Baseball closes series with 7-1 win over Stanford

<p>Thanks to a magnificent start by <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/barrett_jake00.html">J… Barrett</a> and a power display by <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/demichele_joey00.html"… DeMichele</a>, the Sun Devils beat the Stanford Cardinal 7-1 on Sunday afternoon to take the weekend series two games to one. Barrett (6-3) was brilliant for eight innings, allowing only a first inning run to earn the win and help ASU improve to 31-10 on the year, 13-5 in Pac-10 play.</p><separator></separator><p>Barrett, who threw a complete game shutout last weekend at Cal, was electric all afternoon. He struck out ten and scattered seven hits over eight innings before giving way to <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/lambson_mitchell00.htm… Lambson</a>. Lambson struck out two in his perfect inning of work to secure the victory.</p><separator></separator><p>The Cardinal would draw first blood in the first inning after a wild pitch by Barrett allowed Tyler Gaffney to score from third. After two ASU errors, Stanford had runners at second and third and only one out and looked poised to add to the early 1-0 lead. But Barrett struck out the next hitter and then induced a fly out to work out of the jam.</p><separator></separator><p>The Devils would take the lead in the bottom of the second after <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/demichele_joey00.html"… DeMichele</a> drove a two-run home run to right field driving in <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/torrez_riccio00.html">… Torrez</a> on the play and putting ASU up 2-1. In the bottom of the second with <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/newman_matt00.html">Ma… Newman</a> on third, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/barnes_austin00.html">… Barnes</a> hit a sharp single through the right side, driving in Newman increasing the lead to 3-1.</p><separator></separator><p><img src="http://grfx.cstv.com/graphics/spacer.gif&quot; alt width="5" height="1border=0"> <br> <!-- STORY AD ENDS HERE --> ASU would keep the scoring up in the bottom of the fourth when <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/ruettiger_johnny00.htm… Ruettiger</a> singled to left center allowing Barnes to score. In the bottom of the fifth, DeMichele again powered a ball over the right field fence for his second round-tripper of the game. But he was not done just yet as he brought the crowd of 3,226 to its feet in the seventh when he blasted a ball onto Rural Road in right field for his third homer of the game, a two-run shot. DeMichele is the first Sun Devil to hit three home runs in a single game since <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/larish_jeff00.html">Je… Larish</a> accomplished the same feat in the 2005 College World Series against Nebraska. He finished the day 3-3 with five RBI.</p><separator></separator><p><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/newman_matt00.html">Ma… Newman</a>, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/torrez_riccio00.html">… Torrez</a> and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/barnes_austin00.html">… Barnes</a> all collected two hits of their own in the win. The Sun Devils will continue this home stand with a two-game midweek series against the BYU Cougars beginning Monday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. from Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.</p>