March 20, 2008

Box Score

TEMPE, Ariz. - Facing the top-ranked team in the nation and playing its sixth game in seven days in its third state, the Northern Colorado baseball team dropped a 13-3 decision to Arizona State in the opening round of the Bob Schaefer Memorial Tournament on the Arizona State campus.

After being retired in order in the first inning, the Bears scored two for the early lead in the second stanza. Sandberg singled to left center to start the inning. With two outs, senior Erik Whinery singled to move Sandberg to second and both scored when Hegstad doubled down the left field line. Hegstad was stranded at second base.

In the bottom of the third, Arizona State scored five runs on four hits, including a two-run home run by Ike Davis to take a 5-2 lead, which they never relinquished.

In the fourth inning Sandberg again led off with a single. He advanced to second on a single by senior Andy Mees. Whinery knocked home his second run of the contest with a single to center, scoring Sandberg. Arizona State changed pitchers, going to Tommy Rafferty and he walked Hegstad to load the bases, however he was able to strike out the next two to end the inning with the score 5-3.

The Sun Devils got the run back in the bottom half of the inning and added another one on back-to-back hits to make the score 7-3 at the conclusion of the fourth.

Sandberg got on base for the third straight time, earning a walk with two outs in the top-half of the fifth, but was stranded on first base. In the sixth, Cody Henry struck out but reached first safely on a wild pitch and moved to second the same way, but was also stranded.

ASU added three more to its total in the bottom of the sixth inning off Eric Skufca, including two from a one-out home run to right center by Brett Wallace.

Cory Morales got his first hit of the game in the seventh inning with one out and Chad Murray made it a six-game hitting streak for the senior with his ensuing single. The pair both advanced a bag on a throwing error by ASU catcher, Petey Paramore, but again were stranded.

Arizona State plated a trio of runs, two off hit batsmen by Murray, who started the eighth inning on the hill to extend its lead to 13-3. T.J. Berge led off the top of the ninth with a double down the left field line and moved to third on a ground-out by Morales, but he was left on third.

Starting pitcher Jon Klausing went five innings for the Bears allowing seven runs on 10 hits. He also walked three and struck out three in 26 batters faced and took the loss, moving to 1-2 on the year. Eric Skufca came on in relief, pitching just 0.2 of an inning, giving up three runs on four hits and striking out one. Dan Kazell, coming out of the pen struck out his first batter faced to end the sixth inning and allowed just one hit in 1.1 innings of work with three strike outs. Murray allowed three runs on three hits and hit three batters in the eighth and final inning.

The Bears take the field again tomorrow against the top-ranked team in the nation, playing Arizona State at 7:00 p.m. Pacific (8:00 p.m. Mountain).