April 5, 2012
TEMPE, Ariz. - Right-hander Brady Rodgers maintained his dominating presence on the mound, leading the 23rd-ranked Arizona State baseball team to an 8-2 win over No. 17 Oregon State on Thursday night in front of 2,811 fans at Packard Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
Rodgers (5-1) earned his fifth win of the season after conceding no earned runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking one in eight innings pitched. He was faced with two men on base and one out in both the first and third innings, and twice escaped the frames unscathed. He also threw three perfect innings.
Five players collected two or more hits for the Sun Devils (17-12, 4-6), highlighted by Abe Ruiz's three hits, two RBI, three runs scored and a home run. James McDonald added a pair of RBI on two hits.
Left-hander Matt Dunbar (1) secured his first save as a Sun Devil after forcing a flyout, a groundout and a popout to close out the ninth inning.
Nathaniel Causey, who took his base on a walk.
Ruiz led off the fifth inning with a solo home run to extend the Sun Devils lead, 5-0.
The Beavers (18-9, 6-4) scored a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning on a pair of RBI singles after Drew Stankiewicz was charged with an error with two outs.
Kasey Coffman hit a bases-loaded double in the bottom of the eighth inning to tack on three runs for the Devils, giving them a six-run advantage, 8-2.
Right-hander Dan Child (3-2) took the loss after giving up four earned runs on nine hits while striking out four in six innings pitched.
The Sun Devils face the Beavers on Friday night in game two of their Pac-12 series at Packard Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m., with Tim Healey and Seth Dhaenens broadcasting the game live on KDUS The Fan Am 1060, and FoxSportsArizona.com streaming it live online.
Game Notes: Andrew Aplin extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his single in the sixth inning.