Feb. 26, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Arizona State junior right fielder Travis Buck continued his hot hitting going 4-for-5 and freshman designated hitter Willy Fox went 2-for-4 with four RBI to lead the Sun Devils to a 12-4 victory over No. 8 Baylor Saturday afternoon at Packard Stadium.
The Sun Devils recorded its best offensive performance of the season with 16 hits and 12 runs en route to securing the series victory over the nationally ranked Bears. Continuing a stretch of nine straight games against top 10 teams, ASU improved to 8-9 on the season and 3-7 against ranked opponents. Baylor drops to 5-4 on the season and 0-4 all-time against the Sun Devils. ASU goes for the series sweep Sunday at 1 p.m. at Packard Stadium.
Buck (Richland, Wash.) led five players with multi-hit games for the Sun Devils. After hitting the game-winning grand slam in Friday's 5-3 victory, Buck added four hits and scored three runs and is 6-for-9 (.667) in the series. Fox (Scottsdale, Ariz.) earned his second career start and responded hitting his second home run of the season. Sophomore left fielder Colin Curtis (Issaquah, Wash.) also had a solid game going 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Senior catcher Tuffy Gosewisch (Scottsdale, Ariz.) shook off a mild concussion from Friday's game and went 2-for-2 with two RBI.
Junior reliever Brett Bordes (Mesa, Ariz.) earned the win scattering three hits and one run in two innings to improve to 1-2 on the season. Sophomore right-hander Pat Bresnehan (Sherborn, Mass.) was brilliant in his third career start despite earning the no-decision. Bresnehan allowed only two hits and two runs (one earned), while striking out two in four innings. Junior college transfer Tony Barnette (Federal Way, Wash.) was perfect against the five batters he faced in the late innings.
Baylor starting pitcher Cory VanAllen was roughed up for eight hits and six runs in 4.0 innings to suffer his first loss of the season to fall to 2-1. VanAllen, a third-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003, entered the game having won back-to-back Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors and a 0.68 ERA.
First baseman Kyle Reynolds led the Baylor offense going 3-for-4 with three RBI and a solo home run. Shortstop Paul Witt also went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored.
The Sun Devils scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. Senior first baseman Jeff Larish (Tempe, Ariz.) drove in the first run with a two-out double to left field and Gosewisch followed with a single to center field to state ASU to the early 2-0 lead.
Baylor pulled to within two runs at 5-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, but ASU answered with a three-run bottom half of the inning to extend the lead to 8-3. The Devils put the game out of hand with another run in the seventh and three more runs in the eighth to bring the game to the final score of 12-4.
The Sun Devils will go for its first series sweep of the season Sunday at 1 p.m. at Packard Stadium. The game will be broadcast locally on the radio on KDUS 1060 AM with Jeff Munn and Bob Eger calling all the action. Junior left-hander Erik Averill (2-2, 3.00 ERA) will start on the mound against Baylor preseason All-American Mark McCormick (0-1, 7.27 ERA).
Game Notes: Former Sun Devil great Sal Bando (1964-65) threw out the ceremonial first pitch... Bando was a four-time All-Star and three-time World Champion in 16 seasons in the major leagues... Bando was named the 1965 College World Series MVP while helping lead ASU to its first of five national championships... the Sun Devils used their 14th different starting batting lineup... J.J. Sferra hit in the leadoff spot in the lineup for the second time this season... in back-to-back games the Sun Devils have beaten a former second-round draft pick (Trey Taylor) and a third round pick (Cory Van Allen)... Pat Bresnehan made his third career start on the mound... senior catcher Tuffy Gosewisch recorded his seventh multi-hit game and his team-leading sixth multi-RBI game... he has recorded at least one hit in 15 of 17 games this season... the single by Willy Fox in the bottom of the fifth inning came in the 100,000th all-time official at-bat in ASU varsity baseball history (1959-P)... Fox recorded his first multi-hit and multi-RBI games and has a homer in each of his two starts this season... after going 4-for-5 today, Travis Buck is 6-for-9 in the series to raise his batting average 54 points from .246 to .300... ASU had the leadoff batter reach base in six of its eight at-bats... the Sun Devils recorded three bunt base hits Saturday (Buck/Curtis/Sferra) and have 10 bunt hits this season... freshman J.J. Sferra leads the team with five bunt hits.
Arizona State 12, Baylor 4 (Feb 26, 2005 at Tempe, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Baylor.............. 000 120 100 - 4 8 2 (5-4) Arizona State....... 201 230 13X - 12 16 1 (8-9) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Baylor - VanAllen; Linebaugh(5); Bullock(6); Martin(7); Walker(8). Arizona State - Bresnehan; Bordes, B.(5); Garrison(7); Barnette(7); Andes(9). Win-Bordes, B.(1-2) Loss-VanAllen(2-1) T-3:16 A-2603 HR BU - Reynolds (3). HR ASU - Fox (2).
--Sun Devil Baseball--