Arizona State 12 – Oklahoma 0

From CBB News Sources

(Tempe, AZ) - A dominant starting pitching performance by Josh Satow propelled No. 3 Arizona State to a 12-0 win over Oklahoma Sunday night in the championship game of the Tempe Regional in front of a crowd of 2,553 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. The win makes the Sun Devils 48-11 on the season, and they advance to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament where they will face either San Diego or Fresno State.

Satow allowed only three hits and one walk with five strikeouts over 7.1 innings to earn the win and improve to 9-3 on the season. Oklahoma had runners on the corners with one out in the first, but Satow got a foul out and a groundout to get out of the jam, and that began a stretch of 15 straight Sooner hitters retired.

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Oklahoma 11 – Vanderbilt 10

From CBB News Sources

(Tempe, AZ) – Sophomore Aaron Baker sent his third home run, a two-run shot, of the 2008 Tempe Regional to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday and gave OU an 11-10 victory over No. 22 Vanderbilt at Packard Stadium.

The win improved the Sooners’ overall mark to 36-25-1 and will place them in the championship game (Sunday at 6 p.m. MST) against No. 4 Arizona State, where OU will have to defeat the Sun Devils twice to advance to the super regional round. The loss drops the Commodores to 41-22 overall and ends their season. The Sooners have appeared in the championship game of an NCAA Regional in each of their last three appearances (2005-Oxford, 2006-Norman).

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Preliminary report from Bryan Young at the Tempe Regional FULL REPORT TO BE POSTED LATER

A tired Oklahoma Sooners team looks to be feeling the effects of an earlier 3:30 elimination game in the 100 degree heat. In their second game of the day Arizona State starter Josh Satow has thrown a shutout through seven innings including retiring 15 Sooners in a row after a first and third one out jam in the top of the first inning.

On the flip side the Arizona State offense has continued the onslaught of last night, scoring in just about every inning so far tonight. Case in point: ASU’s Kiel Roling just blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh towards the Tempe Town Lake, as the ball left Packard Stadium over the left field fence in a hurry.

Unfortunately some distressing news to report. ASU Team Capatain Petey Paramore pulled up lame after limping out a RBI double in the bottom of the fourth inning. Early reports indicate a right quad strain. However, I just received a report that Petey was seen walking around the ASU clubhouse area without much of a limp.

(Tempe, AZ) – Who Is Mike Jones? The Arizona State version of Mike Jones is now the answer to a trivia question. A three run home run over the right field wall in the sixth inning complimented a couple of great catches in center field on Saturday night. But the question is, name several Arizona State athletes who have hit both a home run and caught a touchdown pass for the Sun Devils? [Thanks for the question TerryLee]

Aaron Baker looked great for Oklahoma with two home runs on the night. However the entire rest of the Sooners roster were only half as effective as Baker, with just the one other run between them all.

Unfortunately Carl Spackler has no “Cinderella story” left here in Tempe. After an inspirational performance on Friday night the Stony Brook Seawolves were eliminated during the day game. Head coach Matt Senk was quoted stating “Arizona State and Vanderbilt are tremendous teams and it was an honor to compete against them.” Well coach Senk, it was an honor to watch your team play. Your players and fans represented the America East conference well. Not Masters champions this year, but maybe you can pull off the miracle next year. [Caddyshack 1980]

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Arizona State 15 Oklahoma 3

From CBB News Sources

(Tempe, AZ) - Buoyed by eight strong innings from starting pitcher Mike Leake, No. 3 Arizona State defeated Oklahoma 15-3 in its second game of the NCAA Tournament Saturday night in front of a crowd of 3,744 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. The Sun Devils improve to 47-11 with the win, and they will face the winner of tomorrow afternoon’s game between Vanderbilt and Oklahoma tomorrow night.

Leake allowed eight hits and two runs while striking out six to improve to 10-2 on the season. The victory makes Leake the fifth pitcher in school history to have double-digit wins in each of his first two seasons at ASU, joining Jeff Pentland, Eddie Bane, Linty Ingram and Jason Urquidez.

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Vanderbilt 9 – Stony Brook 4

From CBB News Sources

(Tempe, AZ) - Mike Minor pitched eight solid innings and Vanderbilt pounded out 16 hits in a 9-4 win over Stony Brook in the elimination game of the NCAA Tempe Regional Saturday afternoon at Packard Stadium.

The Commodores (41-21) will face the loser of tonight’s Oklahoma-Arizona State contest tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. CT/1 p.m. MT. The Seawolves season ended with a 34-26 record.

Minor gave up four runs on seven hits in eight innings with seven strikeouts and one walk to improve to 7-3 on the year.

“The game was predicated on the start of Mike Minor,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin. “To go deep into a ball game, especially after we lost the first game and have to play five games to win it. We needed a starting pitcher to go deep and he did.  It was a hot day obviously and he threw a lot of strikes.  [He had] one tough inning, but it wasn’t all his fault.  He overcame it and pitched a very solid eighth.  I think it stops and ends with him.”

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(Tempe, AZ) - Brett Wallace was huge for Arizona State, but Stony Brook would not give up in a thrilling game that bounced back and forth all night Friday.

3,425 baseball fans enjoyed a great game on a marvelous night that featured five lead changes before a thrilling end to a Stony Brook rally wrapped up the game for Arizona State in the ninth.

Freshman Matt Newman started the game and looked good for ASU, but after putting down the first five Stony Brook batters in order, the Seawolves put together a two out rally in the second to tie the game.   In the third Stony Brook kept at it took the lead and made ASU go to the bullpen first. 

However 12 walks by Stony Brook pitchers gave ASU too many opportunities.  Combine that with 11 hits including a blast off the bat of Brett Wallace that cleared not only the fence in right field but also likely the median on Rural Road on its trajectory out of the park.  ASU looked good offensively but Stony Brook hung all night and never looked out of the game.

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ASU 9 - Stony Brook 7

From CBB News Sources

(Tempe, AZ) - With four hits from two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year Brett Wallace leading the way, No. 3 Arizona State defeated Stony Brook 9-7 in its opening game of the NCAA Tournament Friday night in front of a crowd of 3,425 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. The win improves the Sun Devils to 46-11 and means they will face fellow first-day winner Oklahoma tomorrow night.

Wallace was 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored, and he hit his team-leading 21st home run in the victory.

Tommy Rafferty earned the win to improve to 12-0 on the year, as he pitched the final five innings out of the bullpen, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out four. The win ties Rafferty for the school record for pitching victories out of the bullpen, equaling Dave Alexander, who went 12-2 in 1989.

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Oklahoma 8 - Vanderbilt 5

From CBB News Sources

(Tempe, AZ) - The Oklahoma Sooners (35-24-1) strong play down the stretch carried over to their NCAA Tournament opener against No. 22 Vanderbilt (40-21) at Packard Stadium on Friday.  The Sooners, seeded third, topped the second-seeded Commodores, 8-5, behind Andrew Doyle’s ninth win of the season and Mike Gosse’s three-hit, three-RBI outing on his 22nd birthday.

OU fell behind early and trailed 2-1 after the first, but the Sooners’ offense responded with seven runs over the final eight frames.  The Sooners connected for 12 hits on the afternoon, keyed by strong performances at the plate by Gosse, Aaron Baker (3-for-4), Casey Johnson (2-for-4, RBI) and Matt Harughty (1-for-3, 2 RBIs).

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#1 Arizona State (45-11)

#2 Vanderbilt (40-20)

#3 Oklahoma (34-24-1)

#4 Stony Brook (34-24)

Arizona State is the host for the Tempe Regional for the second year in a row and third time in four years. Winkles Field – Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark will be the site of all the action. The Sun Devils are also the #3 National Seed.

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Arizona State captures the Player, Pitcher, Newcomer and Coach of the Year awards.

Arizona State’s Brett Wallace Named Pac-10 Player of the Year

Arizona State’s Mike Leake Named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year

Washington State’s Paul Gran Named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year

Arizona State’s Jason Kipnis Named Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year

Arizona State’s Pat Murphy Named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year

Media Release

(Walnut Creek, CA) – Arizona State junior third baseman Brett Wallace was named the 2008 Pacific-10 Conference Baseball Player of the Year, while teammate sophomore right-hander Mike Leake earned Pitcher of the Year honors and Washington State senior Paul Gran was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year. Arizona State freshman outfielder Jason Kipnis was named Newcomer of the Year in a vote by the Conference baseball coaches. Arizona State’s Pat Murphy earned Coach of the Year honors, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today.

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The Pac-10 Conference concluded the 24 game conference season this Memorial Day Weekend and after defeating Arizona on Thursday night, the Arizona State Sun Devils clinched their second straight conference title. Stanford finished second, UCLA finished third. Arizona, CAL, Washington, Oregon State, USC and Washington State wrap up the standings.

Five Pac-10 schools were selected by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee to participate in the postseason, and given a chance to head to Omaha. Arizona, Arizona State, California, Stanford and UCLA were invited, while two time defending National Champion Oregon State was left out despite a three game sweep of Pacific to conclude its season. Read the rest of this entry »

ASU’s Kipnis Named Pac-10 Baseball Player of the Week and UCLA’s Murphy Named Pitcher of the Week

This is the first weekly honor for Kipnis and Murphy’s third.

Media Release

(Walnut Creek, CA) - Arizona State redshirt sophomore outfielder Jason Kipnis has been named the Pacific-10 Conference Baseball Player of the Week and UCLA junior left-handed pitcher Tim Murphy has been named Pitcher of the Week for May 19 - 25, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today.

Kipnis, from Northbrook, Ill., helped Arizona State clinch their second straight Pac-10 title, going 8-for-13 (.615) with a double, a triple, a homer and six runs batted in during the final week of the regular season. He also stole a base, drew four walks and played perfect defense in the outfield.

Murphy, from Vista, Calif., pitched his second complete game shutout of the season, helping the Bruins blank No. 15 California, 8-0, in Friday’s series opener at Evans Diamond. Murphy scattered five hits in nine innings, totaling 10 strikeouts while walking four hitters. Murphy’s complete-game effort helped pave the way for UCLA’s series victory at California over the weekend. UCLA blanked the Golden Bears, 7-0, on Saturday to become the first Bruin baseball team to post back-to-back shutouts since 1978. With the win, Murphy improved to 5-6 on the season with a 3.52 ERA and team-highs of 107 strikeouts and 94.2 innings.

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ASU’s Kiel Roling Named Pac-10 Baseball Player of the Week and UCLA’s Tim Murphy Named Pitcher of the Week

This is the fourth honor of Roling’s career and the second honor for Murphy.

Media Release

(Walnut Creek, CA) - ARIZONA STATE junior first baseman Kiel Roling has been named the Pacific-10 Conference Baseball Player of the Week and UCLA junior left-handed pitcher Tim Murphy has been named Pitcher of the Week for May 12 - 18, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today.

Roling, from Grand Junction, Colo., went 9-for-13 (.692) leading the Sun Devils to a 4-0 week. He knocked in eight runs, slugged 1.385 and scored five runs helping Arizona State beat LMU on Monday and sweep Washington. He also played solid defense at first base, a spot he was playing due to the injury to Ike Davis. Read the rest of this entry »

With just two weeks of conference play remaining and no conference tournament, the Pac-10 championship is still within reach of several teams. Arizona State is currently in first place with a one game lead over Stanford, while Washington is another one game back in third place. Cal and Oregon State are tied for fourth place, however they both have only three conference games remaining while all other teams will still play six more.

This weekends most intriguing match up happens in Tempe, as Washington brings it’s league best 3.57 ERA to face the conference’s most offensive team Arizona State (.333 team batting average). Brett Wallace and Ike Davis (who is rumored to be returning to the starting line-up after missing the last ten games due to a rib injury) are the only two player in the league with batting averages over .400, while Jorden Merry is scheduled to head to the mound on Friday night for the Huskies with his 2.31 ERA and perfect 8-0 record on the line. Then on Sunday the leagues best strike out pitcher Nick Haughian will look to add to his 99 K’s while facing the nations second most disciplined team at the plate as ASU has 320 walks for the season.

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