Sun Devils baseball travels to California for three-game tournament

(Photo: Allyson Cummings/WCSN)

Three days removed from an embarrassing 7-1 loss to New Mexico, the No. 19 Arizona State Sun Devils (2-2) will head west for a three-game tournament in Southern California.

The first game will feature a matchup against Long Beach State (0-4), as Ryan Burr will take the hill for the second start of his collegiate career. On Saturday, the Sun Devils will make the 20-minute drive to UC Irvine (2-2), where Ryan Kellogg will seek his first win of the season. To conclude the round robin tournament, Brett Lilek will look to build off of his impressive first start, as the Sun Devils take on the Wright State Raiders (1-2).

Friday @ Long Beach State
Projected pitchers: Ryan Burr vs. Nick Sabo

In Burr’s first appearance of the season against Baylor, he was a bit erratic.

The right-handed flame-thrower lasted just four innings, giving up one run on two hits, three walks and two hit-batters. Both Burr and Coach Esmay acknowledged that he may have been too amped for his first start. Regardless of the reason, Burr was not commanding the zone or establishing his dominant fastball early in the count, which resulted in a high pitch count and a lack of opportunity to display his newly-developed changeup.

However, Burr will have a prime matchup to right the ship, as he faces a Long Beach State team that has struggled mightily offensively.

The Dirtbags opened the season with three straight losses to the No. 8 Vanderbilt Commodores. In the series, Long Beach State was outscored 17-4 and hit just .140 as a team with only one extra base hit.

On Tuesday, the Dirtbags squandered a late inning lead to Pepperdine and suffered their fourth straight loss. Their 3-run performance boosted their team average to .168.

Long Beach State will likely start Nick Sabo, a 6-foot-5 left-handed pitcher. In his first outing, Sabo pitched 5.2 innings, allowing only four hits and one earned run to a potent Vanderbilt lineup.

Saturday @ UC Irvine
Projected pitchers: Ryan Kellogg vs. Elliot Surrey

On Saturday, the Sun Devils will make just their second all-time appearance against UC Irvine with Ryan Kellogg getting the start on the mound.

Kellogg will face a UCI lineup that features two preseason All-Americans in Andrew Taylor Sparks and Connor Spencer.

As a sophomore first baseman last season, Spencer won the Big West batting title, hitting .373 with 79 hits and 35 RBIs. At the other corner of the infield, Sparks is the defending Big West Co-Player of the Year, as he led the Anteaters with 50 RBIs and launched 10 homeruns.

Both Spencer and Sparks, however, are off to brutal starts for their 2014 campaign, as they are a combined 0-for-31 at the plate (0-for-16 and 0-for-15, respectively).

The Anteaters will likely give Elliot Surrey the start on the mound. Surrey, a reliever-turned-starter, is coming off four innings of work against Fresno State, in which he allowed three hits and two earned runs to earn a no-decision.

Sunday vs. Wright State (@ Long Beach)
Projected pitchers: Brett Lilek vs. Travis Hissong/Joey Holzel

The Sun Devils will conclude the three-game tournament back at Long Beach State with a showdown against Wright State.

Sophomore southpaw Brett Lilek silenced many doubters last time around, firing seven strikeouts in four innings of scoreless work against Baylor. Coach Esmay and the pitching staff will continue to increase the Chicago-native’s workload, easing him back from last season’s shoulder surgery and building up his arm strength after a snowy winter break without electricity that didn’t allow him to throw.

The Raiders lost two of three to Michigan State in their only action of the year. First-team All-League outfielder Kieston Greene and junior first baseman Andrew McCafferty lead the Raider offense, each with five hits and a .417 batting average.

Arizona State is in line to face Wright State’s third starting pitcher, Robby Sexton, as the team’s square off on Sunday. In Sexton’s first appearance of the year, he pitched well but received little run support from his offense. He took the loss after throwing 5.1 innings and allowing two earned runs.

However, since Wright State has only played three games this season, it is unlikely that they would continue to solely throw the same three-man rotation.

Expect to see a new arm from Wright State sometime in this round robin tournament, which could potentially push back the starts of ace Travis Hissong or Horizon League Pitcher of the Week Joey Holzel to Sunday when they take on Arizona State.

You can reach Jacob Garcia on Twitter @jake3garcia or via email at Jacob.M.Garcia@asu.edu

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