May 4, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Utah Valley State College starting pitcher Jed Jensen struck out nine in seven solid innings and the Wolverines used a pair of four-run innings to upset the No. 17 Arizona State Sun Devils 9-6 Wednesday evening in a non-conference game at Winkles Field at Packard Stadium.
With their third loss in the last four game, ASU saw its 12-game home winning streak come to an end to fall to 29-18 overall. Utah Valley State won its second straight game to improve 16-33 overall. UVSC, who is in its second year as a Division I baseball school, has also beaten Utah, BYU and Washington State this season.
"I am very disappointed with our effort tonight and the focus of our team," said 11th year head coach Pat Murphy. "You can never just come to the ballpark and expect to win games. We will just have to learn from this experience and move on and try to refocus for the Arizona series."
Jensen scattered 10 hits and gave up four runs while working into the eighth inning to improve to 6-9 on the season. The senior right-hander struck out nine and walked only two. Reliever Beau Giles gave up two runs in 1.2 innings, but Todd Bateman sealed the win to earn his first save of the year.
ASU starting pitcher Brett Bordes (Mesa, Ariz.) suffered the tough-luck loss giving up four runs on five hits in 4.2 innings. Bordes allowed only one hit through the first four innings before giving up all four runs in the fifth inning. He struck out two and walked one to fall to 3-4 on the year. Six Sun Devil relievers combined to give up five runs over the final 4.1 innings.
The Wolverines and Sun Devils tied in the hits column at 12 apiece, but UVSC used six doubles to spark each of their four-run rallies. Junior right fielder Travis Buck (Richland, Wash.) went 2-for-4 with a home runs and two runs scored to lead ASU at the plate. Buck notched his team-leading 27th multi-hit game of the year to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Left fielder Colin Curtis (2-for-5), shortstop Andrew Romine (2-for-3) and designated hitter Willy Fox (2-for-4) also added multi-hit games in the loss.
The Wolverines were led by two hits from third baseman Canyon Vance, including a key two-run single in the top of the eighth inning. Shortstop Eli Slesk went 2-for-5 with rwo runs scored and left fielder Kevin Hashimoto added two hits, two runs scored and two RBI.
After Bordes cruised through the first four innings giving up only one hit on 36 pitches, he ran into some problems when the Wolverines scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning to take the early lead. Catcher Cory Newton and Hashimoto drove in runs with one-out singles. Leadoff hitter Kory Drew doubled to left field to drive home two more, staking UVSC to the 4-0 lead.
ASU finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out, run-scoring double from third baseman Joey Hooft (Reno, Nev.). The Wolverines answered with another run in the sixth on a double to left field by second baseman Brad Hales to retake a four-run lead at 5-1.
The Sun Devils pulled to within three runs with a single tally in the bottom of the seventh on a single up the middle by Romine (Lake Forest, Calif.). Threatening with runners on first and second with only one out, Romine was caught in a rundown trying to steal third base to stall any comeback attempt.
UVSC put the game out of reach with four insurance runs in the top of the eighth to take a 9-2 lead. ASU reliever Zechry Zinicola (San Bernadino, Calif.) gave up a walk and committed a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt that proved to be costly. A sacrifice fly by Newton plated the first run of the inning and a two-run single by Vance all but assured the Wolverine upset.
Buck homered to left field to lead off the bottom of the eighth and ASU put two more runners on base without recording an out, but Giles came on to get senior catcher Tuffy Gosewisch (Scottsdale, Ariz.) to ground into a double play.
ASU rallied for two more runs in its last at-bat and brought the tying run to the plate, but Bateman got Gosewisch to pop out to end the game.
ASU will take the next nine days off for final exams before returning to Pac-10 play with a key three-game series against rival Arizona (May 14-16) at Packard Stadium.
Utah Valley State 9, Arizona State 6 (May 04, 2005 at Tempe, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Utah Valley State... 000 041 040 - 9 12 2 (16-33) Arizona State....... 000 010 122 - 6 12 2 (29-18) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Utah Valley State - JENSEN; GILES(8); BATEMAN(9). Arizona St. - Bordes; Urquidez(5); Barnette(6); Averill(6); Zinicola(8); Garrison(8); Marotz(9). Win-JENSEN(6-9) Save-BATEMAN(1) Loss-Bordes, B.(3-4) T-3:27 A-2081 HR ASU - Buck (4). Game notes: ASU head coach Pat Murphy ejected in bottom of 6th inning.
--Sun Devil Baseball--