March 26, 2011

Arizona State 5, Arizona 1 (Box Score)

TEMPE, Ariz. - A four-run second inning propelled No. 6 Arizona State to a 5-1 victory over visiting No. 15 Arizona on Saturday evening at Packard Stadium.

Starter Kyle Simon suffered his first defeat in six decisions on the season as Arizona State (17-6, 1-1 Pac-10) tallied four runs in a decisive second inning. A leadoff triple by Joey DeMichele jump-started the Sun Devil's offense. An RBI groundout plated the game's first run, followed by a two-run double and a run-scoring single later in the inning.

Simon settled down after the second inning, pitching 4.1 scoreless innings the rest of the way. But Arizona (17-6, 1-1 Pac-10) was unable to mount much offense a day after rapping out 12 hits. On Saturday, the Wildcats collected just two hits.

One of those hits was delivered by Seth Mejias-Brean in the fourth inning to drive in Arizona's only run of the game. Steve Selsky and Robert Refsnyder had been hit by pitches to lead off the frame. With one-out, Mejias-Brean lined a single to left center field to score Selsky from second base, but Refsnyder was thrown out trying to advance from first to third.

Arizona's only other hit in the game came in the second inning when Johnny Field led off with a single. Otherwise, Arizona put seven base runners on - three by walk and four were hit by pitches. The Wildcats left six runners on base in the game.

After being held scoreless over a five-inning stretch, Arizona State added an insurance run in the eighth inning with a pair of hits off reliever Jacob Doyle.

Brady Rogers earned the victory on the mound for the Sun Devils. The right-hander struck out five and allowed the one run on one hit to improve to 3-1 on the season.

The two teams will return to Packard Stadium on Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. in the decisive rubber match of the three-game series.