(Photo: Karli Matthias/WCSN)
Coming into the second weekend of the season, the Sun Devils failed to do what they did all last season– hit.
No. 13 ASU (5-3) had a combined average of .172 coming into their second series of the year against the Boston College Eagles (3-4). Meanwhile, the pitching staff managed to only surrender a .182 batting average against, exceeding expectations after a lackluster 2019.
This past weekend saw the Devils make major strides on offense, returning to their 2019 form.
The Sun Devils were able to successfully take the weekend set after the offense erupted for 10 runs on Friday night, and another eight on Saturday night. Sunday they were looking to keep the bats hot and sweep the series behind junior Justin Fall who got his second start of the season.
ASU jumped out to an early lead in the first against Eagles starter Emmet Sheehan as he walked freshman Nate Baez with the bases loaded before giving up a two-run single to Drew Swift making it 3-0 ASU. Sheehan failed to make it out of the first inning, recording only two outs while walking five on 41 total pitches. Junior Joey Walsh proceeded to replace Sheehan for the ensuing four innings.
The Eagles answered with an RBI double in the top half of the third from Cody Morissette, who went 3-4 with a pair of RBIs. The Sun Devils picked up a fourth run in the third after Gage Workman successfully stole home.
Boston College successfully poured on three more runs in the top half of the fifth, knocking Fall out of the game before he could record an out. Fall couldn’t quite duplicate his start on opening night, as he only went four innings giving up four runs in the process while striking out only two batters.
“He did a good job of holding us in there,” said Head Coach Tracy Smith. “He gave us four innings when we knew it was going to be a bullpen day.”
The Sun Devils picked up one more run in the fifth as well when freshman second baseman Baez reached on a throwing error, allowing Trevor Hauver to score.
Hauver later came up with Spencer Torkelson on first in the bottom half of the sixth inning and jacked his second home run of the season off of Will Hesslink extending the Devil’s lead to 7-4.
“He’s a good hitter,” said Smith, “We put him behind Spencer for a purpose, to protect him.”
Hauver had a breakout weekend after struggling in the first five games of the season which helped boost his confidence at the plate.
“I felt like I was just pressing and trying to do too much,” said Hauver referring to his opening weekend. “Just knowing that my swings have been a lot better, I was just super excited.”
The Eagles tried to crack the scoreboard in the seventh but failed to after Bryce Barnett, who came in to replace Luke La Flam, left runners stranded at first and third.
The Sun Devils added some much-needed insurance in the form of a Torkelson homer to right-center field on an 0-2 count in the bottom of the eighth to make it an 8-4 ASU lead.
“It was a fastball a little up and away,” Torkelson said. “It was kind of in the meat-zone for a two-strike pitch.”
Torkelson’s homer pushes his total to four on the season which is good for top 10 in the nation in that category.
The Sun Devils would continue to keep Boston College off the scoreboard until the ninth inning when RJ Dabovich came in to shut the door for his fourth save of the season and secure the Devils’ 8-4 win and the weekend sweep.
The Sun Devils will square off against the New Mexico State Aggies in their second mid-week matchup of the season on Tuesday. It will be a battle of two potential top ten overall picks with Torkelson and Aggies second basemen Nick Gonzales, looking to provide for their respective sides.
