(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
Gage Canning is undoubtedly a household name.
If leading the nation in hits and finding his name inscribed inside the top five leaders in triples at Arizona State is not enough, then zoom the lens into ASU’s 7-4 Friday night victory over Oregon.
Canning stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth with two outs, already having laced two hits earlier in the contest. With the Devils down one, and the Ducks placing their most efficient reliever on the mound in Kenyon Yovan, the junior out of Ramona, Calif. was not fazed.
Canning took the first strike he saw in the at-bat and on the following pitch he tattooed a triple into the left center field gap, pushing across three runners and swinging the lead back in favor of the Maroon and Gold.
“It felt really good because offensively we were a little bit slow in the middle [of the game],” said Canning of his triple. “But a couple walks, a couple hits, and before you know it, we were up three runs.”
It marked the 35th hit and seventh triple of 2018 for Canning. More importantly, the three-bagger was the game-winning hit in ASU’s first conference opening win since 2014.
“It was nice because those other guys threw together some really good at-bats to get it to that point to get the right guy up there,” said head coach Tracy Smith. “There’s nobody clearly that we would want up there at that time other than that guy.”
The Sun Devils (9-9) were up 2-0 early in the game after rallying in the first inning from RBI hits off the bats of Spencer Torkelson (that scored Canning after a leadoff walk) and Carter Aldrete, respectively.
But the offense went silent for six straight frames thanks to the gritty pitching performance of Oregon junior Matt Mercer.
“It was just tough because [Mercer] was throwing a little bit harder than what we’ve seen and I think we just weren’t swinging at good pitches,” said Canning of ASU’s early offensive struggles.
Mercer’s fastball sat around 96-mph for the majority of his outing and he used it to his advantage, recording eight strikeouts on the night. He also sat down 12 consecutive Sun Devil batters from the third inning to the conclusion of his start.
Parker Kelly entered in relief for the Ducks (12-5), picking up right where Mercer left off in the seventh. He came into the game having allowed just two earned runs in 15.2 innings of relief. He hurled an almost-perfect seventh frame, aside from a base hit from Canning (who else).
Finally, a handful of ASU freshmen had seen enough and began to crack the code of the mighty Ducks bullpen in the bottom of the eighth. A Gage Workman hit-by-pitch, Hunter Jump single, and Trevor Hauver walk right after Yovan relieved Kelly, loaded the bases with two outs and Arizona State still trailing 4-2.
Drew Swift followed up with a free pass of his own, putting together an RBI walk to make it a one-run game and pave the bridge to the man who is arguably the best hitter in the Pac-12.
“Every game these guys play is going to be more and more experience that they’re going to get that’s hopefully going to help us,” said Smith.
Insert Canning’s triple, followed by a Lyle Lin RBI infield single to push the lead to three runs in favor of the Devils.
“We have a good offense and we can hit, it just hasn’t shown up all the time,” said Canning.
Chaz Montoya slammed the door in the ninth to pick up his fifth save of the year and earn ASU their first win in conference play. This came after 6.1 innings from Sam Romero, giving up four runs (three earned), and 1.2 innings of relief out of Dellan Raish in which he faced the minimum and picked up the win.
ASU has started conference play off on the right foot, but the lingering question remains if the success is here to stay. Smith’s team will have a lot to prove after winning one measly Pac-12 series last year (at home vs Washington State) and went 8-22 against league opponents.
The Sun Devils will turn around Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. for game two with hopes of being 1-for-1 in Pac-12 series victories to begin 2018.
