FULLERTON, Calif. - The ASU baseball team's path to Omaha hit a roadblock on Sunday, and it came in the form of a giant elephant.
The No. 3 Cal State Fullerton Titans tallied six runs in the first two innings and took the third and decisive game 7-1 over ASU in the best-of-three super regional at Goodwin Field. The Titans advance to next week's College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
The loss ends a remarkable season for the No. 5 Sun Devils, who won Saturday's ballgame 7-6 to force a series finale after the Titans won game one 5-1 on Friday.
Cal State Fullerton (48-14) jumped all over ASU starting pitcher Beau Vaughan on Sunday for three runs in the first to take the early advantage. Titan freshman shortstop Justin Turner tripled home the first run of the game and scored on a Shane Costa chopper over the drawn-in infield.
Vaughan's last straw came in the top of the second when Titan outfielder Kyle Boyer went deep to lead off the inning. Senior right-hander Jered Liebeck faired no better in relief, allowing doubles to Ronnie Prettyman and Costa to plate a run, then a leadoff home run in the third to Danny Dorn, digging ASU into a 7-0 hole.
"Vaughan and Liebeck pitched poorly. They didn't stay poised," ASU head coach Pat Murphy said. "Credit goes to Fullerton, though. They played unbelievable defense and got extra-base hits in bunches."
Titan redshirt freshman Dustin Miller was shaky on the mound early, walking a batter in each of the first two innings. He was bailed out of trouble in the second when ASU third baseman Dennis Wyrick failed to bunt runners over to second and third and catcher Tuffy Gosewisch grounded in to an inning-ending double play.
"We just didn't get anything going today offensively," said Gosewisch, who was 2-for-9 during the three games. "(Cal-State Fullerton) pitched well all three games."
Miller settled down after that, allowing just three hits and one run in 7 2/3 innings. He averaged a strikeout per inning during the season but fanned just one on Sunday.
The lack of offense in the Sun Devil lineup was present on Friday, as well, in a 5-1 loss.
After an explosive regional in which they scored 45 runs in three games, the Sun Devils were quieted by Cal State Fullerton pitcher Jason Windsor.
ASU (54-14) mustered up just five hits off Windsor and scored its only run on a fifth inning single by Gosewisch.
In seven innings of work, Windsor struck out five and walked just one to pick up his 10th victory of the season.
ASU batters were flustered all day, popping out 16 times
"He was executing against us real well," ASU junior center fielder Andre Ethier (5-for-11) said. "He kept us off-balance and we just didn't make adjustments."
Sun Devil freshman starter Erik Averill pitched five brilliant innings, striking out a season high eight batters. Unfortunately, he endured a rough four-run second inning that gave Cal State Fullerton all the runs it would need.
"The second inning, my ball was up and you can't pitch up in college baseball," said Averill, who also hit a batter and balked three times.
In Saturday's 7-6 win, the Sun Devils found their offensive production.
An RBI single by sophomore first baseman Jeff Larish in the first inning got things going and Ethier blasted a two-run shot to right in the third. Larish would add his own two-run homer and ASU led 7-2 after five innings.
"I was just looking for a ball up, looking to hit a line drive hard and it happened to go over the fence," Larish (4-for-11) said. "I'm happy I was able to produce today and help our team get a win."
The Titans battled back to within one run, but junior closer Ryan Schroyer shut the door with 2 1/3 innings of hitless baseball.
"We didn't play very well early," Cal State Fullerton head coach George Horton said. "We finally clicked things in but it was too little too late."
Cal State Fullerton batters hit the ball hard all afternoon but couldn't seem to find the holes past ASU's defense. Freshman Ryan Bosch made an outstanding play in center field, diving to take a leadoff hit and possible extra bases away from Jason Corapci in the eighth.
"It's frustrating," Corapci said. "It's a game of inches. Balls will fall sometimes. They just didn't fall today."
Senior right-hander Ben Thurmond picked up his eighth victory of the season despite being battered around.
"He gives up hits but he makes big pitches in big counts," Murphy said of Thurmond, who was touched for eight hits in five innings but allowed just two runs.
One of the biggest surprises in the series came from the lack of offensive production by ASU sophomore shortstop Dustin Pedroia. The Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year went hitless in the series (0-for-13).
In the previous 65 games this season, Pedroia had gone without a hit only four times and never went hitless for more than one game in a row.
The Sun Devils failed to reach Omaha for the fifth consecutive year, but falling one game short was the closest they've been since 1998 when they made it all the way to the national championship game before losing to USC.
"I'm proud of our club," Murphy said. "It's a bitter pill to swallow when you know you are good enough to be (in Omaha) and you are watching games on TV."
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
