Arizona State 15 Oklahoma 3
From CBB News Sources
(Tempe, AZ) – Buoyed by eight strong innings from starting pitcher Mike Leake, No. 3 Arizona State defeated Oklahoma 15-3 in its second game of the NCAA Tournament Saturday night in front of a crowd of 3,744 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. The Sun Devils improve to 47-11 with the win, and they will face the winner of tomorrow afternoon’s game between Vanderbilt and Oklahoma tomorrow night.
Leake allowed eight hits and two runs while striking out six to improve to 10-2 on the season. The victory makes Leake the fifth pitcher in school history to have double-digit wins in each of his first two seasons at ASU, joining Jeff Pentland, Eddie Bane, Linty Ingram and Jason Urquidez.
Ike Davis, Petey Paramore and Ryan Sontag had three hits each to lead the ASU offense, as the Sun Devils pounded out 15 hits and drew 10 walks on the night.
ASU was playing as the designated visiting team, and the Sun Devils took advantage of some Oklahoma mistakes to score three runs in the top of the second. Davis scored from third when Sooners starting pitcher Ryan Duke committed a throwing error on a pickoff attempt to first, and Paramore scored later in the inning on a wild pitch by Duke. Raoul Torrez then brought in another run with an infield single to second.
The Devils added to their lead with four more runs in the third. Greg Bordes drove in two with a bases-loaded single up the middle, Sontag had an RBI single that scored Torrez and Bordes then scored while Oklahoma attempted to get Sontag in a rundown between first and second.
The Sooners cut into the lead with a run each in the fourth and fifth innings, but Mike Jones hit a three-run homer to right in the sixth to put ASU on top 10-2. The home run, which was the second career homer for Jones, came with the two-sport star’s quarterback, Rudy Carpenter, and football coach, Dennis Erickson, in attendance.
Kipnis scored on another Oklahoma error in the seventh, as he stole third and then came home when Sooners catcher J.T. Wise threw the ball past the third baseman and into left field.
ASU added four more runs in the ninth with a three-run triple to center by Davis and a sacrifice fly by Paramore. Oklahoma’s Aaron Baker capped off the scoring with a solo home run, his second of the night, in the bottom of the ninth.
In the day’s first game, Vanderbilt eliminated Stony Brook with a 9-4 win, setting up an elimination game between Oklahoma and Vanderbilt at 1 p.m. tomorrow. The winner of that game will then face the Sun Devils at 6 p.m. tomorrow, and ASU can advance to the Super Regionals with a victory.
(Tempe, AZ) – The Oklahoma Sooners were unable to overcome an early deficit as they dropped a 15-3 decision to No. 4 Arizona State on Saturday in the 2008 NCAA Tempe Regional in front of 3,744 fans at Packard Stadium.
The Sun Devils capitalized with several big innings, scoring three runs in the third and sixth innings and adding four runs in the third and ninth innings.
The loss drops OU to 35-25-1 overall and places it in the loser’s bracket of Sunday’s action. OU will face Vanderbilt (41-21) for the second time in an elimination game at 1 p.m. (MST) at Packard Stadium.
“I think it is pretty obvious we are disappointed in the outcome,” said OU head coach Sunny Golloway. “It is one loss. We are still playing tomorrow. We will come back with our best effort tomorrow.”
Arizona State took an early lead and chased starter Ryan Duke out of the ball game with three runs scored in the second inning off four hits, two errors and a wild pitch. Duke recorded a 1-2-3 inning to start off the game but all of the runs that crossed the plate in the second were earned. Duke lasted 1 2 /3 innings, marking the shortest start of the season for the freshman right-hander.
Tyson Seng helped extinguish Arizona State’s offense in the top of the second, facing a bases-loaded situation and getting a ground out to end the frame, but he was not as lucky in the third. Seng’s night ended after one inning of action after he allowed four runs off three hits in the top of the third. Greg Bordes and Ryan Sontag each drove in a pair of runs off singles before C.J. Blue recorded the final out of the third in relief of Seng.
Aaron Baker helped OU break up Mike Leake’s shutout with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fourth inning. Baker’s seventh home run of the season was sent out in a hurry over the right-field fence and cut the lead down to 7-1. The sophomore added another solo shot in the ninth inning and finished the day with two hits, two walks and two RBIs.
Blue held the Sun Devils’ offense at bay through the fourth and fifth innings as OU started to chisel away at the lead with Mike Gosse’s RBI single in the fifth inning. But in the top of the sixth, ASU put things out of reach when Mike Jones sent a three-run shot over the fence in right field to extend the lead to 10-2.
ASU starter Mike Leake improved to 10-2 despite scattering eight hits throughout the game and allowing OU to place a runner in scoring position in four of the nine frames. Leake limited OU to two runs over eight innings and received plenty of run support on 15 ASU hits in the contest.
Game Notes:
The Sooners’ double play streak ended on Saturday at nine games … OU had 16 twin killings in that span … Aljay Davis has 21 hits during his career-high 15-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 23 of the last 24 games (37 hits) … Aaron Baker’s multi-hit streak continued on Saturday with his sixth straight outing with two or more hits in 10 of the last 15 games … Baker has 13 hits in the last six games with six RBIs … With 10 hits on Saturday, OU has connected for 10 or more in OU is 67-59 lifetime in the NCAA Tournament in 31 appearances … The Sooners and Sun Devils have met five times in the NCAA Tournament with ASU leading 3-2 after Saturday’s game.
