(Photo: Brenden O’Keefe/WCSN)
Coming off an exciting 3-2 victory over rival Arizona, Arizona State Baseball laid an egg on Tuesday night in its lone trip to Tucson this season, as it fell 14-2 and completed a series in which it lost three of four to the No. 22-ranked Wildcats.
Arizona broke the contest open in the sixth inning on a three-run double by sophomore infielder Nik McClaughry, which put the Wildcats in double digits and gave them a 10-2 lead.
“We just had one of those games,” ASU Head Coach Tracy Smith said. “We didn’t match up real well with them anyway and we got to have a short memory about this one.”
ASU got off to a promising start in the first two innings of the game. Redshirt freshman outfielder Joe Lampe singled to lead the game off and was able to advance to third base on a wild pickoff play. Lampe would then hustle home on redshirt junior outfielder Hunter Jump’s sacrifice fly, which got the Sun Devils on the board.
In the second inning, freshman infielder Jack Moss would hit his first home run of the season to make it 2-0 ASU.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Joe Hauser got the start for the Sun Devils. He danced in and out of trouble in his first two innings of work but didn’t get out of the third and was replaced by redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Christian Bodlovich.
Arizona then tied the game on a fielder’s choice and an RBI single by freshman catcher Daniel Susac. Bodlovich gave up one hit and three runs while walking three batters in his one inning of work. He also took the loss.
The Wildcats scored multiple runs in every single inning from the third to the seventh. They put up three in the fourth, highlighted by an RBI single from sophomore infielder Jacob Blas and an RBI double by sophomore outfielder Ryan Holgate.
Two more in the fifth inning due to a pair of RBI singles from freshman infielder Jacob Berry and sophomore outfielder Branden Boissiere pushed the score to 7-2 Wildcats.
ASU went through eight different pitchers by the time the night was over. Two Sun Devil arms – redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Brady Corrigan and redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Nick Wallerstedt – did not record an out during their time on the mound. In total, ASU pitchers walked 10 batters and hit three more.
“We need to do a better job of not extending the bullpen on that first night of the conference weekend,” Smith said, referencing the series opener. “I think that is key for us and it’s something we need to do better.”
ASU’s bright spot on the night was redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Dom Cacchione. After inheriting a bases-loaded, no out situation in the bottom of the eighth, Cacchione struck out a pair of batters and got a lineout to hold Arizona scoreless for the first time since the second inning.
“He was competing in the zone and you can at least give yourself a chance by doing that,” Smith said of Cacchione’s performance. “I thought our attitude was great considering we were missing two starters and guys were still into it.”
Redshirt junior shortstop Drew Swift did not make the trip to Tucson due to a non-COVID related illness, while redshirt senior catcher Sam Ferri was also scratched just before first pitch due to a non-COVID related illness as well.
“We still feel we can get this thing done,” Smith said. “We’ve been pretty darn competitive all year. You can’t negate the fact that we’ve lost four pitchers and guys have to step up, but it’s not easy.”
