Baseball rallies for 12-8 win over Arizona

The 19th-ranked Arizona State baseball team trailed by three heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but rallied for seven runs in the frame to take a 12-8 win over No. 16 Arizona, April 17, before 2,972 fans at Packard Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. The victory gives the Sun Devils the first win in the five-game State Farm Territorial Cup Series.
 


Joey DeMichele led off the seven-run seventh inning for the Sun Devils (24-13) with a single and Max Rossiter started the scoring with an RBI base hit two batters later. Both Rouric Bridgewater and Andrew Aplin walked with the bases loaded and two outs to tie the game at eight runs apiece, before Deven Marrero hit a two-run single and DeMichele recorded a two-run double for his second hit of the inning.
 


Right-hander Joseph Lopez (1-0) loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh inning, but gave up just one unearned run in the frame to record his first win of the season. After a pair of singles and a walk, he induced a double play before an error brought the solo run home. He then got the next batter to ground out to third to end the inning.
 


Right-hander Robert Ravago pitched a perfect eighth inning and right-hander Jake Barrett punctuated a perfect ninth with a swinging strikeout to close out the win.
 


Starting right-hander Alex Blackford earned a no-decision after allowing four runs, including three earned, on eight hits while striking out four in 4 2/3 innings.
 


The Sun Devils jumped out to an early two-run advantage after Aplin led off the first inning with a home run to right-center field and James McDonald followed with an RBI double off the wall in right field.
 


Arizona (24-12) scored a run in the top of the third inning on an error by Michael Benjamin to cut their deficit to one, 2-1.
 


The Wildcats tacked on six runs in the fifth inning behind a three-run homer and a trio of RBI singles to take a 7-2 lead.
 


ASU answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth frame on a two-run single by McDonald and added a run in the sixth inning on an RBI fielder’s choice by Aplin.



Arizona right-hander Mathew Troupe (2-1) took his first loss of the season after surrendering four earned runs on two hits and two walks in the seventh inning.
 


The Sun Devils travel to Palo Alto, Calif., for a three-game Pac-12 series with Stanford, April 20-22, at Sunken Diamond. First pitch on April 21 is set for 5:30 p.m. (PT), while the first pitches on April 21-22  are slated for a 1 p.m. (PT) start. Tim Healey and Seth Dhaenens will have the call for all three games on The Fan AM 1060.


 Game notes: Sun Devil fans raised $4,214 for the Cory Hahn Foundation in the inaugural “Pass The Bucket Night”…Aplin has now reached base successfully in 19 consecutive games…Aplin is the first player to lead off a game with a home run since Drew Maggi did it against Stanford on May 29, 2010…left-hander Matt Dunbar replaced Blackford in the fifth and gave up one earned run on three hits in 1 2/3 innings pitched....the Sun Devils are on a five-game winning streak and have won their past seven games against Pac-12 opponents.