April 19, 2008
TEMPE, Ariz. -
By Matt Storey
Arizona State lost its second straight to Oregon State 12-3 Saturday night in front of a crowd of 3,981 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. The Sun Devils fall to 30-6, 6-5 in the Pac-10.
The loss means this is the first time since 2005 that ASU has lost a home Pac-10 series.
The Sun Devil offense struggled most of the night, as they managed only three hits through the first eight innings. They also hit into three double plays, stranded 10 runners and struck out nine times.
ASU got on the board first with a sacrifice fly by Kiel Roling to center in the first inning, but the Devils would not score again until getting two runs across in the ninth.
Oregon State used the long ball to take control of the game, as Joey Wong hit a two-run homer in the third and Lonnie Lechelt hit a three-run shot in the fourth to put the Beavers in front 5-1. They would add two runs in the fifth, one in the seventh and two in the eighth before hitting their third home run of the night, a two-run shot, in the ninth.
The Sun Devils scored twice in the bottom of the ninth on RBI singles by Brett Wallace and Jason Kipnis.
Tempers flared in the bottom of the fifth, as ASU head coach Pat Murphy was ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Tony Norris after a lengthy discussion. It was the first time Murphy has been ejected in the past two seasons.
Starting pitcher Josh Satow dropped to 4-2, allowing seven runs, four earned, over 4.1 innings.
Petey Paramore and Brett Wallace each had two hits in the game for the Sun Devils.
ASU finishes the three-game series with Oregon State tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.