Feb. 25, 2006
WACO, Texas - After an unexpected Friday night off thanks to rain, the Sun Devils and Bears finally met up on the diamond at Baylor Ballpark in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday. The rain would continue to fall until the fifth inning, when blue skies and a hint of sunshine would make their first appearances of the weekend.
Ike Davis got the starting nod for ASU, lasting 4.1 innings, giving up only two hits and striking out five. He also walked five batters and allowed four earned runs. He got a no decision on the afternoon.
Arizona State got the scoring started early, putting up two runs on Baylor starter Ryan LaMotta in the first. The Devils used small ball to push the pair across, as Davis' ground out to second base scored Ryan Sontag, and CJ Retherford bunted home Colin Curtis to give the Sun Devils a 2-0 lead after a half inning.
ASU would strike again in the top of the third, getting to Baylor starter Ryan LaMotta for four more runs. J.J. Sferra started the inning with a double to left center. LaMotta then walked Sontag and Colin Curtis to load the bases for Willy Fox. Fox singled through the hole at short, scoring Sferra and Curtis, putting ASU up 4-0. The Devils manufactured two more runs on sacrifice flies by CJ Retherford and Preston Paramore to take a 6-0 lead. The Devils added another in the fifth, as Paramore knocked in a run in the fifth, doubled home Retherford with a shot to left center field to put ASU up 7-0.
Baylor got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four times off two ASU pitchers. Davis gave up a leadoff single, then struck out the next batter before walking the next three hitters, giving up one run. Pat Bresnehan took over for Davis, but didn't fare any better, walking all three batters he faced, allowing three more runs to cross. Brett Bordes relieved Bresnehan and needed only two pitches to escape the jam. Bordes induced a bases loaded, inning ending double play to get out of the fifth with ASU holding a 7-4 lead. All told, Davis and Bresnehan walked six straight hitters, and allowed four runs while giving up only one hit.
The Sun Devils would answer back in the top of the sixth. Frank Mesa led the inning off with a triple to right center and scored on an RBI groundout by J.J. Sferra. That put ASU up 8-4 after five and a half. The Devils would add another in the top of the eighth, as Sferra knocked in Joe Persichina with a bloop single to right center.
The Bears would add one more in the bottom of the ninth, chasing Bordes from the game with a runner on third and only one out. Zechry Zinicola came on to get the final two outs of the game, giving ASU a 9-5 victory. Arizona State improves to 9-4 on the year, while Baylor suffers their first loss, falling to 5-1. Brett Bordes picked up the win, evening his record at 1-1, while Ryan LaMotta took the loss to fall to 2-1.
Willy Fox and J.J. Sferra each had three hits in the game, knocking in two runs in the process. Four Sun Devils had two RBI, while five had multi-hit games. The Devils and Bears will play another one on Saturday evening, with Jeff Urlaub (2-0) getting the nod on the hill for Arizona State.