LOS ANGELES - In a roller coaster ride of a finish, the No. 2 ranked Sun Devils pulled out the series finale, 7-5, over the Trojans to win their first series from USC at Dedeaux Field since 1993.
"Winning two out of three in their house, that's a big boost for us," said ASU left fielder Travis Buck, who had six hits in the final two games of the series.
ASU (34-6, 3-3 Pac-10) used some clutch hitting late in the game to keep the pesky Trojans from mounting a comeback. The Sun Devils had leads of 1-0 and 3-1, but both times USC tied it up. ASU finally pulled ahead for good in the seventh inning on a balk from USC right-hander Brett Butler to push across a run and a sacrifice fly from sophomore shortstop Dustin Pedroia.
After a home run by USC designated hitter Matt Bonovich closed the gap to 5-4, the Trojans nearly tied the game. But Pedroia gunned down Spencer Gordon at home on a beautiful relay throw from Buck in left to maintain the lead. ASU then used four-straight singles in the ninth to plate two insurance runs.
"We had plenty of opportunities...things looked dismal but we hung in there and it was a team effort," ASU head coach Pat Murphy said.
In the sixth inning, Jeff Larish and Mike Guerrero hit back-to-back home runs to increase ASU's lead to 3-1. The two blasts were ASU's only home runs of the series.
Southpaw Carlos Arguello earned his first victory of the year in one inning of work, and Ryan Schroyer posted his seventh save.
The Trojans (14-16, 2-4) snapped their four-game winless streak Saturday as junior second baseman Jon Brewster lined a two-out single into the right field gap in the bottom of the ninth to break a 5-5 tie.
For the second-straight game, the Sun Devils struggled with men on base, leaving the bases loaded three times and stranding 12 men overall.
"I'm disappointed," Murphy said. "We had opportunities to score runs and it just didn't happen."
The Sun Devils dirtied the base paths Friday night, sending 55 men to the plate, 33 of whom reached base. A barrage of 17 hits, coupled with an uncharacteristic 14 walks from five USC pitchers, allowed the Sun Devils to plate 11 runs in a series-opening 11-4 victory.
"We had great at-bats," Murphy said. "We were really relentless, and that's what it takes against a front-line pitcher."
Despite all the activity on the base paths, the Sun Devils still managed to leave a season-high 17 runners on base.
From a defensive standpoint, ASU's pitching was clutch when it needed to be. USC hitters were 2-for-16 from the plate with runners in scoring position. Two of USC's four runs came off the bat of senior right fielder David Gordon, who tripled off the center field wall in the bottom of the second to tie the game at two.
The Trojans took their only lead of the night in the third when senior shortstop Anthony Lunetta scored on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded. They were unable to push any more runs across. The Sun Devils responded quickly, scoring nine runs in the next four innings to run away with the game.
Four-consecutive walks, two with the bases full, keyed the fourth inning. In the fifth, junior right fielder Andre Ethier's broken-bat double brought home Pedroia and made it 7-3. Sophomore first baseman Jeff Larish broke out of his five-game drought without an RBI in the fifth when he doubled down the right field line, plating two more runs to increase ASU's lead to 9-4.
"He was swinging great against Stanford, but they pitched him tough," Murphy said of Larish who has driven in 60 runs this year to lead the Pac-10. "He might be trying a little too hard, but I'm glad for him. He drew a couple walks, and that's real key."
Senior third baseman Dennis Wyrick continued his success of late, going 3-for-6 with three RBI to lead the Sun Devils.
Throwing just one-third of an inning, Brett Bordes earned his first win as a Sun Devil. Entering the game during a crucial situation in the fifth inning, the freshman left-hander induced a bases loaded groundout to short to escape the jam, maintaining ASU's 5-3 lead.
The Sun Devils return home Wednesday to host New Mexico at 4:30 p.m.
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
