TUCSON — Not much went wrong for the No. 2 ASU baseball team during a recent 10-game winning streak that saw the Sun Devils outscore opponents 111-24.
On the night the streak ended, though, just about everything did.
ASU was routed UA 12-4 in front of 2,325 at Sancet Field on Sunday to even the Pac-10 rivals' series at a game apiece on a night that saw Wildcat manager Andy Lopez earn his 1,000 career Division I victory.
The Sun Devils (42-6, 15-5 Pac-10) committed four errors, struggled on the mound — three wild pitches pounded the backstop — and failed to take advantage of several opportunities at the plate en route to the team's most lopsided loss of the season. It was a near reverse image of ASU's 12-4 win over UA the night before.
The previous high of runs given up by the Sun Devils was nine against Washington on April 24.
“It was a freebie night,” ASU coach Tim Esmay said. “We gave a lot of freebies away. Every mistake we made, every error we made, they capitalized on, and you can't give up freebies in this conference.”
ASU's magic number (the number of wins combined with losses by second-place UCLA) to clinch its fourth straight Pac-10 title remains at five following UCLA's walk-off win over USC on Sunday.
ASU junior Merrill Kelly dropped his first contest of the season (9-1), as he was given the hook after just 3 2/3 innings in effectively his shortest outing of the season. Kelly tossed a planned three innings against BYU in a nonconference tuneup on Tuesday.
UA (31-17, 10-10) blew a 2-2 game open behind a five-run outburst in the fourth. Kelly allowed the first two batters to reach base on a single and a walk. His second wild pitch of the game then put runners on second and third with no outs before a groundout by Robert Refsnyder scored sophomore Steve Selsky.
Kelly allowed two more hits and another run before being lifted by Esmay. His replacement, freshman Brady Rodgers, gave up a three-run homer to freshman Joey Rickard on his first pitch, giving UA a 7-2 lead. The hit appeared as if it was going to fall short of the wall, but ASU left fielder Matt Newman could only watch as the ball drifted out of the park and swept momentum into the Wildcat dugout.
Rodgers, who entered the game with a team-low ERA of 1.37, gave up three more runs, two earned, over the next two innings before being replaced by junior Jimmy Patterson.
The Sun Devils had a golden opportunity to put a dent into a 10-4 lead in the eighth when back-to-back singles and walk loaded the bases with no outs, but senior Raoul Torrez struck out and freshman Deven Marrero grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
ASU stranded a total of eight base runners in the game.
ASU drew first blood in the opening inning with an aggressive jaunt through the base paths by sophomore Zack MacPhee. The Sun Devil second baseman laced a single back up the box that was momentarily bobbled by UA center fielder freshman Joey Rickard, allowing the speedy MacPhee to dart to second. He later stole third base and was brought home on senior Kole Calhoun's groundout.
UA took a 2-1 lead in the second when Selksy scored on a wild pitch from third and freshman Cole Frenzel scampered home after an error on Torrez.
ASU knotted the score in its following at-bat on an RBI double from sophomore Austin Barnes, the catcher's third two-bagger of the series.
After being outscored 60-28 in its last five games (1-4), UA broke out of its slump with eight different players combining for 13 hits. Selksy led the Wildcats with a 4-for-4, two-RBI performance.
ASU sophomore Drew Maggi went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and is without a hit in four games against UA (0-for-17) this season.
The first pitch of Monday's rubber match is set for 6 p.m.
“It's almost a kick in the head and it let's you know this game isn't always easy sometimes,” Esmay said. “When we wake for breakfast, we have to realize that what happened 24 hours ago is going to have absolutely no bearing on what happens [today].”
Esmay has a long-standing admiration for Lopez and offered him congratulations on his milestone after the game.
“I totally respect Coach Lopez,” Esmay said. “His runs a first-class program, he's a good man and I shook his hand and said, 'Man, that's awesome.' I hope I'm around this game long enough to have that.”
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu