04/18 - Zinicola clinches Devils’ come-from-behind win

Arizona State freshman Zechry Zinicola drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly and pitched 1 1 /3 perfect innings to earn the win as the Sun Devils baseball team came from behind to edge UCLA 4-3 Saturday at Los Angeles.

ASU (26-11, 5-6) clinched its first Pac-10 series victory of the year and won its third straight game.

"It was a great win for our club to really fight all nine innings and come out with a big victory," ASU coach Pat Murphy said. "We had some really big performances and had some freshmen step up. Zinicola was great at the end."

Zinicola (3-1), who struck out two, entered the lineup as the designated hitter with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the ninth. He drove a 3-2 fastball to center field to score Colin Curtis.

Zinicola combined with sophomore lefty Erik Averill to retire the last 15 batters in a row. Averill shut down the Bruins (19-16, 3-5), throwing 3 2 /3 perfect innings, after starter Jason Urquidez surrendered three runs on eight hits in four innings.

The Devils started their rally in the seventh inning when they trailed 3-0. After singles by Joe Persichina and Jeff Larish put runners on first and third with one out, Josh Asanovich drove in ASU’s first run with a sacrifice fly. After a single by Curtis and a walk to Dustin Pedroia, senior Nick Walsh drilled a first-pitch fastball into the right-field corner to tie the game at 3.

"Walsh really provided the big hit in the seventh," Murphy said.

The Bruins scored all their runs in the fourth inning.

Persichina went 3-for-5 with a run scored to raise his season batting average to .337. Curtis (2-for-4) and junior catcher Tuffy Gosewisch (2-for-3) each had two hits. Gosewisch extended his hitting streak to six games, and Walsh has now recorded a hit in five straight.

UCLA left fielder Brandon Averill, older brother of Erik, led UCLA, going 2-for-3 with a run, and Brett McMillan had a solo home run.