April 1, 2011
TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State grabbed the first game of a three-game series against the Oregon Ducks on Friday night behind a strong pitching performance by Brady Rodgers (4-1). 3,614 fans at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark saw the Devils use the 5-2 win to improve to 19-6 on the year, 3-1 in Pac 10 play.
Rodgers started and went 7.2 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits while striking out four. Trevor Williams got the final out in the eighth and Mitchell Lambson got the last three outs to earn his third save of the year.
The Ducks would strike first in the top of the second when Shawn Peterson singled through the right side to drive in Aaron Jones. Oregon would push one more run across in the inning on a Brett Thomas single to left, but would fail to score the rest of the way.
The Devils would tie the game up in the fourth inning when Zach Wilson stepped to the plate with a man on and drove the ball over the left field fence for a two-run homerun to even the game at two. It was Wilson's fourth homer of the year.
The Sun Devils would strike again in the bottom of the fifth inning after Andy Workman led off with a double to left center. He would come across to score on a Zack MacPhee groundout to second base. ASU would add two more runs in the inning on an Oregon wild pitch that would allow Johnny Ruettiger to score and a Joey DeMichele single to center that drove in Riccio Torrez.
Deven Marrero and Joey DeMichele were each 2-4. Andy Workman was 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored, while Zach Wilson drove in two runs in the win.
The Sun Devils will continue their weekend series against the Oregon Ducks by playing game 2 Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. for Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.