(Pullman, WA) – On Saturday afternoon it was Arizona State who made all the errors, allowing Washington State to even the series at one game each. ASU’s defensive miscues proved costly as WSU took advantage and came out with the 10 to 4 victory.
3,313 fans packed Bailey-Brayton Field to watch the two teams compete. It is “Mom’s Weekend” on the Washington State campus and the clear skies, light winds and comfortable temperature made it a perfect day for baseball. Saturday was not only the biggest crowd of the season so far for the Cougars, but also the largest crowd to witness a WSU home baseball game since 1999.
ASU scored first as Ike Davis sent the first pitch of the second inning over the wall in left center field for his team leading 12th home run of the season.
WSU would take the lead in the bottom of the third inning as Shea Vucinich got things started with a single at the bottom of the order. A stolen base, an ASU error by the short stop and a passed ball allowed Vucinich to score and tie the game. A double by Jim Murphy would score two more for the Cougars, and Simi Reynolds would single to score Murphy.
In the top of the fifth the Sun Devils would tie the game at 4 each as Brett Wallace doubled to left center field and brought home Ryan Sontag who led the inning off with a single to right field. Jason Kipnis would drive in another run and Petey Paramore hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in ASU’s final run of the game.
Mike Leake would tire and run into trouble and some bad luck in the bottom of the seventh after getting Travis Coulter to ground out to start the inning. Scott Suttmeier singled to left, Paul Gran singled up the middle and then Murphy sent a shot to center. ASU center fielder Mike Jones would commit two errors on the play as he bobbled Murphy’s single and then rushed the throw in and overthrew third baseball allowing WSU to score several runs. After throwing a couple of balls to Jared Prince, Reyes Dorado would come on in relief. Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, Dorado was not very effective as he allowed a couple of singles to score additional Cougar runs and put the game out of reach.
Paul Gran liked the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the eight inning, sending it over the fence in left center field for his sixth home run of the season and scoring two, as Coulter had led the inning off with a single.
Jayson Miller picked up the win while Leake takes his first loss of the season. The final and determining game of the series is scheduled to start tomorrow at noon.
