The No. 5 ASU baseball team used a valiant team effort Sunday to win the series finale against USC in Los Angeles.
The Sun Devils (34-6, 3-3 Pac-10) used six different pitchers in the game and eight different players collected at least one hit, including junior closer Ryan Schroyer, who lined a single into center field in his first-ever collegiate at-bat.
"These are team wins this weekend, they're all team wins. We battled," ASU head coach Pat Murphy said.
The two victories brought ASU's record to 13-2 on the road this year. ASU will play a pair of non-conference games in the next two weeks before returning to Pac-10 play.
"It comes at a good time," Murphy said about the weekend break. "It gives some of our guys' arms time to get healthy."
Arizona
The Wildcats (22-10, 3-3) salvaged the final game of their three game series with UCLA with a 12-10 victory Sunday. Junior right fielder Brian Anderson led UA at the plate, going 3-for-5 with four RBI and a home run. It was his ninth blast this season to lead the Wildcats. This week UA hosts Miami (Ohio) in non-conference play.
California
The Golden Bears (17-13, 4-2) pounded out a season-high 19 hits Sunday en route to their 19-13 win of Oregon State, winning their second-consecutive conference series. Sophomore left fielder Justin Nelson had a career day, belting three home runs including one inside the park. He is just one of four Golden Bears ever to hit three home runs in the same game.
Oregon State
Despite tying a school record four home runs in an inning Sunday, the Beavers (13-13, 1-2) still dropped their conference opening series to California. Four different OSU players homered in Sunday's eighth inning to match the feat originally set in 1966, but the Beavers fell 19-13 in a slugfest. Junior Seth Pietsch clubbed two long balls, but was only credited for one after he passed his teammate rounding the bases and was called out after his blast in the sixth.
Stanford
The Cardinal maintained a share of the Pac-10 lead with California thanks to a Carlos Quentin two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth Sunday to propel No. 4 Stanford to a 12-11 win over Washington. Stanford (18-9, 4-2) won their sixth-consecutive series of the year.
UCLA
The Bruins (16-16, 2-1) took two-of-three from UA, but fell short of the sweep Sunday, falling 12-10,. UCLA junior third baseman Brandon Averill, brother of ASU pitcher Erik Averill, was 3-for-5 Sunday with five RBI including a three-run blast in the bottom of the ninth.
USC
The Trojans (14-16, 2-4) struggled mightily Friday, walking 14 ASU hitters and surrendering 17 hits in an 11-4 loss. If it were not for a dramatic win in the bottom of the ninth Saturday, the Trojans would be 1-5 in the conference.
Washington
Despite a grand-slam home run by freshman center fielder Brent Lillibridge to give the Huskies (19-9, 1-2) a one-run lead late against Stanford, Washington was unable to pull out the series finale and dropped two-of-three to the Cardinal in their first conference series of the season. The losses dropped the Huskies out of the top-25 polls after entering last week at No. 24.
Washington State
The Cougars (8-19, 1-2) took two-of-three on the road from UC Irvine this past weekend in a non-conference series. After capturing his first win of the season last week against California, junior right-hander Aaron MacKenzie had another great outing, throwing eight innings and allowing just one earned run while striking out six in a 4-2 win.
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
