(Photo:Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
With four wins in its last five games, 44 runs during that span, and a locker room that is starting to believe in itself, Arizona State baseball may finally be starting to turn the corner that everyone associated with the program has been predicting through the first 14 games of 2018.
The Sun Devils began their final weekend series before the start of conference play with clutch pitching and another solid offensive performance en route to a 9-4 win over the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks.
With a four-run first inning and five players recording two or more hits against Seahawk starter Alex Royalty, this incredibly young team seems to be figuring out its identity on offense, and just in the nick of time.
“I know the nerves kind of got us early [in the season], we’re young, we’ve all said that, but I think now everyone’s starting to settle in at the plate,” sophomore Carter Aldrete said after the win. “We’re just swinging at good pitches now. I think we kind of chased early, and I think the maturity is starting to come throughout our whole lineup. I think we’re all about to catch fire.”
While the Sun Devil offense showed up once again, the pitching staff did its part against the Seahawks as well, albeit with some high-pressure situations in the middle-to-late innings.
Head coach Tracy Smith handed junior Sam Romero the ball for the second consecutive Friday and through the first three innings, Romero appeared to be in totatl control, allowing only one hit.
However, his effectiveness wouldn’t last much longer as he surrendered two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth, departing in favor of sophomore Alec March with two runners on.
Smith felt that some of Romero’s struggles were out of his control Friday night. The righty threw 92 pitches in just 4.1 innings.
“Honestly I thought it was kind of a weird [strike] zone. I thought it was a tight zone for both [Romero and Royalty],” Smith said. “If it’s a tight zone for both, it’s OK, but I think that affected both guys because they’re both finesse pitchers and they weren’t getting the corners.”
Romero has stepped into the Friday night starter’s role effectively over his two starts, but his performances have been anything but surprising to his teammates.
“I think the role fits perfectly for him, just because he’s got great movement on his stuff and he’s going to attack hitters no matter what, and he gets fired up” Marsh said. “It gets the dugout going, and once our offense rolls we’re going to win a lot of games with him starting on Friday.”
Marsh was able to strand the two runners he inherited in the fifth by way of a strikeout and a fly ball to end the frame, then proceeded to hurl 3.1 scoreless frames of relief before giving way to Chaz Montoya with two outs in the eighth. Marsh picked up his second win of the season in the process.
After posting an 8.41 ERA in 21 innings as a freshman, Marsh has yet to allow a run in 12.1 innings in 2018. For Marsh, his mentality when on the mound doesn’t change, regardless of the situation he’s in.
“I don’t really care what position I am in, if I’m a starter or reliever, my goal this year was to just perform well and give our team a chance to win,” he said.
The recent turnaround on offense for ASU can largely be attributed to the top of their batting order, with Gage Canning and Lyle Lin both extending their hitting streaks to 14 games Friday and Spencer Torkelson leading the nation with eight home runs coming into Friday’s game.
For Aldrete, having that type of production ahead of him in the lineup makes all the difference at the plate, as he collected two hits and three RBIs Friday.
“Those guys in front of me, they’re fun to watch. They’re awesome to hit behind, and usually they’re on base, so it kind of simplifies the situation for me,” Aldrete said. “Situational hitting is sometimes easier because you know what you’re looking for … and hitting behind them has only helped me.”
The talent on ASU’s roster has been acknowledged all along, it was only a matter of how long the youth would take to settle into college baseball. Now with conference play right around the corner, it is beginning to become apparent that the Sun Devils are starting to believe in themselves, a stark turnaround from 2017.
“This year is completely different from last year,” Marsh said. “Last year sucked. It wasn’t fun to play baseball last year. This year everybody has the same goal. I don’t care if we’re young or what people say about us, everybody’s working really, really hard to do what we’re going to do, and I think we’re going to turn a lot of heads this year.”
