April 27, 2004
WICHITA, Kan. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Arizona State shortstop Dustin Pedroia went 3-for-5 with two home runs as the No. 18 Sun Devils erased an early 7-1 deficit to record a thrilling 10-9 come-from-behind victory over No. 7 Wichita State Tuesday night in front 4,521 fans at Eck Stadium.
Trailing 7-1 after two innings, the Devils clubbed a season-high four home runs and used eight pitchers to improve shock the Shockers in one of the toughest environments to play in college baseball. ASU lead 10-8 heading into the final inning and freshman closer Zechry Zinicola held off a Shocker rally to get Shawn Smarsh to strike out with the tying run in scoring position.
Winners of six of their last eight games, the Sun Devils improve to 29-12 overall and an impressive 12-3 against ranked opponents this season. Wichita State drops to 28-8 overall and 8-11 all-time against the Sun Devils.
"This was a great win for the Sun Devils," said ASU head coach Pat Murphy. "We battled all the way through and had some guys really step up and lead this team. Pedroia showed why he is the best player in college baseball and it was nice to see some other guys step up. It is just one game, but winning this the way we did against a top opponent really makes it special. We need to come out tomorrow and take care of business and continue to play relentless baseball."
Sophomore left-hander Erik Averill, the sixth of ASU's eight pitchers, picked up the win with two perfect innings out of the bullpen. Averill, who started Sunday against Washington State, improved to 3-2 with the win out of the bullpen. Zinicola sealed the win giving up two hits in an inning of work for his third save.
Pedroia (Woodland, Calif.) went 3-for-5 and notched the first multi-home run game of his career. The junior Player of the Year candidate now has three home runs in his last four games and eight on the year. Junior infielder Josh Asanovich (Gold Canyon, Ariz.) continued his hot hitting going 3-for-4 with three RBI and hit his third home run of the year. Junior catcher Tuffy Gosewisch (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) and Jeff Larish (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) added multi-hit games for the Sun Devils.
Wichita State reliever Kyle Banick was saddled with the loss giving up three runs and four hits in two innings. Freshman starter Derek Roach gave up six runs and six hits in 4.1 innings in his second start of the year.
The Sun Devils struck first with a run in the first inning. Pedroia led off with his 21st double of the year and came in to score on a one-out single to right field by Larish. ASU threatened to add more loading the bases on a walk and hit-by-pitch, but freshman Colin Curtis bounced into an inning-ending double play.
Wichita State answered with three runs in the bottom half the inning to take a 3-1 lead. Junior starter Ty Marotz walked two and gave up a single while lasting only a third of an inning. Senior first baseman Logan Sorensen drove home a run on a single to center field and an error by Curtis allowed the go-ahead run to cross the plate. Third baseman Brandon Green then singled off reliever Brett Bordes to extend the lead to 3-1.
Things didn't get much better on the mound for the Sun Devils in the second inning, as freshman lefty Pat Cassa walked a pair and gave up a single before pinch-hitter Phil Napolitan ripped a grand slam down the left field line that was controversially called fair, staking the Shockers to a commanding 7-1 lead.
The Devils cut the six-run lead in half with a three-run home run by junior third baseman Josh Asanovich in the top of the third inning. After a Travis Buck single and a walk to Zinicola, who started the game at designated hitter, Asanovich cleared the road over the left field fence for his third home run of the season.
Riding the momentum of Asanovich's home run and a 1-2-3 inning from Bresnehan, the Devils stormed back with a four-run fifth to tie the game at 8-8. Pedroia led off with a towering home run to left field and Larish followed a batter later with a gigantic home run over the Coleman Pavilion (estimated 485 feet) in center field. After another walk to Zinicola and a double by Asanovich, Curtis plated a run with a groundout and catcher Tuffy Gosewisch plated the tying run with a two-out double down the left field line.
The Devils loaded the bases in the seventh on singles from Zinicola and Asanovich and an error by WSU center fielder Nick Blasi. Gosewisch blasted a ball to the fence in right field that was nearly caught by Blasi, but dropped at the base of the wall to score the go-ahead run. Pedroia added to the lead with his second solo home run of the game in the eighth to extend the lead to 10-8.
The Shockers rallied in the eighth putting a pair of runners on base with two outs, but with home run leader Drew Moffitt at the plate, Gosewisch caught Blasi trying to steal third base for the final out of the inning.
Wichita State again rallied in the ninth, pulling to within one run on a run-scoring single by shortstop Nick McCoola. After catcher Joe Muich popped out to first base, Zinicola got Smarsh to strike out on a 94 mph fastball.
The Sun Devils and Shockers return to action tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Eck Stadium. Senior RHP Jeff Mousser (3-3, 4.03 ERA) is schedule to start for the Sun Devils against Wichita State ace LHP Mike Pelfrey (6-0, 1.85 ERA). Arizona State 10, Wichita State 9 (Apr 27, 2004 at Wichita, Kan.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona State....... 103 040 110 - 10 13 1 (29-12) Wichita State....... 341 000 001 - 9 10 1 (28-8) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Arizona State - Marotz; Bordes(1); Cassa(2); Andes(2); Bresnehan(3); Averill(6); Urquidez(8); Zinicola(9). Wichita State - Roach; Banick(5); Foster(7). Win-Averill(3-2) Save-Zinicola(3) Loss-Banick(2-3) T-3:15 A-4521 HR ASU - Pedroia 2 (8); Larish (3); Asanovich (3). HR WICHITA - Napolitan (3). Game Notes: ASU scored in the first inning for the 21st time this season... Jeff Larish extended his hitting streak to eight games with the run-scoring single in the first inning... Dustin Pedroia extended his hitting streak to four games with the first-inning double... he also recorded his 21st multi-hit game of the year... Travis Buck singled in the third to extend his hitting streak to five games... ASU hit a season-high four home runs and used a season-high eight pitchers.
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