University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Arizona St
UCLA Baseball Cruises Past No. 3 Arizona State 13-3
April 22, 2000 | Baseball
April 22, 2000
Tempe, Ariz. - Junior second baseman Chase Utley hit a pair of homeruns for a season high five RBI, while sophomore right-hander Josh Karp pitched a two-hitter through 7.1 innings lifting the No. 21 UCLA baseball team over third-ranked Arizona State 13-3 in the second game of a three-game Pac-10 series at Packard Stadium Friday night.
The Bruins evened the series 1-1 after falling to ASU 10-8 last night, and improve their overall record to 25-17, 8-3 in league action. The Sun Devils fall to 34-10, 10-4 in the Pac-10. The UCLA pitching staff combined to allow just four hits by ASU, a team which leads the conference in nine offensive categories.
Utley went 2-for-5 with two runs and five RBI, while junior left fielder Bill Scott was 3-for-6 with a double and a run scored. Karp (6-1) picked up his sixth victory of the season for the Bruins and was just two strikeouts shy of his career and season high 12.
Karp held the Sun Devils' three and four hitters and two of the most feared batters in the Pac-10, Casey Myers and Mitch Jones, hitless. ASU starter Chad Pennington (7-2) suffered the loss.
Utley hit a three-run bomb over the right center field fence, capping a six-run second inning and giving the Bruins an early 6-0 advantage. Redshirt freshman designated hitter Jim Hemming led off the second with a solo shot, and after Pennington hit two batters, Utley went deep giving UCLA a 4-0 lead.
The Bruins took advantage of two errors by Sun Devil shortstop Dennis Wyrick, and scored two more runs. With junior first baseman Garrett Atkins on first, Scott doubled and Atkins came around to score when Wyrick misplayed the relay in from ASU center fielder Jeff Duncan.
Scott then came around to score from second when UCLA junior catcher Forrest Johnson reached base on yet another error by Wyrick.
Karp, in the meantime, held ASU scoreless up until the sixth inning after the Bruins took a 7-0 lead with a run in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Atkins. ASU third baseman Mike Lopez led off the inning with just the second Sun Devil hit off Karp, a double, and later scored on a sacrifice fly by right fielder Mel Stocker.
UCLA added two more in the seventh on an RBI single by sophomore third baseman Randall Shelley who later came around to score on a balk.
In the bottom of the eighth, Karp began the inning by striking out left fielder Mitch Jones swinging yet he reached base on a wild throw to first by Johnson. Karp later loaded the bases on two walks and was relieved by Paul Diaz. Diaz gave up a sacrifice fly by Stocker and an RBI pinch-hit single by Phil Downing to cut the Bruin lead to 9-3.
UCLA then turned to freshman lefty Mike Kunes, who got center fielder Jeff Duncan to ground into a fielder's choice, ending the inning.
The Bruins added four insurance runs in the top of the ninth, as junior right fielder Matt Pearl had an RBI single and Utley belted his second home run of the night, a two-run shot giving him a season-high five RBI.
The series culminates tomorrow at Packard Stadium with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. Junior left-hander Bobby Roe will get the starting nod for UCLA, while freshman right-hander Jered Liebeck will be on the hill for ASU.
