April 29, 2007
BERKELEY, Calif. - Arizona State suffered their first Pac-10 series loss on Sunday in Berkeley, dropping the finale to Cal 13-9. Despite a six run Sun Devil comeback in the seventh and eighth innings, the Golden Bears played long ball with Jason Jarvis in the eighth to earn the win. The Sun Devils drop to 34-12 on the season, 11-4 in the Pac-10.
The Sun Devil offense got started early, taking a two run lead after the top of the first. The first two hitters of the inning, Tim Smith and Eric Sogard, both reached on errors by Cal, allowing Brett Wallace to bring home Smith with an RBI single to left. That was the 65th run batted in for Wallace in 2007. Ike Davis then made it 2-0 with a single to center that scored Sogard.
Cal pulled even in the bottom of the fourth, as David Cooper homered to left field off Brian Flores to make it 2-2. The Devils jumped back on top in the fifth, playing small ball to push a run across. After Matt Hall led off the inning with a walk, Tim Smith then bunted him over to second. Eric Sogard singled up the middle, scoring Hall to make it 3-2 ASU.
That lead was short lived, as Cal homered off Flores again the in the fifth. Brett Munster hit a two-run shot to left to put the Golden Bears up 4-3. Cal would add to their lead in the sixth, scoring five runs off Brian Flores, Matt Spencer and Jason Jarvis to make it 9-3. The Bears scored the runs thanks to two walks, two singles, a sac fly and a massive three-run home run to left by Michael Brady of Jarvis.
The Devils loaded the bases with no one out in the seventh, making it 9-4 when Brett Wallace drew a walk. That brought Jason Jarvis to the plate, who doubled to the right field gap, bringing in two runs to cut it to 9-6. It was the first two career RBI for Jarvis. Another run came across on a double play ball by Petey Paramore that made it 9-7. Matt Spencer then doubled off the wall in right to score Jarvis to cut it to 9-8.
Arizona State got back even in the eighth, as Eric Sogard singled home Tim Smith to knot things up at 9-9. The Bears were able to reclaim the lead for good in the eighth off Jarvis. Nine hole hitter Michael Brady hit his second two-run homer to left off Jarvis, giving the Golden Bears an 11-9 lead and the game. Jeff Kobernus homered the very next at-bat, putting Cal up 12-9. That was the end of the afternoon for Jarvis. He was relieved by Matt Spencer, who came in from left field to pitch for the second time in the game. Cal scored four two-out runs in the eighth. Spencer, who came on in the seventh, moved to left field after Jarvis had relieved him.
Jarvis took the loss, dropping him to 1-2 on the year. Cal hit five homers on the afternoon, including three by players who had never previously homered in their careers. Ike Davis went 3-4 on the day, one of three Devils with multiple hits. Eric Sogard and Jason Jarvis each collected two hits in the loss. Brett Wallace had two runs batted in, as did Jarvis and Sogard.
The Sun Devils now take a week off for final exams. They will return to the diamond for a three-game series against Pac-10 leader UCLA beginning on May 11 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.