‘Terrible’ Pitching Wrecks Texas Tech in Loss to Arizona State

Arizona State showed its strength on offense in the first round of the NCAA baseball regional at Fullerton Friday, but Texas Tech Coach Larry Hays was disappointed by his team’s pitching.

“Arizona State did a good job, but we never were able to get an edge in pitching,” Hays said. “Our pitching wasn’t good enough to win.”

The result was a 12-3 Arizona State victory. The second-seeded Sun Devils broke up a tie game with a nine-run seventh inning.

“They showed good balance on offense and a lot of athletic ability,” Hays said of the Sun Devils.

The victory advanced Arizona State into today’s winners’ bracket game against Cal State Fullerton.

Hays said he had hoped he could get at least one more inning from his starting pitcher, Brandon Roberson, but he went to his set-up pitcher, Chad Ertel, in the fifth, and the Sun Devils got to him for five runs on six hits.

“We pitched terrible,” Hays said. “That was the bottom line.”

Arizona State catcher Casey Myers had a big day against Texas Tech.

Myers, selected the Pacific 10 Conference player of the year for the second consecutive season, was four for five with three runs batted in and two runs scored. He hit his seventh homer of the season.

In 10 career NCAA tournament games, Myers is hitting .425 with four homers and 15 RBIs.

Bill Mosiello, an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton in 1991 and 1992, is back at Fullerton this week as a volunteer assistant for Arizona State.

Mosiello has ties to Titan Coach George Horton and pitching coach Dave Serrano.

He played for Horton at Cerritos College, then was an assistant coach with Horton at Fullerton on Coach Augie Garrido’s staff.

Serrano was a pitcher and Mosiello the catcher at Cerritos High and Cerritos College. After that, Serrano went to Fullerton and Mosiello to Fresno State.

“We were battery mates since our Little League days,” Serrano said.

Mosiello previously was an assistant at Tennessee, Mississippi and Oklahoma. He resigned at Oklahoma after 23 games this season because of what he called a “difference of philosophy” with Sooner Coach Larry Cochell and joined Arizona State Coach Pat Murphy.

Mosiello said he has made no coaching commitment for next season. “We’ll see what happens,’ he said.