May. 1, 2005
CORVALLIS, Ore. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Oregon State's Jonah Nickerson and Kevin Gunderson held the Arizona State Sun Devils to only one run while leading the No. 6 Beavers to a series-clinching 5-1 victory over the No. 17 Sun Devils Sunday afternoon in front of a record crowd of 2,120 at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.
With the victory the Beavers (32-8) won the series two games to one and gained sole possession of second place in the Pac-10 with a 11-4 league record. Arizona State dropped its second league series of the year to fall to 29-17 overall and sit alone in third place at 10-5 in league play.
Nickerson continued his perfect season allowing only one run on six hits in 6.2 innings. He struck out four and walked two while maintaining the Pac-10 ERA lead at 1.17 for the season. Sophomore left-hander Kevin Gunderson closed out the win 2.1 shutout innings for his Pac-10 leading ninth save of the year.
ASU sophomore starter Pat Bresnehan (Sherborn, Mass.) was strong through the first two innings, but again ran into early trouble giving up three runs (two earned) in the third inning. He finished giving up four hits and three runs in 2.1 innings to take the loss and fall to 3-4 on the season. Junior left-hander Brett Bordes (Mesa, Ariz.) shut the Beavers out over the final 3.1 innings while allowing only one hit.
The Sun Devils were out-hit 9-8 in the game, but did not record an extra base hit and for the second straight day left nine runners on base. Senior first baseman Jeff Larish (Tempe, Ariz.) went 2-for-3 with ASU's lone RBI in the game and finished the series 5-for-11 (.455). Junior right fielder Travis Buck (Richland, Wash.) extended his hitting streak to 10 games going 2-for-4 with a run scored while notching his team-leading 26th multi-hit game of the year. Freshman shortstop Andre Romine (Lake Forest, Calif.) also went 2-for-4 in the loss.
Freshman designated hitter Austin Stockfisch (Scottsdale, Ariz.) had a pinch-hit single in the top of the second inning to record a hit in his eighth consecutive at-bat, tying for third in the ASU record books. He fell one hit short of the school record after grounding out sharply to the pitcher in the fourth inning.
OSU preseason All-American center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury snapped out of a rare 0-for-6 slump going 2-for-4 while driving in three of the five runs. Right fielder Mike Lissman added two hits and first baseman Andy Jenkins doubled in the bottom of the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.
The Sun Devils got on the board first with a single tally in the top of the third inning. Buck, sophomore second baseman Seth Dhaenens (Chandler, Ariz.) and Larish tabbed consecutive two-out singles to center field to stake ASU to the early lead.
Oregon State answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead. Lissman led off with a single to left field and scored on an infield single by Ellsbury. A double to left field by left fielder Tyler Graham plated Ellsbury from first base with the go-ahead run and shortstop Darwin Barney extended the lead with a sacrifice fly off reliever Erik Averill (Orange, Calif.).
The Beavers added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out, two-run single by Ellsbury to extend the OSU lead to 5-1.
Arizona State returns to action Wednesday with its final non-conference tilt of the year against Utah Valley State College. After taking next weekend off from Pac-10 play, the Devils host in-state rival and Pac-10 leading Arizona (29-15, 12-3 Pac-10) for a three-game series May 14-16 at Winkles Field at Packard Stadium.
Game Notes: Arizona won its game over USC 18-4 to hold onto first place, while Oregon State is in second, ASU in third and USC in fourth in the conference standings... Washington swept rival Washington State with Sunday's 14-2 win and UCLA earned its first Pac-10 with in a 4-2 victory over California... Jeff Larish went 2-for-3 to record his 18th multi-hit game of the year... Larish finished the series hitting .455 (5-for-11)... junior right fielder Travis Buck recorded his team-leading 26th multi-hit game of the year to extend his hitting streak to 10 games... he has recorded two or more hits in nine of those 10 games and is hitting .523 (23-for-44) during the streak... freshman shortstop Andrew Romine went 4-for-8 (.500) in the series and tabbed his eighth multi-hit game of the year after going 2-for-4 in Sunday's series finale.
Oregon State 5, Arizona State 1 (May 01, 2005 at Corvallis, Ore.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona State....... 001 000 000 - 1 8 1 (29-17, 10-5 Pac-10) Oregon State........ 003 200 00X - 5 9 0 (32-8, 11-4 Pac-10) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Arizona State - Bresnehan; Averill(3); Barnette(4); Bordes, B.(5). Oregon State - Nickerson; Gunderson(7). Win-Nickerson(7-0) Save-Gunderson(9) Loss-Bresnehan(3-4) T-2:51 A-2120
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