April 15, 2006
Tempe, Ariz. - The #13 Arizona State Sun Devils defeated the #18 USC Trojans for the second straight game with a walk-off single to cap off a come-from-behind victory and win the weekend series with two of three victories. The Devils (27-11) improved to 6-3 in the Pac-10 with an 8-7 victory over the Trojans on Sunday afternoon at Bobby Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark in Tempe. The heroics were provided by junior right fielder Colin Curtis and sophomore second baseman Eric Sogard, who combined for all seven of the Devils' RBIs.
Josh Satow (2-0) earned the win for the Devils on the mound, scattering two hits in three plus innings of relief for starter Ike Davis.
Second baseman Eric Sogard started the game off on the right foot for the Sun Devils, hitting a two-run homerun on the second at-bat of the game to stake the Devils to an early 2-0 lead. Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Curtis hit a two-out triple to score left fielder Brett Wallace and was brought home on the next at-bat when Sogard hit his second homerun of the game to right field, giving the Devils a 5-4 edge. Sogard finished 3-for-5 on the game with four RBIs. Sogard became the second Sun Devil to hit two round trippers in a game this season (Fox vs. CS-Northridge, Jan. 28) and now leads the team with six on the year.
The two teams traded runs again in the sixth inning, as the Trojans plated three with the help of two bases loaded walks. However, Curtis struck again, doubling in first baseman Willy Fox and scoring on a wild pitch to tie the game at 7-7.
Thanks to three Trojan walks in the bottom of the ninth, the Sun Devils found themselves with one out and the winning run just 90 feet away. With the USC centerfielder playing in the infield to assist on a double play, Curtis poked a 1-0 pitch over the first baseman's head into right field, scoring Joe Persichina to win the game for the Devils. Curtis hit 4-for-6 in the game with three RBIs and was just a homerun short of the cycle.
The Arizona State Sun Devils will head out on the road next week as they travel to Lubbock, Texas for a single game with Texas Tech on Monday before heading to Los Angeles to resume Pac-10 play as they face the UCLA Bruins for a three-game series on April 21-23.