March 15, 2011
TEMPE, Ariz. - Brady Rodgers, who last pitched for the Sun Devils on Opening Night against New Mexico, made his return to the mound on Tuesday night, helping the #8 Sun Devils to a 6-2 victory over second ranked Oklahoma. Rodgers started and threw three shut out innings in the victory. A sellout crowd of 4,371 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark saw the Devils improve to 12-3 on the year.
Rodgers (2-0) fanned five in his three innings, earning the win after pitching on a pre-determined pitch count. Alex Blackford relieved him and was just as solid, striking out five over his 4.2 innings of work. Trevor Williams recorded the final four outs of the game for ASU.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when Arizona State jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Joey DeMichele scored on a ground out by Johnny Ruettiger, the Andrew Aplin came home on a Riccio Torrez sacrifice fly. The Devils plated their third run on a double steal, when the catcher's throw to third hit the bat of the man at the plate, sending the ball into the dugout and allowing Ruettiger to score.
The Sooners would get one back in the fifth on a sac fly, but Arizona State would respond in the bottom half of the inning. Zach Wilson's RBI single scored Ruettiger, then Deven Marrero doubled down the left field line to bring home Torrez and make it 5-1. DeMichele would plate a run in the sixth on an RBI single that made it 6-1.
Wilson and DeMichele each had two hits in the victory while Johnny Ruettiger swiped two bases. That gives him 13 on the season, a new career high.
The Devils and Sooners will wrap up their brief two-game series on Wednesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. from Packard Stadium.