(Photo: Joey Plishka/WCSN)
TEMPE – After a pitcher-friendly 3-1 victory on Tuesday night against Nevada, Arizona State Baseball opened up a three-game series against BYU on a cool and crisp Thursday night.
BYU extended its win streak against the Sun Devils to four-straight as ASU fell in a back and forth affair 4-2.
“We beat ourselves tonight,” ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist said.
Redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Kyle Luckham made his second start of the year – he went 4.1 innings and picked up a no-decision in the Sun Devils’ extra-innings loss to Dixie State last Saturday.
Luckham escaped a major jam in the top half of the second inning on Thursday, as the Cougars loaded the bases with no outs, however, Luckham buckled in and after a flyout to right-field, he induced a ground ball double-play to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.
Luckham finished his outing without allowing a run, as he fanned five Cougars in 5.0 innings of work.
“Kyle competes, he throws the ball over the plate and doesn’t beat himself,” Bloomquist said.
BYU starter and sophomore right-handed pitcher Jack Sterner kept ASU in check, only allowing three hits through the first four innings, however, the Sun Devils didn’t stay quiet for long.
ASU opened the scoring in the bottom of the fifth inning as redshirt sophomore second baseman Sean McLain singled up the middle to bring in freshman left-fielder Will Rogers, giving the Sun Devils a 1-0 lead.
Moments after the Sun Devils chased Sterner out of the game, BYU sophomore left-handed pitcher Cy Nielson came in and threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded, allowing McLain to come in and score to give ASU a 2-0 advantage.
Redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Jacob Walker came in relief for Luckham, however, he immediately got into trouble, as Walker threw a wild pitch of his own with runners on the corners. BYU junior outfielder Cole Gambill came around to score to trim the Sun Devils’ lead to 2-1.
After giving up the Cougars’ lone run via the wild pitch, Walker settled in nicely, posting two solid innings of relief.
Drama escalated in the top half of the eight inning, as ASU redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Will Levine walked the bases loaded with a one-run lead.
As a team, the Sun Devils walked five BYU batters on Thursday night.
“You give free bases, you lose,” Bloomquist said. “We gave up free bases and we lost.
“It’s not rocket science.”
On a Levine strikeout, the ball got past redshirt sophomore catcher Nate Baez, allowing the tying run to score and tie the game up at two.
With runners on second and third base, redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Christian Bodlovich induced a pop fly to graduate first baseman Conor Davis to keep the game tied and strand two runners in scoring position.
With a chance to take lead in the bottom of the eight, ASU freshman designated hitter Jacob Tobias doubled down the left-field line to give the Sun Devils life, however, shortly after, BYU sophomore right-handed pitcher Bryce Robison picked off ASU freshman pinch-runner Alex Champagne to end the scoring threat.
Bodlovich got into yet another jam in the top of the ninth after a leadoff double, but he retired the next batter on a lineout to left-field. Good fortunes ceased though, as he walked the next two batters to load the bases with only one out.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Brock Peery relived Bodlovich and almost escaped the jam with a ground ball up the middle, but a fielder’s choice off the bat of BYU sophomore second baseman Andrew Pintar gave the Cougars their first lead of the game.
Redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher Graham Osman came in for relief with two outs in the ninth and allowed an infield single to Gambill as BYU extended their lead to 4-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Baez led off the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff single off BYU junior right-handed pitcher Reid McLaughlin, however, after a sharp line-out to left field and a fielders choice, the Sun Devils found themselves down to their last out as sophomore infielder Ethan Long stepped up to the plate after being a late scratch due to a stomach bug.
“We sent him home prior to the game,” Bloomquist said. “He had a tough night last night and we told him if he’s feeling better to let our trainer know.”
Long sharply lined out to center field as BYU came away with a dramatic 4-2 victory.
“He put a great swing on that ball,” Bloomquist said. “On a cold night that ball isn’t going anywhere. On any other night that ball is in the gap.”
With the loss, the Sun Devils fell to 3-2 on the year, but they will have a chance to redeem themselves on Friday and Saturday night against the same BYU team.
“Biggest thing for us is [to] come back tomorrow bring a lot of energy,” Davis said. “It’s a new day. We got two more games to win a series.”
McLain added: “I’ve already reset my mind. I leave it here at the field. You can’t stress about something that has already happened.”
