May 25, 2012
GAMETRACKER ONLINE: SATURDAY
PHOTO GALLERY - All 100 Major League Players
Fans still have time to vote for the Arizona State All-MLB Team on Twitter. Tweet @ASU_Baseball your top Sun Devil baseball players who went on to play in the Major Leagues. The votes will be tallied and a team will be released early next week.
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Pac-12 Baseball Standings as of May 25 games
Oregon, 19-9
Arizona, 19-9
UCLA, 18-10 (1 GB)
Stanford, 18-10 (1 GB)
Arizona State, 17-11 (2 GB)
TUCSON, Ariz. - Right-hander Brady Rodgers threw 8 1/3 scoreless innings, but the 16th-ranked Arizona State baseball team fell to 13th-ranked Arizona, 1-0 in front of 5,451 fans at Hi-Corbett Field in Tucson, Ariz.
Right-hander Jake Barrett conceded the walk-off double to the first batter he faced, Seth Mejias-Brean, after he replaced Rodgers with one out in the top of the ninth inning. Robert Refsnyder, who scored the game-winning run, singled earlier in the frame and was the last batter Rodgers saw.
Rodgers (10-3), in what was possibly his final game as a Sun Devil, did not allow an extra-base hit and struck out four in the loss. He was credited with the earned run in the ninth inning.
His career ERA of 2.39 in 286 total innings is second on the school's career "Best Earned Run Average" list, behind Floyd Bannister (74-76), who had a 1.88 ERA in 396.2 innings pitched.
In five career appearances, including four starts, against Arizona, Rodgers has given up seven earned runs on 20 hits while walking three and striking out 23 in 32 innings.
Wildcats (37-16, 19-9) right-hander Kurt Heyer (11-2) surrendered six hits through nine scoreless innings in the win.
Andrew Aplin recorded a pair of singles and four others added a hit, including a double by Trever Allen, for the Sun Devils (35-19, 17-11).
ASU put runners on second and third with two outs in the third inning, and again with one out in the fifth inning, but a flyout and two groundouts, respectively, kept the game knotted at zero.
Arizona threatened in the bottom of the sixth inning as Rodgers struck out the first two batters of the frame, but walked the next batter and hit the following two to load the bases. However, Rodgers induced a flyout to right field to escape the inning unscathed.
Michael Benjamin was stranded at third in the seventh inning after he reached base on a fielders choice and advanced on a balk and a groundout.
The Sun Devils take on Arizona in game two of their three-game series on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Hi-Corbett Field in Tucson. Sun Devil Sports Network will broadcast the game live on the Fan AM 1060, and live, up-to-the-minute stats will also be available online through gametracker, which can be accessed on the baseball weekly release on the thesundevils.com or under the online baseball schedule. All three games will also be webcast by the University of Arizona, available on arizonawildcats.com, to all-access subscribers, which requires a paid subscription.
Saturday's projected pitching matchup:
ASU - RHP Trevor Williams (11-2, 1.86)
Arizona - RHP Konner Wade (7-2, 4.48)
State Farm Territorial Cup Series:
This weekend marks the final three games of the five-game State Farm Territorial Cup Series between the two schools. The Sun Devils and Wildcats split the first two contests at Packard Stadium. Arizona is currently atop the standings by six points, 11.5-5.5, with just three baseball games remaining in the State Farm Territorial Cup schedule. Check out the history and news, and interact with fellow fans on www.territorialcupseries.com.