(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)
The weather in Eugene, Oregon was erratic on Saturday afternoon at PK Park. It was gloomy, even pouring rain at times, but by the end of Arizona State Baseball’s game against No. 20 Oregon, the sun was shining down over the stadium. In a similar manner to the Eugene weather, the Sun Devils entered the game having beaten a ranked team for the first time this season the night before. However, ASU fell to the Ducks 7-1 with silent bats and a struggling bullpen.
Oregon junior right-hander Cullen Kafka went seven scoreless innings for the Ducks, and the bats backing him up did the rest in order to tie up the series with ASU up at one.
ASU redshirt sophomore right-hander Tyler Thornton earned his first loss of season. Dating back to the shortened 2020 season, the Sun Devils were 8-0 when Thornton started on the mound before Saturday’s game.
It was a frustrating day at the plate for the Sun Devils. Though ASU’s scoring opportunities were limited, it was never quite able to capitalize on them. Despite loading the bases in the top of the ninth inning, the Sun Devils were only able to bring in one run off a single from redshirt freshman right fielder Kai Murphy.
In the second and third innings, ASU also left runners in scoring position. Redshirt freshman second baseman Sean McLain was stranded on third base in the second inning, while freshman third baseman Hunter Haas was stuck on second in the third inning.
The bullpen relieved Thornton after he gave up a two-run home run in the sixth inning. However, ASU struggled to settle the Oregon bats. Though the Ducks already had a 4-0 lead, the bullpen gave up three additional runs.
ASU freshman right-hander Brock Peery couldn’t finish the seventh inning and left a runner on second base. Redshirt freshman right-hander Nick Wallerstedt was on the mound for the final out of the game, but was unable to keep the Ducks from earning a 5-0 lead with a double from Oregon sophomore left fielder Tanner Smith that brought sophomore third baseman Sam Novitske home.
Redshirt freshman right-hander Christian Bodlovich came in to relieve Wallerstedt, who left two runners on base in the bottom of the eighth inning. But Bodlovich was unable to prevent Oregon from extending its lengthy lead to 7-0.
ASU has the chance to take the series from Oregon on Sunday, as the two teams will face each other in a tie-breaker game at 12 p.m.
