March 10, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. - Despite a comeback in the eighth, the Sun Devils bullpen was not able to hold on to a ninth inning lead as they fell 8-7 to Long Beach State. After ASU took the lead in the bottom of the eighth, the Dirtbags scored three times in the ninth to pick up the victory and even up the three-game series at one win apiece. The loss drops ASU to 13-6 on the year.
The Dirtbags jumped out to a 3-0 lead off starter Brian Flores, but the Devils were able to even things up in the fourth. With two outs, Eric Sogard doubled to right center, then came around to score on a Kiel Roling single to cut the lead to 3-1. Petey Paramore evened things up with one swing of the bat, taking Beach starter Omar Arif deep to right center.
Long Beach State jumped back ahead 4-3 in the top of the fifth on a Danny Espinosa solo shot to left off Flores. Andrew Romine tied it back up at four when his RBI groundout plated Ike Davis.
The Dirtbags scored once to take the lead back in the eighth. After Ted Aust put runners at the corners with two outs, he was relieved by Joey Parigi. Parigi threw a wild pitch that allowed the runner to score from third giving Beach a 5-4 lead.
The Dirtbags brought in their closer, Bryan Shaw, in the eighth, hoping to slam the door on the Devils. Matt Spencer would have none of that, cracking a pinch hit, two-run double to right center that put Arizona State up 6-5. The lead was short lived however, as Long Beach State scored three times in the ninth inning off Jason Mitchell and CJ Retherford to win it 8-7. The Devils mounted a comeback in the ninth with an Eric Sogard RBI double, but it wasn't enough.
Brian Flores picked up a no decision after lasting five innings, allowing four runs on 11 hits. Mitchell took the loss, dropping him to 0-2 on the year.
The Devils and Dirtbags will close out the three-game series tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.