(Photo: Nick Badders/WCSN)
It would have been very easy for the Arizona State Sun Devils to not compete well against the Stanford Cardinal on Sunday at Phoenix Muni.
The Sun Devils had lost Zach Dixon and Chris Isbell earlier before Andrew Shaps was dismissed and Ryan Lillard and Jackson Willeford left the program on Saturday.
There was a grim feeling about the ASU program following the loss of five players, with Shaps considered one of the best players on this team.
ASU had lost on Friday night, and again on Saturday evening but it was a different story in game three against Stanford.
The Sun Devils (20-24, 7-14 Pac-12) battled and won a hard-fought game 9-6 to avoid a sweep against the Cardinal (30-12, 13-7 Pac-12).
ASU not only got its 20th win of the season, they also stopped Stanford’s 11-game winning streak.
“I was proud of the way the guys played,” said ASU head coach Tracy Smith. “I liked what I saw out of the guys today. I like how they played and how they were into each other and having a little bit of fun out there.”
It wasn’t an easy victory for ASU, although it seemed like it might be early on.
After surrendering one run in the first inning, ASU put five runs on the board in the home half of the first.
In Spencer Van Scoyoc’s first start since March 26, the freshman southpaw was erratic with his command.
With a 5-1 lead for Van Scoyoc in the second inning, he walked the bases loaded, forcing Smith to pull him from the game after just 1 and 1/3 innings.
Van Scoyoc walked four out of the nine Cardinal batters he faced. He had missed more than a month with a back injury and similar control issues that plagued him then came back to the surface.
After Van Scoyoc was pulled it was Connor Higgins who came in with the bases loaded. Higgins got Matt Winaker to fly out to center field that brought home one run for Stanford.
He then induced what should have been a routine groundout that would have ended the inning, but Jeremy McCuin made a throwing error that allowed one run to score and the following Stanford batter, Quinn Brodey, then knocked in two runs with a base hit.
The momentum was with the Cardinal and it appeared that perhaps Stanford would run away with this game, and take the sweep, but the Sun Devils had other plans.
In the third inning, Zach Cerbo came up with the bases loaded and knocked in two runs with a base hit. A Jeremy McCuin sacrifice fly allowed for one more run to come around for ASU.
Cerbo had the best day at the plate of the Sun Devils as he went 3-for-4 and had a career-high four RBI’s on the day.
“To drive four runs in, that’s a pretty good day,” Smith said about his senior catcher’s effort.
That three run lead was all Higgins needed as the left-hander went 7 and 2/3 innings allowing six hits and just one earned run while striking out four Cardinal batters.
Higgins now holds a record of 3-2, and while Smith had hoped he would pitch long into the game, even he didn’t expect Higgins would go 7 and 2/3.
“He was rolling, had a couple quick innings in there,” Smith said on Higgins tremendous relief appearance. “He’s a big boy and was a starter in the past but he was still throwing the ball well, holding his velocity well, mechanically sound and he gave us what we needed today which was a win.”
Even Higgins admitted that even he thought today was a little unusual for him out of the bullpen.
“Little different today, little 7 and 2/3 inning save, but I love closing games, just getting innings and helping this team win,” he said.
The win today was big for the team after a tough week for the program and Higgins said he and the team aren’t done fighting this season.
“We’re still trying to get that 30 wins,” Higgins said following ASU’s 20th win of the season. “I know it seems like a tall task to go 10-1 the rest of the way. We’re still going to try to get that 30-win streak going and I think we can do it.”
Rob Werner is an ASU Baseball beat writer for the Walter Cronkite Sports Network. For more news you can follow him on twitter @robwerner28.
