash.) drove home another run with a sacrifice fly to deep right field.
Junior designated hitter Joel Bocchi (Phoenix, Ariz.) drew a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh to pull the Devils to within one run at 9-8. ASU then pulled even on a bases loaded sacrifice fly from freshman Joe Persichina (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.). A UCLA fielding error to put Dustin Pedroia on base to lead off the inning led to the game-tying run. Sophomore Travis Buck (Richland, Wash.) doubled to center field to put Pedroia in scoring position.
UCLA regained the lead with McCarthy's two-run blast in the eight putting the Bruins up 11-9. Brett McMillan started the rally with a single to lead off the inning.
Arizona State (26-12, 4-7 Pac-10) will travel to Washington State next weekend for a three-game Pac-10 series at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman, Wash.
Game Notes: The two home runs given up by Cassa in the third inning marked only the second time this year ASU has given up a pair of home runs in the same inning... Florida State also hit two homers in the first inning in the second game of the year (2/7)... both teams combined to throw 14 pitchers, including six by the Sun Devils. UCLA 11, Arizona State 10 (Apr 18, 2004 at Los Angeles, Calif.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona State....... 000 403 111 - 10 7 0 (26-12, 5-7 Pac-10) UCLA................ 104 040 02X - 11 11 3 (20-16, 4-5 Pac-10) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Arizona State - Marotz; Cassa(2); Bresnehan(4); Bordes(5); Blake(5); Zinicola(6). UCLA - Whisler; Simon(6); Reid(6); Rustich(6); Schroeder(6); Johnson(7); Wilson(7); Brophy(8). Win-Brophy(4-0) Loss-Zinicola(3-2) T-3:46 A-657 HR UCLA - McCarthy 2 (8); Denove (3). --Sun Devil Baseball--