No. 2 Arizona State Wins Slugfest With Oregon State

Arizona State scored seven runs off five hits in 1 2/3 innings against Oregon State’s Jorge Reyes.

Braden Wells Photo courtesy: OSU Athletics

TEMPE, Ariz. - The Oregon State baseball team dropped the series finale to No. 2 Arizona State, 15-12, Sunday afternoon at Packard Stadium.

The Beavers still won the series after taking wins Friday night, 6-4, and Saturday night, 12-3. The Beavers, after Sunday, are 18-13 overall and 6-6 in Pacific-10 Conference play. The Sun Devils, meanwhile, are 31-6 overall and 7-5 in the Pac-10.

Sunday’s game was a slugfest, with the teams combining for three home runs and 26 hits overall. The Beavers led the game with 14 hits.

Braden Wells had three hits, tying a career-high set last season against Washington State. Joey Wong finished with two hits – a double in the second and two-run home run in the sixth – while Lonnie Lechelt posted singles in the second and fourth innings and a run-scoring double in the ninth.

Neither starter was able to get out of the second inning. Arizona State scored seven runs off five hits in 1 2/3 innings against Oregon State’s Jorge Reyes. The right-hander walked two and struck out two in 44 pitches.

Reyes fell to 2-2 this season.

Reyes Dorado, in his second appearance of the weekend, went 1 1/3 innings Sunday against the Beavers, surrendering all six of the OSU’s runs in the second. He managed 45 pitches, striking out one while walking two and surrendering four hits.

Stephen Sauer come on immediately in relief of Dorado and scattered a hit and walk in an inning of work to pick up the win and improve to 4-1 this season.

Arizona State took a 3-0 lead in the first on a three-run home run by Brett Wallace. But the Beavers answered back with six runs in the top of the second, highlighted by Wong’s double that hit the right-center fence, driving in two.

The Sun Devils, meanwhile, scored the next eight runs – five in the second to force Reyes out of the game and three in the fifth – to take an 11-6 lead.

Wong and the Beavers pulled to within two in the sixth with three runs, all coming with two outs. Wells scored the first run of the inning on a single to left by Daniel Robertson. Wong, the next batter and the fifth of the inning, hit his team-leading fifth home run of the season to make it 11-9 in favor of Arizona State.

Oregon State couldn’t keep Arizona State off the board from that point on, allowing four Sun Devils’ runs in the sixth to extend the lead to 15-9.

Ryan Ortiz started a rally for Oregon State in the ninth, driving home two on a double to left-center. Lonnie Lechelt doubled down the right field line to drive in Ortiz and make it 15-12 in favor of ASU. But Ike Davis was able to get out of the inning with no further damage, ending the game.

Oregon State returns to Corvallis for two games Wednesday against in-state rival Portland at Goss Stadium. The first game is slated to start at 2 p.m. PST and is a continuation of the suspended game from April 15’s rainout after three and a half innings at PGE Park in Portland. The Beavers hold a 3-0 lead in that contest.

The regularly scheduled game that afternoon is still slated to begin at 5 p.m. If the first game runs past 4:15 p.m., the second game will start 45 minutes after. Tickets to the 5 p.m. game will be honored at 2 p.m. as well. Tickets from PGE Park will not be honored. Tickets from PGE Park may be exchanged for comparable tickets for any Portland Beavers regular-season game in 2008, with the exception of July 4, by calling 503-553-5555.

Outfield general admission seats for $10 are still available for Wednesday’s games. To purchase tickets, calling 1-800-GOBEAVS, visit www.osubeavers.com or the legendary Gill Coliseum ticket office. Fans can also purchase tickets at the Goss Stadium ticket office on game day. It opens two-and-a-half hours before first pitch.

Fans can also catch the games live by tuning into the Beaver Sports Network, Beaver Nation Online (www.osubeavers.com) or Yahoo! Sports.

OSU Notes: Lonnie Lechelt’s second-inning run-scoring single was his 11th RBI in 10 career games against Arizona State ... He added a 12th in the ninth inning ... Braden Wells drove in his first run of the season in the second.

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