March 4, 2006
TEMPE, Ariz. - After falling behind early to the Auburn Tigers, the Sun Devil offense awoke to put up double digit runs again, beating the Tigers 12-3 behind an outstanding pitching effort by Daryl Arreola in relief.
Auburn touched starter Drew Bowman for two runs in the first on a wild pitch and an error. Bowman lasted one plus, getting lifted in the second for Josh Satow. Satow would keep the Tiger hitters at bay, allowing four hits and no runs in his three innings. The Devils offense finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth, tying the game up. An RBI single by Brett Wallace scored Willy Fox, and later a sacrifice fly by Preston Paramore would score Ike Davis to even things at two after four innings.
Darryl Arreola came in to pitch in the fifth, shutting down the Tigers for 2.1 innings. Arreola did not allow a hit, but was tabbed for an unearned in the top of the seventh. While Arreola was keeping the Auburn bats silent, the Arizona State bats were just getting started.
ASU would add four in the sixth, thanks to some poor defense. Colin Curtis knocked in J.J. Sferra with a sacrifice fly, and Ryan Sontag would come around to score on the play after a throwing error. Ike Davis would score on an error by the Tigers first baseman on a ball hit by Brett Wallace. Wallace ended up on third and would score himself on an RBI single by Paramore.
The Devils exploded for six more in the eighth, putting the game out of reach. Eric Sogard knocked in a run with an RBI single, and J.J. Sferra picked up an RBI on a perfect bunt that scored Joe Persichina. A two-run double by Colin Curtis and a two-run single by CJ Retherford later, and the Sun Devils had a 12-3 victory. Brett Bordes and Brady Martinez came in to finish up on the mound and give the Sun Devils their fifth series win of 2006.
Arreola picked up the win, his first on the year while Auburn starter Brett Butts fell to 1-3. The Sun Devils improved to 13-5 and Auburn fell to 8-7. Curtis knocked in three runs on the day, and J.J. Sferra had his ninth multi-hit game of the year, going 2-4. Davis, Paramore and Persichina also had two hits for ASU.
The Devils and Tigers will wrap-up their three game series on Sunday at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 11:45 AM.