March 12, 2006
Ike Davis and Ryan Sontag each homered, while Jeff Urlaub, Brady Martinez and Brett Bordes kept the TCU hitters quiet to lead Arizona State to a 3-1 victory over the Horned Frogs 3-1 and cap off a perfect 3-0 weekend in the Whataburger College Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas. ASU placed six players on the All-Tournament team, led by tournament MVP Willy Fox.
Urlaub got the starting nod for the Devils, picking up his fifth win of the year with his five plus innings of work in which he allowed only one run on five hits. He was opposed by TCU ace Brad Furnish, who took the loss despite a complete game in which he struck out ten Sun Devil batters.
Ryan Sontag got the Devils started early by leading off the game with a shot over the left field wall to put ASU up 1-0. It was Sontag's second leadoff homer of the season.
Ike Davis would add another run to the Sun Devil total when he took Furnish deep over the left field wall in the fourth for a 2-0 lead. The solo shot was the third on the year for Davis, and was his fifth RBI of the tournament and 34th of the season.
Arizona State would add a third run in the sixth, when Eric Sogard doubled home Brett Wallace to give the Devils a 3-0 advantage. But the Horned Frogs would battle back in the sixth, when two doubles pushed a run across the plate to cut the lead to 3-1. Urlaub was lifted in the inning for Martinez, who allowed his inherited runner to score before finishing off the Frogs to end the inning.
TCU had one last chance in the bottom of the ninth, facing Brett Bordes. The Frogs loaded the bases after an error with two away, but Bordes induced a ground out to third baseman CJ Retherford to end the threat and the game, giving ASU their 12th win in their last 13 contests.
Urlaub improved to 5-0, while Bordes picked up his first save of the season. J.J. Sferra was 2-4, his 12th multi-hit game of the season, ASU is now 17-5 on the year. The six Sun Devils who picked up All-Tournament honors were Austin Stockfisch, Eric Sogard, Ryan Sontag, Ike Davis, Zechry Zinicola and tournament MVP Willy Fox. Fox had the game winning hit in the tenth inning to give ASU the win over #1 Rice on Saturday night.
ASU now travels to Austin for a meeting with the Texas Longhorns Tuesday night at Disch-Falk Field. First pitch is at 5:15 PM Arizona time.