April 16, 2011
TEMPE, Ariz. - Thanks to a solid start by Kramer Champlin and some clutch hitting by Joey DeMichele, Arizona State beat the Washington State Cougars 8-2 on Saturday night to take game two of the three game weekend series. Champlin (5-1) was magnificent for 6.1 innings, allowing eight hits and two runs, to earn the win and help ASU improve to 24-9 on the year, 7-4 in Pac-10 play.
The Devils would strike early and often against the Cougars. In the bottom of the first inning, Joey DeMichele would drive a single up the middle to allow Zack MacPhee to score from second to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
The lead would not last long when in the top of the second inning Jason Monda hit a solo home run to right center field to even the game at one.
In the bottom of the third inning the Devils would get the lead back after Joey DeMichele singled up the middle for a second consecutive at bat, driving in MacPhee and Riccio Torrez to give the Devils a 3-1 lead. Three batters later the lead would increase when Xorge Carrillo stepped to the plate and singled to left, driving in DeMichele from second base.
Arizona State would add more to the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning after Johnny Ruettiger hit a single to left that drove in Andrew Aplin. Two batters later with Ruettiger on third, Torrez would hit a sacrifice fly to center field allowing Ruettiger to tag and score on the play. The Devils would add one more run in the inning and another run in the bottom of the eighth to put the game out of reach.
The story of the game for ASU was the pitching, as Champlin struck out five and scattered eight hits before giving way to Alex Blackford. Blackford would pitch 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out four to secure the victory for the Devils.
Zach Wilson was 3-3 with tow doubles, while Johnny Ruettiger was 2-4 with an RBI. Joey DeMichele was 3-4 with three RBI and a run scored in the win.
The Devils and Cougars will wrap up their three-game weekend series on Sunday, April 17. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. from Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.