ASU Baseball: Four-run third inning from Cal sinks Sun Devils in series opener

(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)

Cal’s (24-19) four-run third inning was enough to propel the Golden Bears past Arizona State Baseball (25-15) for a 7-2 victory in the first of a three-game series played in Berkeley.

ASU received two solid innings from freshman right-handed pitcher Joe Hauser to open the game. He faced six batters and retired all of them on 20 pitches – 10 in each inning.

The Sun Devils turned to redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Tyler Thornton in the third, who was masterful last Saturday when he came out of the bullpen.

But his performance was not the same on Friday. Cal sophomore infielder Keshawn Ogans took the second pitch Thornton threw and deposited it over the left field wall to get Cal on the board 1-0.

The Golden Bears would then start stringing hits together. Junior catcher Cole Elvis singled home sophomore two-way player Steven Zobac to make it 2-0 in favor of Cal. Sophomore outfielder Dylan Beavers then tripled, scoring Elvis to make it 3-0 with senior infielder Darren Baker’s fielders choice responsible for the fourth run of the inning scored by Beavers.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Josh White got the start on the mound for Cal and turned in a gritty performance. Although his best stuff was not there, he gave the Golden Bears 5.2 innings while giving up three hits and striking out four batters in addition to walking four.

Cal was able to extend its lead in the sixth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Ogans and Zobac singling home sophomore infielder Nathan Martorella, who had walked earlier in the inning to give Cal a 6-0 lead.

Thornton’s night was finished after that. It totalled 3.2 innings of work in which the righty gave up five hits and six runs while walking a pair of batters.

The Sun Devils showed some fight in the seventh. Redshirt senior catcher Sam Ferri walked and redshirt freshman outfielder Joe Lampe singled hoping to set up a big inning, but two quick outs followed. Redshirt junior infielder Drew Swift struck out on three pitches, and redshirt junior outfielder Hunter Jump grounded out but moved the runners into scoring position. However, redshirt freshman infielder Sean McLain came up with the big two-out hit: a double scoring Ferri and Lampe to cut the deficit to 6-2 Cal.

An error by freshman infielder Hunter Haas at third base scored Cal’s seventh run of the night, as Haas botched a ground ball. He was still able to get an out on the play, but not before senior infielder Quentin Selma scored ahead of the out being recorded.

ASU freshman infielder Ethan Long, who was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the second consecutive week and one of Collegiate Baseball News’ National Players of the Week on Monday, cooled off on Friday, going 0-4 with a pair of strikeouts in the loss. McLain was the only Sun Devil to record multiple hits in the contest.

The loss drops ASU to 10-9 in Pac-12 Conference play and raises Cal’s record to 10-9 as the teams sit tied at sixth place in the conference standings.