After two losses at home to Arizona State, UCLA shortstop Ryan
McCarthy came up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning on
Sunday seeking atonement.
His error in the top of the inning had helped the Sun Devils tie
the game at nine.
“To be perfectly honest, I was frustrated with my error,
and in the back of my mind, I was thinking, “˜Home
run,'” he said.
McCarthy used that frustration to turn what he was thinking into
reality. He drilled a two-run home run to center field off Sun
Devils reliever Zechry Zinicola to give the Bruins a 11-9 lead that
they would not relinquish. UCLA (20-16, 4-5 Pac-10) hung on to win
11-10 and avoided an Arizona State (26-12, 5-7) sweep.
The game did not end easily for the Bruins. In the top of the
ninth inning, the Sun Devils threatened to tie the score, as they
put runners on second and third on a leadoff walk by left fielder
Jeff Larish and a one-out double by Colin Curtis off the seventh
Bruin reliever of the day, Kevin Brophy.
ASU shortstop Dustin Pedroia came to the plate with a chance to
tie the game or put the Sun Devils in the lead.
However, Brophy induced a deep fly-out to left fielder Matt
Thayer, who was in the game as a defensive replacement for Brandon
Averill. Larish and Curtis tagged from third and second,
respectively.
Thayer did not try to get the run at home, throwing instead to
third base to try to catch Curtis. The throw was perfect, barely
beating the speedy Curtis to third as third baseman Preston Griffin
applied a quick tag to end the game.
“I could not believe that guy was tagging up at second; it
was totally unexpected. When I let it go, I was shocked that he was
running,” Thayer said.
The win helps keep the Bruins in the race for a playoff spot,
and despite the disappointment of losing two out of three at home,
coach Gary Adams was happy that it was not a sweep that could have
been devastating to the Bruins’ season.
“At 4-5, we are in the middle of the pack, while at 3-6,
we would be at the bottom of the Pac-10 with a long climb
up,” Adams said.
In Saturday’s game, Zinicola drove in the winning run in
the top of the ninth with a sacrifice fly to give the Sun Devils a
4-3 win, spoiling another fine Casey Janssen start and designated
hitter Brett McMillan’s fourth home run.
On Friday, ASU won in a 12-4 blowout thanks to a six-run seventh
inning. In the bottom of the seventh, ASU right fielder Travis Buck
seemed to rob catcher Chris Denove of a three-run home run. The
Bruin runners did not tag, and Buck threw the ball to the infield
to record a rare triple play.