May 2, 1999
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 23 Arizona State baseball team (36-18 overall, 9-9 Pacific-10 Conference) beat Southern Utah (14-33 overall) 12-6 Sunday afternoon to sweep their series with the Thunderbirds.
ASU got a solid pitching performance behind starter Will Waldrip who picked up his 10th win on the season (10-2) after allowing no runs on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks in five innings pitched. "Will got a few breaks to go his way today, but I'm proud that he hung in there," ASU head coach Pat Murphy said.
The Sun Devils started their scoring early after picking up two runs in the first inning. However, ASU erupted for eight runs in the third inning. Shortstop Willie Bloomquist started the inning off with a walk and leftfielder Jay Sitzman followed with an infield hitting streak. Third baseman Andrew Beinbrink then flied out to right, but catcher Casey Myers' infield single allowed Bloomquist to score. First baseman Mitch Jones singled to left to bring in Sitzman. Designated hitter Scott Goodman was then hit by a pitch and second baseman Chip Gosewisch drew a walk, which walked in Myers. Centerfielder Dustin Delucchi reached on a fielder's choice after Thunderbird first baseman Jarod Ingersoll threw out Jones at the plate. Rightfielder Jeff Duncan doubled to right to score both Goodman and Gosewisch. Bloomquist followed with a double to left to score Delucchi and Duncan. Bloomquist finished the scoring after Sitzman singled to left and Beinbrink ended the inning on a fly out to right field.
ASU kept Southern Utah from scoring until the seventh and eighth innings when they picked up one run apiece. A solo homerun by the Thunderbirds' second baseman Tyler Petersen in the seventh inning set their school record for most homeruns in a season with 15. In the ninth inning the Thunderbirds picked up four runs to cut the Sun Devils' lead in half. "We got outplayed in the seventh, eighth and ninth. We lost our focus, when guys go into a 12-0 lead, it's difficult to keep our focus," Murphy said. "We've got to get better to get where we want to be."
The Sun Devils were lead by Jones who went 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Beinbrink and Sitzman had two hits apiece and Bloomquist, Myers and Duncan knocked in two runs each.
For Southern Utah Petersen was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and Ingersoll was 3-for-5 with three RBI. Rightfielder Brian Kruse went 2-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored and extended his hitting streak to 19 games. ASU is next in action against Washington in Seattle for a three game series beginning Thursday, May 6 through Saturday, May 8.
Southern Utah 000 000 114 6 13 2 No. 23 Arizona State 208 200 00x 12 11 2Winner - Waldrip (10-2) Loser - Harrison (2-8) Save - None Umpires: Bruns, Arreola, Stallings Time: 2:41 Attn: 1618