April 22, 2012
Click here for a photo gallery from the game (Photos by Denis Concordel)
PALO ALTO, Calif. - The 19th-ranked Arizona State baseball team lost, 9-5, on Sunday as No. 8 Stanford completed a three-game series sweep over the Devils at Sunken Diamond in Palo Alto, Calif.
James McDonald fell a home run short of the cycle and led the team with three RBI, giving him seven total in the past four games. Andrew Aplin went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
The Sun Devils (24-16, 9-9) loaded the bases in the ninth inning and brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but consecutive strikeouts ended ASU's comeback bid.
Right-hander Alex Blackford (1-3) took the loss after conceding three runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings.
Stanford right-hander Dean McArdle (3-0) earned the win after allowing one run on one hit in two innings. Right-hander AJ Vanegas (1) recorded his first save of the season after throwing two scoreless innings.
McDonald hit a two-out RBI single in the first inning to score Aplin, who led off the frame with a base hit, and give ASU the lead, 1-0.
Stephen Piscotty hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the third inning to put the Cardinal (25-10, 8-7) ahead, 2-1.
The Devils gained a two-run advantage in the top of the fifth inning behind a two-run triple by McDonald and an RBI by Abe Ruiz, but the Cardinal recorded three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame to retake the lead, 5-4.
An RBI sacrifice fly by Max Rossiter in the seventh inning brought the Devils to within one, 6-5, after Stanford tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth off a wild pitch by right-hander Robert Ravago.
Stanford added three runs in the bottom of the eighth on a pair of errors and an RBI single.
Starting right-hander Darin Gillies was replaced with two outs in the second inning and took a no-decision after giving up two runs on a pair of hits with one strikeout.
Cardinal starting left-hander John Hochstatter allowed four runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.
The Sun Devils are on the road again to face Washington State in a three-game Pac-12 series at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman, Wash. First pitch on April 27 is set for 5:30 p.m. (PT), while the game on April 28 is slated for 2 p.m. (PT) and the series finale on April 29 is set for 12 p.m. (PT). All three games will be broadcast live by Sun Devil Sports Network on The Fan AM 1060.
Game notes: Attendance was 3,009...game time was 3 hours, 20 minutes.