May 14, 2006
Tempe, Ariz. - On a scorching afternoon in Tempe, the Arizona State Sun Devils could not complete the sweep of Pac-10 leader Oregon State, falling 9-8 in the series finale. Four ASU errors, including two in the ninth, led to the Sun Devils undoing as they allowed five unearned runs to score propelling the Beavers to a win. ASU drops to 32-17, 10-8 in the Pac-10. Zechry Zinicola (2-2) took the loss while Kevin Gunderson (2-1) picked up the win in relief.
Reliever Pat Bresnehan surrendered only one earned run for the Devils in 5.1 innings of relief.
The Devils found themselves in an early 3-0 hole, but battled back in the second inning. ASU scored five times, including an Ike Davis solo homer that tied him with Casey Myers for the most RBI by a freshman in school history with 58. Arizona State would add two more in the third on a Brett Wallace two-run home run onto Rural Road to make it 7-3.
The Beavers added one in the fourth and three more in the fifth to tie the game while holding the Sun Devils scoreless and hitless for the next five innings. After the Beavers struck for one in the top of the eighth inning, the Devils used small ball to tie up the game in the bottom of the inning. Andrew Romine came around to tie the game on a sacrifice fly by Eric Sogard after reaching on a lead-off single. However, the Beavers scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth, taking advantage of two fielding errors by the Devils to plate the winning run.
Prior to the game, ASU retired the numbers of former Sun Devils Alvin Davis and Kevin Romine and sported throwback jerseys from the 1980s in honor of the two alumni.
With the loss today, the Devils fall two games behind the Beavers for the Conference lead with just six games left in the regular season. The Sun Devils will return to action next week as they face their in-state rival Arizona Wildcats for a three-game Pac-10 series in Tucson.