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Waterlogged Wildcats slip, slide, get swept

TEMPE-Judging by the weather outside, last weekend's series between the UA baseball team and Arizona State was ugly.

Judging by the way Arizona played, it was atrocious.

The Wildcats (13-11) allowed ASU (17-4) to score 55 runs in three games, as the Sun Devils swept UA.

Following the series, the stunned Wildcats tried to look past the weekend's debacle.

"We can't be down on this past weekend," junior shortstop Keoni DeRenne said. "We've got the talent, the people, the coaching staff and the right attitude."

In Friday night's affair, a seventh inning home run by Brooks Conrad broke a 7-7 tie, as the Sun Devils rallied to a 9-7 victory.

Arizona squandered a seven-run lead in the game, as the Sun Devils rallied for their 16th win of the season.

Wildcat sophomore Ben Diggins, who was coming off two consecutive complete games, allowed four earned runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. Reliever Tony Milo (1-3) took the loss for the Wildcats.

It was Saturday's game, however, that will go down in history as one of UA's most embarrassing losses.

ASU collected a school-record 54 total bases as the Sun Devils pounded UA 32-3. The Sun Devil's 32 runs ranks third all-time for a single game's output and was the most runs scored in the past 20 years of NCAA baseball.

"(Saturday) was one of those days when nothing went well," DeRenne said. "The good part about baseball is that we get to come back and act like (yesterday) didn't exist."

Eight UA pitchers combined to serve up eight home runs in the game, tying an Arizona school record for futility.

Sophomore lefty Brian Pemble (3-2) took the loss for the Wildcats.

The Sun Devils had 27 hits in the game, compared to the Wildcat's eight.

"Everything fell for them" UA head coach Jerry Stitt said. "Every fly ball to right field was a home run. It was a total and complete debacle."

Yesterday afternoon's game was a chance for Arizona to regain respect following Saturday afternoon's demoralizing defeat. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but prevailing winds and rained turned the contest into a comedy of errors - the Wildcats committed six of them - as the Sun Devils prevailed, 14-9.

UA senior lefty Rob Shabansky went just one inning, allowing six earned runs on four hits. Shabansky's outing, his second start since reconstructive elbow surgery, was far from a success.

"It's tough not getting more than one inning out of Shabansky," Stitt said.

Following the game, a visibly angry Stitt battled the rain and tried to find a silver lining in the weekend's sweep.

"We played well today," he said. "One error in the second (inning) opened up the door to a six-run inning. You look up and it's 7-1."

According to DeRenne, UA players need to learn their role as a part of the team.

"Each person needs to realize what he has to do to help the team," he said. "We can't try to hit 8-run homers with nobody on base."