March 14, 2006
AUSTIN, Texas - After a long road trip through Texas, the Sun Devils closed out their Lone Star swing in Austin for a meeting with the defending national champion Longhorns on Tuesday night. The road weary Sun Devils were unable to find a rhythm at the plate or on the mound until it was too late, as they were beaten 11-6 at Disch-Falk Field. Six Sun Devil pitchers combined for six costly walks, and ten of the Longhorns 11 runs came with two outs.
Texas got the scoring started in the bottom of the second, hanging two unearned runs on starter Brett Bruneel. After a hit batsmen and a throwing error on a sac bunt attempt put runners on first and second, another sac bunt put both runners in scoring position. A sacrifice fly and an RBI single gave the Longhorns a 2-0 lead after two.
Texas put three more on the board in the third, facing two ASU pitchers. Nick Peoples singled to leadoff the inning, then stole second base, allowing him to come home on single by Carson Kainer. The Longhorns would score two more unearned runs after an Eric Sogard error with two outs extended the inning. That chased Bruneel, who gave way to Frank Mesa on the hill. Bradley Suttle took advantage of the mistake, knocking in two with a double to right center, giving Texas a 5-0 lead.
The Sun Devils put a run on the board in the fourth, when CJ Retherford hit a screaming single off the third baseman allowing Curtis to score. Curtis got on with an infield hit, extending his hitting streak to 20 games.
Brett Bordes escaped a jam in the UT half of the fifth to keep the Sun Devils close. The Longhorns loaded the bases, but Bordes struck out Hunter Harris to end the threat and the inning without a run crossing.
The Longhorns added to their total in the sixth off of Josh Satow. After Texas loaded the bases, Satow gave up a three-run double to Kainer, then an RBI single to Suttle that chased Satow from the game with the Lonhorns up 9-1. Drew Bowman took over for Satow, but he walked the only two batters he faced before being removed for Tony Barnette. Barnette inherited the bases loaded and two outs and promptly walked Preston Clark to force in another run. He retired the next batter to end the inning, but not before UT extended their lead to 10-1. Texas would add another off Barnette in the seventh with an RBI single by Kainer.
The Sun Devils would mount a comeback in the ninth, starting with a Brett Wallace two-run single up the middle with the bases loaded. Joe Persichina would draw a walk to load the bases for Seth Dhaenens, who blooped one to right to score another. Rocky Laguna knocked in two more with a single off the first baseman to cut the lead to 11-6. That was as close as ASU would get, falling to the Longhorns to snap their seven game winning streak. Brett Bruneel took the loss, falling to 0-1 on the season. Colin Curtis finished 2-5, scoring two runs and stealing a base.
The Sun Devils now head back to Tempe for a three-game series with the Oklahoma Sooners at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. Friday night first pitch will be at 7 PM with AZ-TV televising the game. Saturday will be a 6 PM start with AZ-TV broadcasting once again. The series finale on Sunday will be a 1 PM start.