Feb. 25, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - A Travis Buck two-out grand slam in the bottom of the seventh pushed Arizona State past No. 8 Baylor 5-3 in the first game of a three-game series Friday night at Packard Stadium. All five runs on the night for ASU were unearned as the Sun Devils snapped a six-game losing streak.
Baylor (5-3) led 3-1 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but a Paul Witt throwing error kept the frame alive for Arizona State (7-9). After a single and a walk, Buck lifted a 3-1 Trey Taylor offering high over the right-field fence. Buck's home run was the Sun Devils' fifth and final hit of the night. Baylor out-hit ASU 10-5 on the night.
The grand slam also knocked Taylor out of the game and ended what had to that point been a stellar outing. Taylor (2-1) was saddled with the tough-luck loss after allowing five runs, all unearned, on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work.
Arizona State took an early 1-0 lead with a run on one hit and a Baylor error in the bottom of the fourth. Tuffy Gosewisch provided the run with a two-on, one-out sacrifice fly.
The Bears rallied to tie the game in the top of the fifth. Reid Brees opened the frame with a double down the line in right and moved to third on a Kevin Russo sacrifice bunt. Seth Fortenberry then punched a single through the left side, plating Brees.
Baylor pulled ahead in the top of the seventh with two runs on three hits and an ASU error. Zach Dillon reached by virtue of that error to lead off the inning and then scored on Brees' second double of the night. After a Russo single pushed Brees to third, Fortenberry beat out a bunt single that scored Brees.
Jason Urquidez (2-1) earned the victory in relief, holding the Bears scoreless on one hit and two walks with four strikeouts over the final 3.0 innings. ASU starter Zechry Zinicola was touched for three runs, two earned, on nine hits with no walks and six hits.
Brees, Fortenberry and Russo led the Bears at the plate, collecting two hits each. Fortenberry drove in two runs, and Brees scored twice. Michael Griffin also was 3-for-4.
Baylor and Arizona State meet again Saturday at 2 p.m. CST. The Bears send Cory VanAllen (2-0) to the mound opposite ASU scheduled starter Pat Bresnehan (0-1).
NOTES: Arizona State leads the all-time series 3-0. All three games have been played at Tempe. ... Tonight's game marked the fourth time over the past two seasons that Trey Taylor has allowed fewer earned runs than runs scored by Baylor and not earned a victory. ... The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Taylor. However, two other streaks continued for the senior southpaw. Taylor now has not allowed more than three earned runs in 10 consecutive starts, and he has not allowed more than four earned runs in 14 consecutive starts. ... Fortenberry matched career highs with two hits and two RBI. ... Baylor was 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, both hits coming from Fortenberry.
