March 10, 2006
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Arizona State Sun Devils got off to a quick start once again, scoring twice in the first inning en route to a 10-2 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in their first game at the Whataburger College Classic at Whataburger Field. Ike Davis knocked in four runs and Josh Satow shut down the Islander hitters to give the Devils their 15th win of the season.
Batting in the top of the first innings for only the fourth time this season, ASU started quickly once again, pushing two runners across the plate in the first inning, the ninth time this season the Devils have scored in the opening frame. They are now 8-1 in games in which they score in the first inning, and 12-1 in games in which they score first. Ike Davis got the scoring started, hitting a bases loaded sacrifice fly to score Ryan Sontag and give the Devils a 1-0 lead. They would add one more in the first when Colin Curtis scored on a Brett Wallace ground out for a 2-0 ASU lead after a half inning of play.
Matt Trink got the start on the hill for Arizona State, who changed around their starting rotation, moving Davis out of his usual Friday night start. Trink ran in to trouble with the first Islander batter, as Clint Galloway led off the Islander first with a home run to deep left center field to cut the ASU lead in half. TAMUCC would pull even in the third, when an RBI ground out evened the score at 2-2.
Josh Satow came in for Trink in the third, and was absolutely lights out for Arizona State. Satow went 4.2 innings, allowed no runs and only two hits to pick up his first win of the year. The 4.2 innings tied the longest outing of the season for Satow, who now has a record of 1-0.
The ASU bats would strike again in the fourth inning, when the Devils would load the bases. Willy Fox drew a walk, giving him an RBI and the Sun Devils a 3-2 lead. RB-Ike Davis, who always seems to bat with the bases loaded, came through again with a bases clearing double into the gap in right-center to put ASU up 6-2.
The Sun Devils would load the bases again in the sixth. Eric Sogard knocked in two with a pinch hit single to right, then Austin Stockfisch would double in another run to put the Sun Devils up 9-2. They would score again in the ninth inning, and closed out the Islanders to pick up the 10-2 victory.
Willy Fox was 3-3 for the Devils with an RBI and three runs scored, while Austin Stockfisch, Ryan Sontag and Ike Davis also had multi-hit games for the Sun Devils. With his four RBI, Davis now has 33 on the year. ASU improves to 15-5, while TAMUCC falls to 9-9.
The Whataburger College Classic continues tomorrow evening, as the Sun Devils play the Rice Owls in a match-up of two top 15 squads. First pitch is now scheduled for 4:30 PM Arizona time.