March 10, 2012
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The 10th-ranked Arizona State baseball team fell to Long Beach State 7-3 on Saturday afternoon at Blair Field in Long Beach, Calif. After giving up six runs in the first three frames, the Sun Devils held LBSU to one run over the next five innings.
A trio of pitchers combined to give up two hits and no runs in the final three innings and Kasey Coffman paced the Devils (9-4) offensively with a career-high two RBI as the team collected nine hits on the day.
Right-hander Josh McAlister took the mound for the fourth and fifth innings, his longest outing of the season, and was followed up in the sixth by left-hander Adrian Gomez. Right-hander Billy Young threw in the seventh and left-hander Brandon Bonilla pitched a perfect eighth inning.
Right-hander Alex Blackford (0-1) went two innings and was pulled with two runners on base and no outs in the third frame. He finished with four earned runs on four hits in his first loss of the season.
Right-hander Darin Gillies pitched the third inning, giving up two earned runs on a pair of hits while striking out two.
Dirtbags (5-9) right-hander Matt Anderson (1-0) went 6 1/3 innings and earned the win, allowing three earned runs on eight hits to go with four strikeouts.
Long Beach scored a trio of runs in the bottom of the second inning on a pair of RBI singles and a fielders choice to take the early 3-0 advantage.
The Dirtbags extended their lead with three more runs in the next frame. Juan Avila led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a single before scoring on a wild pitch from Gillies. Duffy drove in two more on a two-run double to put LBSU up, 6-0.
ASU put three on the board in the top of the fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Coffman. After a strikeout by the leadoff batter, the Devils hit consecutive singles and Andrew Aplin was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Coffman. Joey DeMichele scored Aplin from second on an RBI single two batters later to bring ASU to within three, 6-3.
LBSU tacked on a run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single to take a four-run lead.
The Sun Devils close out their three-game series against Long Beach State on Sunday with a 1 p.m. game at Blair Field in Long Beach, Calif.
Game Notes: Aplin has reached base safely in all 13 games this season...the Devils used six pitchers in the game, the second-most this season.