ASU Baseball: Pitching falters once again as Devils drop midweek contest in Vegas

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

Brady Corrigan could not escape the first inning, leading to a bullpen game for Arizona State Tuesday night in Las Vegas as the Sun Devils allowed seven runs in the first two innings and fell to the UNLV Rebels 14-6.

Last time the two teams faced each other, ASU kept the game close through the first seven innings in Phoenix, but the bullpen collapsed late, as four pitcher combined to allow seven runs en route to a 10-3 loss.

The story was similar Tuesday evening, but the struggles began even earlier. Entering the game having thrown 15.1 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, Brady Corrigan was handed the ball to start as Tracy Smith looked for performance similar to his previous outing against Cal State Fullerton, where the freshman threw six innings of one-run ball.

However, Smith did not like what he saw from Corrigan early on, as ASU’s head coach pulled Corrigan after facing six batters and allowing three hits and two walks while only recording one out.

From then on, it was a bullpen day for the Devils as they used eight pitchers over the course of the night. The staff combined to give up 14 runs on 20 hits over eight innings.

Fitz Stadler relieved Corrigan, but didn’t make it out of the second inning, he was taken out in favor of sophomore Spencer Van Scoyoc after allowing five hits in just an inning’s worth of work. Van Scoyoc pitched an inning of scoreless baseball, a bright spot for a team struggling to find positives, as it was just his second outing all season without giving up a run.

While the scoreless outings from Van Scoyoc, Dellan Raish and Jake Godfrey could be considered positives from an otherwise disappointing game, the offensive performance had its moments, despite not keeping the Sun Devils in the game.

Spencer Torkelson and Gage Canning both homered, with Torkelson’s home run to lead off the game giving him sole possession of the NCAA lead for home runs. Canning, the usual ASU leadoff hitter, hit his home run, a three-run shot, in the fifth.

Lyle Lin recorded three hits on the day, including an RBI double in the fourth and Zach Hogueisson notched his first career hit and RBI with a single in the eighth. But in the end, little else mattered, as the Rebels’ seven runs in the first two innings and six in the seventh were far too much to overcome.

Grant Schneider, Connor Higgins and Colby Davis all saw time on the mound in the final four innings, but all struggled, allowing a combined 10 hits and seven runs.

Now with a record of 14-19, the Sun Devils refocus their attention on conference play and look ahead to a weekend series with No. 2 Stanford as they try and upset the Cardinal and avoid falling below .500 in Pac-12 games.

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post