May 14, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Arizona State pitchers Erik Averill, Pat Bresnehan and Zechry Zinicola combined for a six-hitter as the No. 17 Sun Devils earned a series-opening victory over No. 7 Arizona 6-2 Saturday night in front of 3,374 fans at Winkles Field at Packard Stadium.
The Sun Devils snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 30-18 overall and remained in third place in the Pac-10 at 11-5. Arizona had its five-game winning overall and three-game streak against ASU snapped to fall to 32-16 overall and remained in second place in the conference at 12-4. ASU has now won six out of the last seven games against Arizona that count in the Pac-10 standings.
Averill (Orange, Calif.) gutted out five strong innings by allowing only four hits and two runs to improve to 8-3 on the year and picked up his 20th career victory. Bresnehan (Sherborn, Mass.) inherited a bases loaded jam and by allowing only one run to score on a sacrifice fly. Zinicola (San Bernadino, Calif.) notched his team-leading fourth save of the year with three scoreless frames to seal the win.
Arizona ace John Meloan was touched for eight hits and gave up six runs (three earned) in six innings to fall to 8-2 on the year and recorded only the third loss of his career.
The Sun Devils out-hit the Wildcats 8-6 and were led by junior preseason All-American right fielder Travis Buck. Buck (Richland, Wash.) extended his hitting streak to a season-high 12 games by going 2-for-4 and scored a run. He notched his team-leading 28th multi-hit game of the year and now has two or more hits in 11 of his last 12 games. Sophomore second baseman Seth Dhaenens (Chandler, Ariz.) added two hits for his 12th multi-hit game of the year.
Arizona was led by the 2-for-4 performance from junior second baseman Brad Boyer. Junior first baseman Jordan Brown also plated a run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning.
The Wildcats wasted little time getting on the board in the top of the first inning. Junior preseason All-American Trevor Crowe led off with a single to the right field gap and then scored on a double down the right field line by Boyer. Boyer was thrown out on the play trying to stretch the double into the triple.
ASU tied the game and eventually took the lead with single tallies in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Senior catcher Tuffy Gosewisch drew a bases loaded walk in the third to knot the score at 1-1. Dhaenens staked the Devils to the lead with a one-out single up the middle to score Colin Curtis with the go-ahead run. ASU added an additional run in the fifth on a bases loaded groundout by Curtis to extend the lead to 3-1.
Arizona attempted a comeback in the sixth loading the bases with no outs, but Bresnehan came in to allow a sacrifice fly and then got a strikeout and a fly out to end the inning with the one-run lead intact.
The Wildcats against threatened in the seventh loading the bases on a double by shortstop Jason Donald, a hit-by-pitch and a intentional walk, but Zinicola got Boyer to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
The Devils cashed in on the brilliant relief performances by Bresnehan and Zinicola by adding three insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh to bring the game to the final score of 6-2. ASU scored a pair of runs on a fielding error and a passed ball, and Gosewisch knocked in a run with a single to right field.
The Sun Devils and Wildcats continue the three-game rivalry series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Winkles Field at Packard Stadium. Senior right-hander Jason Urquidez (7-3, 4.32 ERA) will match up against Scottsdale Chaparral product Kevin Guyette (8-4, 3.58 ERA). The game will be televised in the Phoenix area on AZ-TV and broadcast over the radio on KDUS 1060 AM. Monday's series finale will be played at 6:30 p.m. and televise live on FSN Arizona.
Game Notes: Freshman center fielder J.J. Sferra was announced in the starting lineup as the designated hitter, but did not play due to a leg injury sustained in a collision during Friday's practice... Erik Averill picked up his 20th career victory and eighth of the season... Averill's four walks tied a season and career high... Zechry Zinicola earned his fourth save of the year and moved into seventh place all alone with his 12th career save... Travis Buck (12 games) and Andrew Romine (4 games) extended their hitting streaks... ASU has now won 8 of the last 11 games vs. Arizona... the Devils improved to 19-5 at Packard Stadium this season... ASU extended its streak of recording at least 30 victories to 43 straight years dating back to 1963... ASU did not make an error for the 11th time in the last 18 games and the 15th time overall this season... ASU now has a .981 fielding percentage in 16 Pac-10 games.
Arizona State 6, Arizona 2 (May 14, 2005 at Tempe, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona............. 100 001 000 - 2 6 2 (32-16, 12-4 Pac-10) Arizona State....... 001 110 30X - 6 8 0 (30-18, 11-5 Pac-10) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Arizona - Meloan; Melancon(7); Mills(8). Arizona State - Averill; Bresnehan(6); Zinicola(7). Win-Averill(8-3) Save-Zinicola(4) Loss-Meloan(8-2) T-3:14 A-3374
--Sun Devil Baseball--