ASU closes sweep of UA with rout
Devils establish grand-slam mark
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
May. 26, 2003 12:00 AM
Arizona State made such an ardent case this weekend for being the best college baseball team in the state that it begged another question:
Can ASU be the best team in the nation?
When the Sun Devils play as they did this weekend, it's hard to imagine why not. No. 6 ASU destroyed No. 16 Arizona for the second straight day, polishing off its first sweep of a ranked opponent in three years with a 15-2 rout Sunday at Packard Stadium.
Five days away from beginning a quest for their first regional title since 1998, the Sun Devils (50-12, 16-8 Pac-10) garnered momentum with several high points against the Wildcats (35-21, 13-11).
• ASU's staff gave up four runs in the series. It is the third time the pitchers have yielded four or fewer runs in a Pac-10 series this year.
• ASU closed the series with 16-0 and 15-2 wins, the Wildcats' worst losses this season. UA had not lost three in a row this year.
• It is ASU's first 50-win regular season since 1988.
• ASU set an NCAA record for grand slams when Jeremy West hit the team's 13th, a monster shot that glanced high off the flagpole behind the center field fence. Steve Garrabrants, in his first game back from a shoulder separation, added the team's 14th grand slam an inning later.
"That's the best team we've seen in the conference," said UA coach Andy Lopez, who picked ASU over champion Stanford.
UA came in as the nation's fifth-leading scoring team but hit .229 for the series, prompting Lopez to call the performance "lifeless."
"When we play great offense, it has a great effect on the pitching," ASU coach Pat Murphy said. "We definitely can feel it in the dugout."
Perhaps ASU's best sign offensively is coming from the meat of its order. The 3-4-5 hitters - Andre Ethier, West and Jeff Larish - all have gaudy statistics but have never been hotter simultaneously. The trio went 15 for 23 with 16 RBIs on Saturday and Sunday.
"It's awesome to get all of us going together," said Larish, who tied a school record with four doubles Sunday. "We've been waiting for that all year."
Ethier and West have 17- and 18-game hitting streaks, respectively. Ethier hit two solo home runs Sunday. He has seven of his eight home runs in Pac-10 play.
ASU senior pitcher Beau Vaughan, whose parents attended UA, picked up his team-high ninth win.
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GO DEVILS !!!
Tetris Champion!
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