May 15, 2011
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Arizona State dropped the rubber game of the three-game series with USC, falling 6-2 to the Trojans on Sunday at Dedeaux Field in Los Angeles. USC erased a 2-1 deficit with five unanswered runs. The loss drops ASU to 36-13, 14-7 in Pac-10 play. USC starter Logan Odom kept the Sun Devil offense off-kilter all day, holding them to only three hits while tossing his first complete game of the season.
The Sun Devils did not record a hit after the fourth inning and had only one base runner after the fifth inning. Odom got stronger as the game went on, retiring 14 of the final 15 batters he faced. Sun Devil starter Jake Barrett took the loss, allowing three runs on six hits while falling to 7-4 on the year.
The Sun Devils struck first in the top of the third inning, taking a 1-0 lead on an RBI ground out by Riccio Torrez that scored Johnny Ruettiger. The lead did not last long, as USC tied things up in the bottom of the inning. After a leadoff single, a balk and a sac bunt, Alex Glenn tied it with an RBI single to right. The next two Trojan hitters also singled, loading the bases with only one out. But Barrett was able to induce a pop out and a ground out to limit the damage to only a single run.
The Devils grabbed the lead back in the top of the fourth on a Xorge Carrillo RBI single to center that scored Matt Newman. Once again, the Trojans stormed right back against Barrett in the bottom of the inning. Brandon Garcia's two-run homer off the scoreboard in right field made it 3-2 USC. Barrett could not make it out of the inning, finishing the afternoon with 3.2 innings pitched. He allowed three runs on six hits and struck out three, the first three batters of the game.
USC put an exclamation point on the weekend in the bottom of the seventh. After Trevor Williams got the first two outs, he allowed a double off the wall in center to Joe De Pinto then a two-run home run to Alex Sherrod over the scoreboard in right field that made it 5-2 Trojans. They would add another run in the eighth off of Williams to put the game away at 6-2. Joseph Lopez, who had not pitched for the Devils since March 26 due to injury, returned to action and struck out the only batter he faced.
The Sun Devils will embark on their final road trip of the regular season next week, heading to Seattle for a three-game Pac-10 series with the Washington Huskies. The series gets underway Friday night at Husky Ballpark.