May 31, 2008

Box Score

Tempe, Ariz. - Brett Wallace went 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored to lead the No. 1 Arizona State Sun Devils to a 9-7 victory over a feisty No. 4 Stony Brook University baseball team in the opening round of the NCAA Tempe Regional at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. The Seawolves will now take on No. 2 Vanderbilt on Saturday in an elimination game. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. EST. The game can be heard at www.goseawolves.org and 90.1 WUSB. Fans can also follow the game via gametracker at www.goseawolves.org.

"I'm very proud of our young men and the way they competed," Stony Brook head coach Matt Senk said. "When you are going up against a team of this stature, with this history, our young men could have easily had an excuse to quit and they didn't."

The back-and-forth game featured four lead changes in the first four innings and a combined 16 runs and 22 hits. The Seawolves (34-25) trailed 9-6 going to the ninth but junior Keith Fier (Armonk, N.Y.) and junior Justin Echevarria (Uniondale, N.Y.) reached to lead off the ninth. Junior Brian Witkowski (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) then drove an RBI single up the middle to cut the Sun Devils lead to 9-7 and put the tying runs on base.

But with freshman Chad Marshall (Paris, Ontario) at the plate, ASU reliever Timmy Rafferty spun and picked Echevarria off second for the first out of the inning. Marshall then scorched a liner to third was caught by Wallace who threw to first to double off Witkowski and end the game.

Rafferty picked up the victory for the Sun Devils, allowing two runs and four hits in 5.0 innings of work. Senior Tom Koehler (New Rochelle, N.Y.) took the loss for the Seawolves who were led offensively by Witkowski's two hits and three RBI.

ASU opened up the scoring in the first, loading the bases with two out and Kiel Roling coming to the plate. Koehler got ahead on Roling 1-2 but then balked, allowing Wallace to come home with the first run of the game. Koehler rebounded though, striking out Roling looking to end the threat.

The Seawolves evened the score in the second as freshman Stephen Marino (Lake Grove, N.Y.) recorded the Seawolves first hit of the game with a solid single to left with two outs and no one on and junior Michael Tansey (Lake Grove, N.Y.) followed with a single up the middle against Arizona State starter Matt Newman to put runners on first and second. Fier followed with a RBI single through the left side to tie the game at 1-all.

SBU grabbed the lead with two runs in the third as Witkowski was hit by the pitch to lead off and then moved to second on a bunt single from Marshall. Then with the runners on the move, sophomore Michael Stephan (Patchogue, N.Y.) chopped an RBI single over the head of Wallace to score Witkowski and knock Newman from the game. ASU reliever Stephen Sauer then got sophomore Rob Dyer (Selden, N.Y.) to ground into a double play as Marshall came into score to make it 3-1 in favor of the Seawolves.

ASU answered right back in the bottom of the third though as Jason Kipnis walked to lead off and Wallace then launched a long home run over the right-field fence to tie the score at 3-all. Ike Davis and Petey Paramore followed with singles to put runners on first and third and Davis came home one out later on safety squeeze to put Arizona State back up 4-3.

Stony Brook responded once again in the fourth, putting runners on second and third with no one out. Sauer almost got out of the inning, as he retired Fier on a foul pop up and then struck out Echevarria. But Witkowski hit a hard single up the middle that ticked off the glove of the ASU shortstop and into centerfield allowing both Marino and Tansey to score.

Arizona State regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Kipnis walked, stole second and then scored on a Wallace single to tie the game at 5-all. Wallace, who moved to second on the throw home trying to get Kipnis, then stole third and scored on a Davis single. ASU added to their lead with three more in the sixth on run-scoring hits from Ryan Sontag and Kipnis and a base-loaded walk to Marcel Champagnie.

The Seawolves pulled to within 9-6 with a run in the sixth as Marino led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Fier and then came home on a double down the left-field line from Echevarria.