(Photo: Karli Matthias/WCSN)
Arizona State baseball had high expectations to live up to coming into the opening weekend of the season. Baseball America had them ranked No. 3 in the country. D1Baseball had them ninth.
They did not exactly live up to the rankings.
The Sun Devils came out of their weekend 2-2, a disappointment considering their competition was mostly a Villanova team that was 13-38 last season. A 5-0 loss to then-No. 13 Michigan Saturday night could be deemed more excusable.
The good news for ASU though is that its opponent Tuesday night might have had a worse opener.
The then-No.22 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys lost a series to Grand Canyon University over the weekend. The Lopes, despite finishing 36-24 last year, were seen as the underdogs thanks to an overhauled lineup.
Tuesday will be a game featuring two teams looking to really prove themselves.
The now-No. 13 Devils are projected to start lefty Erik Tolman on the mound in what will be his first innings of the newborn season. The sophomore pitcher was great in his debut year for the Sun Devils, posting a 3.38 ERA in 48 innings and allowed hitters to bat just .206 against him.
The Cowboys will be starting senior Brett Standlee, who posted a 4.46 ERA in 72.2 innings pitched last year. The righthander made 12 starts and appeared in relief seven times.
Standlee threw two hitless innings in relief Saturday against Grand Canyon, so the senior will be on a bit of short rest.
The rest of the staff will be too. Oklahoma State used 14 arms in its three game set against the Lopes, including five freshmen. Among the relievers who saw the most innings were freshman Kale Davis and Standlee. Davis threw four innings in relief Friday after fellow freshman righthander Bryce Osmond was lit up in two innings of work.
But it’s more likely OSU will likely rely on those who only saw one inning of work over the weekend. Against a highly-ranked team in ASU, the Cowboys would figure to use those who didn’t struggle against the Lopes over the weekend. Junior righthander Zach Cable, sophomore Tucker Elliott and freshman Ryan Bogusz all didn’t allow an earned run against GCU and all threw an inning or less.
The Cowboys offense had potency last year, ranking sixth nationally in home runs hit, and they had a team on-base percentage of .376, 79th out of 300 Division I teams.
But in its two losses against GCU, OSU scored just six runs combined. In 102 at-bats, the team stuck out 29 times while mustering 28 hits. Senior outfielder Carson McCuscker, who started all three games, accounted for six of those strikeouts in his 10 at-bats.
Out of their everyday guys, McCuscker was one of Cowboys best hitters last season. The then-junior hit .311, the highest by 17 points on the team in 2019.
But this season, they are without their top two bats from 2019. Outfielder Trevor Boone left after being drafted in the 18th round by the Colorado Rockies – the junior mashed 21 home runs and batted .291 for the Cowboys last season. In addition, Colin Simpson, who hit 17 homers while hitting .245, graduated as a senior.
ASU could make it hard on the Cowboys to find their offensive groove Tuesday. The Sun Devils pitching staff was not the problem in opening weekend– three games of scoring one run or less could be heavily blamed on the 2-2 start.
Flame-throwing, righthanded junior RJ Dabovich may not see work after throwing two innings in the Sunday win over the Wildcats, but ASU has found others that have had success early in the year out of the bullpen. Freshman righthander Christian Bodlovich had a good outing Saturday against Villanova, striking out two batters. Sophomore righthander Luke LaFlam didn’t see time but was seen warming up Sunday and has been called “improved” by head coach Tracy Smith. 6’4 righthander Seth Tomczak, a highly touted recruit, has yet to make an appearance as well in a Sun Devil uniform.
Against a Oklahoma State pitching staff trying to find itself, Tuesday could serve as a night for the Sun Devils to finally get their vaunted bats going. Aside from junior first baseman Spencer Torkelson, it’s been tough go living up to the intimidating preseason projections early in the season.
