No. 13 Baseball drops regular season home finale to BYU, 8-3
Drew Stankiewicz and Dalton DiNatale hit consecutive home runs in the seventh inning, but the 13th-ranked Arizona State University baseball team lost its final regular season home game, 8-3, to BYU on Tuesday night at Packard Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
The Sun Devils (34-18-1, 15-12) fell behind by seven runs after the fifth inning before hitting back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut their deficit to four, 7-3.
BYU (31-19) took the lead on a three-run homer in the top of the third inning and added a pair of runs in each of the proceeding innings to secure a 7-0 lead.
Third baseman Michael Benjamin singled in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He now has put together three separate double-digit hitting streaks this season, including a team-best 16-game hitting streak earlier in the year.
Stankiewicz hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and DiNatale followed with a solo home run on the next pitch to bring ASU within four.
Starting right-hander Billy Young (0-2) retired the first eight batters he faced before giving up a single, a walk and a three-run homer with two outs in the top of the third. He took his second loss of the season after conceding five runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Left-hander Adam McCreery took the mound with one out in the fourth and struck out a career-high six while allowing two runs on a pair of hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Right-hander Darin Gillies struck out two in a perfect eighth inning and freshman shortstop/right-hander Jordan Aboites made his pitching debut in the ninth. Aboites walked the first three batters he faced before inducing a fly ball, a swinging strikeout and a groundout to strand a pair of runners on base.
BYU starting left-hander Mark Anderson (5-1) allowed one hit in five innings to earn the win.
Up Next:
The Sun Devils travel to Washington to finish the 2013 regular season with a three-game Pac-12 set Friday-Sunday against the Huskies. First pitch on Friday is at 5 p.m., while Saturday's begins at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m. Both Saturday and Sunday's games in Seattle will be televised by the Pac-12 Network, and all three games will be broadcast by Tim Healey (@TimHealeyASU) and former Sun Devil baseball star Seth Dhaenens (@sethdhaenens) on the MidFirst Bank Sun Devil IMG Sports Network on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 and on the All-Access Player at thesundevils.com. Fans can also follow the team on Twitter at @ASU_Baseball for live scoring and updates from the weekend, and check thesundevils.com for stats, notes and more.
Sun Devils On Pac-12 Network
at Washington on Saturday, May 25, in Seattle at 4 p.m. PT
at Washington on Sunday, May 26, in Seattle at 12:00 p.m. PT
Season Ticket Renewal:
Season ticket holders can renew and/or pre order postseason tickets by calling their service representative at 480.965.5333 or visiting the Sun Devil Ticket Office at Sun Devil Stadium. The deadline to retain your seats and receive the best possible price is Saturday, June 22. Meeting the renewal deadline will also ensure you receive priority when selecting seats at the new Phoenix Municipal Stadium in 2015.
Road to Omaha | NCAA.com
Regional hosts and sites announced May 26, 6 p.m. PT
NCAA Selection Show: May 27, 9 a.m. PT on ESPNU
64 teams, 30 automatic qualifiers, 16 seeded teams
Regionals: May 31-June 4 on 16 campus sites. Four-teams, double elimination (ESPN family of networks)
Super Regionals (best-of-three series): June 7-10 on eight campus sites. Two teams, best-of-three format (ESPN family of networks)
CWS: Omaha, Neb., June 15-26 (ESPN family of networks)