The ASU baseball team allowed Long Beach State to score in just three innings of Sunday's rubber game.
However, No. 22 Long Beach State scored nearly a dozen runs in those three innings en route to an 11-1 pasting of No. 9 ASU in front of 2,823 at Packard Stadium.
Long Beach State led 3-1 heading into the seventh inning. After four singles, a hit batsman and a wild pitch, the cushion widened, and the Dirtbags cruised the rest of the way.
"Today was Long Beach State's day," ASU senior second baseman Joey Hooft said.
It looked like ASU (1-2) was going to draw even in the bottom of the sixth when sophomore first baseman Joe Persichina stepped to the plate with runners on first and third with two outs.
Persichina hit a sharp line drive to right field, but Long Beach State freshman Jose Hernandez made a diving snag, ending the potential rally.
"When Joe hit that ball down the line, I thought I was scoring for sure," said ASU senior catcher Tuffy Gosewisch, who was on first. "The guy came up with the ball. There's not much you can do about that."
The Sun Devils mustered just one hit over the last three innings.
Long Beach State (2-1) opened the scoring in the third with three unearned runs. Senior third baseman Jeff Larish made an errant throw to first, allowing junior designated hitter Jordan Struble to reach base. After two quick outs, Hernandez singled in Struble and junior second baseman Chuck Sindlinger homered to give the Dirtbags a 3-0 lead.
ASU got a run back in the fourth when sophomore left fielder Colin Curtis drove in Larish. The Sun Devils might have had more, but sophomore designated hitter Zechry Zinicola was thrown out at third on Curtis' hit. ASU coach Pat Murphy said Zinicola should have been safe because of runner's interference.
"I thought they interfered with him, and that could have changed the game," Murphy said. "That's baseball."
Long Beach State poured it on in the ninth, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring five runs. Struble, senior Kyle Bradbury and junior Troy Tulowitzki each doubled in the inning.
The Sun Devils wasted a strong performance from starter Brett Bordes, who allowed three runs, none of which were earned, in four innings. He struck out four and didn't allow a walk.
In Friday's season opener, ASU and Long Beach State battled amiably for seven innings until the Sun Devils fell apart. The Dirtbags scored runs on a bases-loaded walk, a wild pitch and a safety squeeze for a 7-3 win.
ASU evened its record Saturday by rallying from a four-run deficit for an 8-6 victory.
Trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth, Hooft singled in Persichina to tie the game and freshman J.J. Sferra drove in Hooft to give ASU the lead. An error by Sindlinger allowed another score. The game was delayed for more than an hour by rain.
Reach the reporter at kyle.odegard@asu.edu.
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