April 8, 2011
CORVALLIS, Ore. - A late inning rally by Oregon State ended Arizona State's six-game winning streak, as the Devils fell to the Beavers 5-3 on Friday night in Corvallis. Oregon State scored four runs off starter Brady Rodgers in the seventh, allowing the Beavers to erase a Sun Devil lead and get the win. The loss drops ASU to 22-7, 5-2 in Pac-10 play.
The game was a pitcher's duel between Rodgers and OSU starter Sam Gaviglio until the seventh inning, as the two teams combined for three runs through the first six and a half innings. But then the Beavers finally figured out Rodgers, taking a lead they would not relinquish. Rodgers went 6.2 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits. All five of the runs he allowed came with two outs in an inning. He fanned nine but was saddled with the loss, dropping him to 4-2.
The Devils jumped on Gaviglio early on, plating two runs in the top of the first. Johnny Ruettiger led the game off with a base hit then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Zack MacPhee. Riccio Torrez would bring him home with a single up the middle. Torrez would score himself on a Joey DeMichele single to left that made it 2-0.
Gaviglio settled down after allowing the two first inning runs, keeping ASU off the scoreboard until the eighth inning. He went the distance for the Beavers, allowing three runs on nine hits and struck out six to improve to 6-1 on the year.
The Beavers would scratch a two-out run across in the fifth to cut the ASU lead in half. A two-out double by Ryan Dunn would be followed by a single to center by Tyler Smith that made it 2-1. Smith was thrown out at second by Andrew Aplin to end the inning.
The Oregon State bats would come alive in the bottom of the seventh off Rodgers, scoring four runs in the inning to take a 5-2 lead into the eighth. All the runs came with two outs, eventually chasing Rodgers after he had allowed five hits in the inning, including three straight hits before giving way to Trevor Williams.
The Devils would draw a run closer in the eighth on a Zach Wilson sac fly that scored MacPhee to cut the lead to 5-3, but that would be as close as they would get. Johnny Ruettiger, Zack MacPhee and Matt Newman each had two hits in the loss, with Joey DeMichele, Newman and Zach Wilson each collecting an RBI.
The Devils and Beavers will face-off again on Saturday afternoon in the second game of the three-game Pac-10 series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. from Corvallis.