LISA OLSON/The State Press Freshman pitcher Mark Melancon delivers during Arizona's 9-5 loss to ASU last night in Tempe. The Sun Devils beat the Wildcats for the fifth straight meeting.

ASU 9 ð UA 5

The Arizona baseball team dropped its fourth game in five contests last night, losing 9-5 to Arizona State in Tempe's Packard Stadium.

The Sun Devils (24-11) scored runs in six of the eight innings they came to the plate and rallied from an early 4-1 deficit. Arizona State has now won the last five meetings between the schools.

Junior outfielder Jeff Van Houten paced the Arizona (16-15-1) offense with a 3-for-4 night and 2 RBIs. Sophomore outfielder Trevor Crowe added three hits and an RBI, and tied the UA single-game record with four stolen bases.

Sophomore first baseman Jordan Brown picked up the other Wildcat RBI.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second inning, but ASU scored three in the third to tie the game at four, followed by one run in the fourth to grab the lead. The Sun Devils would not trail again.

Arizona did manage to tie the game again in the sixth, but the Sun Devils responded with a run of their own to recapture the lead.

Arizona head coach Andy Lopez was ejected in the fourth inning for arguing a balk called on freshman Mark Melancon. It was the second time this season the Wildcat skipper has been thrown out of a game.

Melancon went 4 1/3 innings in the start, giving up five earned runs, but did not earn a decision. Brad Mills (0-1) was charged with the loss after surrendering one run in 2/3 of an inning. He walked three and notched one strikeout.

Again, the Wildcats didn't have trouble hitting, but did struggle to score runs. Arizona finished with just one less hit than its rival, but four fewer runs.

Though the teams both hail from the Pacific 10 Conference, the game was not officially part of conference play. The

Wildcats continue non-conference play tonight when they take on UNLV in Las Vegas at 7 p.m. Arizona will play a two-game set against the Rebels before returning to Tucson to face off against UT Pan AM this weekend.

Junior Koley Kolberg is scheduled to start for the Wildcats tonight, with junior Kevin Guyette slated to throw tomorrow.

The official game time was just short of 4 hours. After a 7 p.m. start, the game clocked in at 3:59, finishing just before 11 p.m.