March 20, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- The California Golden Bears scored 13 runs in the fifth inning en route to a 20-8 victory over the No. 5 Arizona State Sun Devils Saturday afternoon in Pac-10 Baseball action at Packard Stadium.
The Golden Bears evened their season record at 14-14 with the victory to improve to 2-0 in Pac-10 play. ASU lost consecutive games for the first time in 2004 to fall to 19-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
California jumped out to an early 7-4 lead behind a four-run second and a pair of two-run frames in the third and fourth inning. The three-run margin would be as close as the Sun Devils would get as Cal sent 18 batters to the plate in the 13-run fifth inning. The 13 runs given up by the Sun Devils tied the school record set in 1997 against UCLA.
The Golden Bears recorded 19 hits in the contest and had three players with four RBI. Center fielder David Weiner was 2-for-5 with four RBI and catcher Garrett Bussiere was 4-for-6 with four runs driven in. Left fielder Justin Nelson scored four runs and hit his fourth home run of the year in the victory.
Relief pitcher Blake Read (1-0) earned the win out of the bullpen after giving up four hits and two runs in two innings. Matt Swanson picked up his first save of the year giving up three hits in three and two-thirds innings.
Arizona State junior starting pitcher Jason Urquidez (Simi Valley, Calif.) was saddled with his first loss as a Sun Devil. Urquidez was roughed up for four hits and three runs in just an inning and a third. Five ASU pitchers followed to give up 13 hits and 17 runs. Freshman Josh Blake (Overland Park, Kan.) was the lone bright spot for the ASU pitching staff, throwing 4.1 scoreless innings. The 20 runs marks the first time since the National Championship game in 1998 that an ASU squad has given up 20 runs in a game. USC defeated the Sun Devils 21-14 in that contest.
The Devils pounded out 13 hits in the loss, led multi-hit games from Chris Cook (2-for-3, HR) and Seth Dhaenens (2-for-4, RBI). Sophomore designated hitter Nick Cadena (Glendale, Ariz.) blasted his first home run of the year and junior shortstop Dustin Pedroia blasted his team-leading 15th double of the year.
Arizona State will try to salvage the final game of the series on Sunday against the Golden Bears. Freshman right-hander Zechry Zinicola (1-1, 5.25 ERA) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Sun Devils.
Game Notes: Junior All-American outfielder Jeff Larish did not play due to a wrist injury and is out for the weekend... Larish will be evaluated by a doctor with more information available on Monday... Dustin Pedroia and Seth Dhaenens each extended their hitting streaks to six games. California 20, Arizona State 8 (Mar 20, 2004 at Tempe, Ariz.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- California.......... 032 2(13)0 000 - 20 19 0 (14-14, 2-0 PAC-10) Arizona State....... 003 10 2 200 - 8 13 3 (19-5, 0-2 PAC-10) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: California - Padgett; Read(4); Swanson(6). Arizona State - Urquidez; Bordes(2); Marotz(4); Cassa(5); Webb(5); Blake(5). Win-Read(1-0) Save-Swanson(1) Loss-Urquidez(6-1) T-3:39 A-2314 HR CAL - Nelson (4). HR ASU - Cadena (1); Cook (2). --Sun Devil Baseball--