Tracy Smith brought down the thunder on his Arizona State baseball team after a listless 9-0 loss Friday, saying win or lose in the rest of a critical series against UCLA he expected a better performance.
The Sun Devils responded with a mostly sounder and certainly more competitive game Saturday night but still made critical late mistakes, giving away a 4-0 lead in a wrenching 11-5, 17-inning loss to the No. 5 Bruins at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
ASU first baseman Chris Beall's two-base fielding error on a Chris Keck leadoff grounder started a six-run Bruins 17th, mostly against Jordan Aboites (2-3), seventh of eight ASU pitchers.