(Photo: Joey Plishka/WCSN)
Following a forgettable 21-0 blowout loss on Friday afternoon, Arizona State Baseball was handed their third-consecutive loss on Saturday afternoon by No. 5-ranked Oregon State 12-2, which included new head coach Willie Bloomquist getting ejected for the first time in his career early in the game.
Through the first two games of the series, the Beavers have outscored the Sun Devils 31-2, and the Beavers are hitting an astonishing .392 against ASU’s pitching staff.
Oregon State hit more home runs than the Sun Devils had runs in the second game of the series.
After being shutout the game prior, Saturday’s game started in the Sun Devils’ favor, as they grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning thanks to sophomore third baseman Ethan Long’s RBI double which scored redshirt sophomore infielder Sean McLain.
The Beavers wasted no time responding. Oregon State loaded up the bases with no outs as redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Kyle Luckham faced his first threat of the afternoon.
Oregon State sophomore first-baseman Garret Forrester hit a two-run single to give the Beavers their first lead of the afternoon as they took a 3-1 lead after the first inning.
Junior outfielder Jacob Melton added to his Pac-12 Conference lead in home runs and RBI in the bottom of the second inning, as Melton got the best of Luckham, blasting a solo home run straight away to center field, extending the Beavers’ lead to 4-1 after the second inning.
The Beavers would go on to score in four out of the six remaining innings, including a three-run home run by freshman second baseman Travis Bazzana in the bottom of the eighth to comfortably put away the Sun Devils and give Oregon State the series win.
After pitching a brilliant 8.0 innings against the University of San Francisco, Luckham was roughed up in his start against Oregon State.
Luckham had control issues all afternoon, as he finished his outing allowing nine earned runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings of work.
The Oregon State pitching staff has been a force so far in the series. Saturday afternoon, freshman right-handed pitcher Jacob Kmatz and senior right-handed pitcher Ryan Sebby combined to throw a gem as they held the Sun Devils to just five hits and allowed just two runs.
The Sun Devils will look to salvage the remaining game of the series and avoid being swept in their first Pac-12 contest of the year on Sunday.
