June 19, 2005
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OMAHA, Neb. - Arizona State scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning to erase a 2-1 deficit and sophomore reliever Pat Bresnehan threw 3.1 scoreless innings to rally the Sun Devils to a 4-2 victory over Tennessee in an elimination game at the 59th College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium.
Trailing 2-1 after seven innings, ASU rallied for just its second win of the season (now 2-19) when trailing after seven innings. After a two-out RBI single by junior Travis Buck got the Sun Devils on the board in the seventh, consecutive singles by catcher Tuffy Gosewisch (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and designated hitter Zechry Zinicola (San Bernadino, Calif.) and a double by third baseman Joey Hooft (Reno, Nev.) tied the game at 2-2. Second baseman Seth Dhaenens (Chandler, Ariz.) followed with a double to the left field gap to score pinch-runner Rocky Laguna (Yuma, Ariz.) and center fielder J.J. Sferra (Phoenix, Ariz.) added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly.
With the victory, ASU secures its 27th 40-win season in school history by improving to 40-24. The Sun Devils will play Nebraska on Tuesday at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN. Tennessee is eliminated from the College World Series and finished the season 46-21.
Bresnehan (Sherborn, Mass.) allowed only two hits and did not walk a batter in 3.1 scoreless frames to improve to 5-4 on the season. In two CWS appearances, Bresnehan has not allowed a run and struck out three in four innings. Junior left-handed starter Erik Averill (Orange, Calif.) had another solid start giving up eight hits and two runs in 5.2 innings, but did not factor into the decision. He struck out three and walked one to remain 10-4 on the season.
Tennessee starter James Adkins allowed only four hits and one run through the first seven innings, but was roughed up for four hits and three runs in the decisive eighth frame. The freshman left hander was saddled with the loss giving up eight hits and four runs to fall to 10-5. Reliever Sean Watson allowed one hit and walked two in 1.2 scoreless innings.
Junior right fielder Travis Buck (Richland, Wash.) paced the Sun Devil offense going 4-for-5 with one RBI. Hooft added two hits and is hitting .500 (3-for-6) in the CWS and is a career .412 (7-for-17) hitter in three appearances in Omaha (2003, 2004 with Miami).
Associated Press Story:
Arizona State head coach Pat Murphy paced, jawed with the umpires and called meetings on the mound, refusing to sit still Sunday as the Sun Devils were on the verge of elimination.
Known for his sense of humor, Murphy jokingly said he was already taking notes on the 2006 season with his team trailing 2-0.
But the Sun Devils responded again, rallying for three eighth-inning runs to beat Tennessee 4-2 Sunday and eliminate the Volunteers from the College World Series.
"Why don't you just play good from the first inning instead of just driving me crazy?" Murphy said. "I almost quit in the seventh inning, I was making the '06 lineup up and working on recruiting. I swear I was. I wasn't any use to them."
The Sun Devils (40-24) were on the verge of elimination last weekend in their super regional at defending national champion Cal State Fullerton. After losing the opener when a balk on an intentional walk allowed the winning run to score, ASU came back and won the next two games to earn a trip to Omaha.
Blanked for six innings Sunday by Adkins and trailing 2-0, the Sun Devils got one back in the seventh and then took the lead in the eighth.
"The first couple of innings he (Adkins) was real sharp and toward the end of the game we started taking more pitches and the guys just started hitting the ball where it was pitched," said Buck, who had four hits and was tagged out trying to steal home in the ninth.
Buck had an RBI single in the seventh to make it 2-1, and then Dhaenens, who didn't start, doubled in the go-ahead run in the three-run eighth.
"Once we got one on the board, we weren't going to stop," Buck added.
Gosewisch and Zinicola opened the seventh with opposite-field singles and then Joey Hooft chopped a ball over first baseman Alex Suarez's head for a double that tied it at 2.
Dhaenens, who'd entered the game in the sixth and made an error in the seventh, then doubled to left center to put the Sun Devils ahead Sferra hit a sacrifice fly for a 4-2 cushion.
"Seth has been struggling. So it was nice to see him go into the game and get the bit hit," Murphy said.
It was just the second time in 21 games the Sun Devils won when trailing after seven innings.
"In these types of games Murphy shuts up about the seventh," Hooft joked.
"And that's when we get going," he said. "It's just how we are preached to all year. It's about playing for the finish where the good things or bad things happen."
Adkins (10-5) threw 125 pitches. The lanky 6-5 freshman gave up eight hits and four runs in 7 1-3 innings.
Tennessee coach Rod Delmonico decided to stick with his young pitcher, even after he'd surrendered a run in the seventh and was over 100 pitches.
"He's pretty much been at 125 or 127. They only hit one ball hard that inning (the eighth) and got three hits where they just found holes. He was still throwing well," Delmonico said.
Adkins wanted to stay in and finish up, but the Sun Devils finally solved him in the late innings.
"I stayed in the game the best I could," he said. "I tried to make them hit my pitches and that's what they did and they found the holes. It went their way. It's baseball," he said.
Tennessee got two singles in the eighth and had runners on second and third with two outs before ASU first baseman Jeff Larish (Tempe, Ariz.) made a diving catch of Suarez's foul pop near the tarp.
Tennessee, which lost to Florida in the opening round, finished 46-21.
J.P. Arencibia, who broke Todd Helton's freshman record of 11 homers set for the Vols in 1993, connected for his 14th in the first off Averill.
Tennessee added a run for a 2-0 lead in the fifth on back-to-back one-out doubles by Suarez and Josh Alley. After the Vols loaded the bases on a hit batsman and walk, Averill retired Eli Iorg on a fielder's choice bouncer to short.
Game Notes: