FULLERTON, CA -- Once again Fullerton, Calif., turned out to be the ASU baseball team's Waterloo.
Saturday night's 5-0 loss to No. 9 Cal State Fullerton in the loser's bracket final eliminated the Sun Devils from the NCAA tournament. It was the second year in a row ASU was dispatched by the Titans and the third time in four years on Cal State Fullerton's home field.
Despite tallying 10 hits in the game, the Sun Devils were unable to get a clutch hit all night against Fullerton senior righthander Mike Martinez.
"We couldn't put the hits together," ASU head coach Pat Murphy said. "They rolled up three double plays and that was the difference in the game.
"[Martinez] was on it. [The umpires] had a huge zone, and when he has that much movement on his fastball it's pretty tough. I'm disappointed for my guys. They've been great all season."
Despite coming into the regional championship as the No.1 seed as well as a national seed, the Sun Devils were dealt a tough hand by the selection committee.
Since the Sun Devils did not bid to host a regional, head coach Pat Murphy's squad was forced to go to a regional hosted by one of the hottest teams in the nation -- Cal State Fullerton had won 21 of its last 25 regular season games.
Murphy offered no excuses for the team's early exit and said ASU's 15-5 Friday night loss to fourth-seeded Pepperdine was a crippling defeat.
"While it was a harder road than others, we put ourselves in a bad position losing on Friday," Murphy said.
Martinez kept the Sun Devil hitters off balance, mixing in 90-mph fastballs with backdoor sliders for seven strikeouts, four of which came looking, as well as three separate double plays.
"He was just attacking the strike zone," said junior left fielder Jeff Larish, who struck out twice looking against Martinez. "We got hits off him, just not in key situations."
Sophomore lefthander Erik Averill responded with a game effort of his own despite throwing relief on Friday against Pepperdine.
"Averill pitched unbelievably," junior shortstop Dustin Pedroia said. "The effort was there, we just didn't get it done (offensively)."
Averill held the Titans to two runs in the first six innings, but tired in the seventh as the Titans were able to add three runs to go ahead 5-0. The rally was punctuated by an RBI double from sophomore right fielder Danny Dorn, who added a solo home run the previous inning that put CSF ahead 2-0.
The shutout loss came after the Sun Devils were able to beat the Big Ten champion Minnesota Golden Gophers earlier in the day, 6-4, behind a strong pitching performance from junior Jason Urquidez.
ASU jumped ahead 3-0 in the first when freshman Joe Persichina's bases-loaded single plated two Sun Devils. ASU added a couple more runs in the fourth and another in the seventh.
Urquidez surrendered three runs 5.1 innings, with 4 strikeouts in a gritty performance in which he survived despite not having his best stuff.
"I was trying to stay out there as long as I can and pitch as hard as I can," Urquidez said. "I wasn't hitting my spots as much as earlier, but I stayed with it."
Minnesota made it interesting in the ninth, loading up the bases with two outs for designated hitter Mike Mee.
Freshman reliever Zechry Zinicola, who pitched the final 3.1 innings, got Mee to pop out, however, to end the game for his eighth save of the season, tying a freshman record.
ASU's troubles began on Friday against Pepperdine. The Waves scored five runs in the seventh inning when the team benefited from a crucial error committed by the usually reliable Pedroia.
After scoring one run to put the Waves ahead 4-3, Pedroia's error on a ground ball hit off of Zinicola allowed the Waves to add four more runs and take a commanding 8-3 lead.
"It was kind of like [Michael] Jordan missing a layup," Murphy said of Pedroia's error. "It affected the team."
ASU had a golden opportunity to regain momentum in the bottom half of the inning, but Persichina grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to end the inning. Pepperdine added three more runs off junior Ty Martoz in the eighth to take an 11-4 lead.
Devils in the draft?
The ASU baseball team is likely to be hit by this week's MLB amateur draft. With juniors eligible, the Sun Devils could lose a handful of players. Pedroia and Larish are likely to be picked in the first couple of rounds.
Other players eligible for the draft include juniors Urquidez, Josh Asanovich, Tuffy Gosewisch, Ty Marotz, Chris Cook, Joel Bocchi, Ryan McKenna, Garrett Schoenberger and Ladd Hall. Seniors Jeff Mousser and Nick Walsh will also be entered in the draft and have finished their careers at ASU.
Reach the reporter at matthew.schubert@asu.edu.
