May 10, 2010
TEMPE, Ariz. - Five pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout and Johnny Ruettiger hit two home runs as the No. 2 Arizona State University baseball team defeated BYU 14-0 on Monday at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. The Sun Devils improve to 40-5 on the season with the win, marking the fourth consecutive season with 40 wins or more. It is the 31st time in program history that ASU has reached the 40-win mark.
Seth Blair, Brady Rodgers, Mitchell Lambson, Jake Barrett and Jordan Swagerty combined for 15 strikeouts and allowed just three BYU hitters to reach base in the game. Blair, on a pitch count, went three innings and allowed one hit with four strikeouts, earning the win to improve to 8-0 on the season. Rodgers struck out five and allowed just one hit in three innings, while Lambson, Barrett and Swagerty all had two strikeouts apiece in one inning of work each.
Ruettiger was one of six Sun Devils with two hits on the night, and he set a career high with five RBI in the win. Riccio and Raoul Torrez and Matt Newman all had two hits and two RBI apiece, while Deven Marrero and Andrew Aplin also had two-hit games.
ASU got on the board in the second on an RBI double by Raoul Torrez and a run-scoring single by Newman. The Devils then broke the game open with a six-run third, with Ruettiger's two-run homer serving as the big blast in the inning.
The Torrez brothers each had RBI singles in the fourth, and then Newman added a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it 11-0. Ruettiger then capped off the scoring with a three-run home run in the eighth.
The Sun Devils finish their two-game series with BYU on Tuesday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.