(Tempe, AZ) – 12 pitchers combined to allow 16 hits, 18 walks and 27 runs in the only typical Pac-10 Sunday game. 3,279 fans spent 3:44 witnessing plenty of offense on a comfortable afternoon. The 15 to 12 victory by Arizona State prevented the first Pac-10 series sweep by a visitor at Winkles Field – Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark since 1997.
Starting pitching was terrible for both teams as neither Reyes Dorado for ASU or Jorge Reyes for OSU made it through the second inning. Brett Wallace hit a three run home run for the Sun Devils in the first and his two run single in the second finished off Jorge Reyes. Reyes Dorado on the other hand lucked out with a 1-2-3 first, but he came apart after that as the Beavers sent four singles through the left infield combined with two walks to end his afternoon early.
The first batter that each second line pitcher faced illustrated the lack of relief available from the bullpen in the second inning. Joey Wong greeted ASU reliever Stephen Sauer with a double to right center that scored two, while Ike Davis returned to the lineup for ASU after missing Saturday’s game and he hammered Josh Osich. Ike announced his return with a huge blast over the right field fence that scored three, landed on Rural Road and one hopped onto the Karsten Golf Course driving range.
A quiet third and fourth inning provided a respite, but walks and errors put men on base for the Sun Devils in the fifth. A Rocky Laguna single, a Greg Bordes fielders choice and a Ryan Sontag single in order brought home three more ASU runs.
In the sixth with two outs the Beavers manufactured a run before, Wong had his second big hit of the afternoon, a two run home run to right. At that point Ike Davis moved from first base to the mound. After a quick arm stretch to warm up, Davis provided the sole pitching highlight, retiring eight straight batters, three by strike out. A rough spot in the ninth scored three Beaver runs in between two more strikeouts, but it was not enough as ASU had added to its lead with four more runs in the sixth.
