(Photo: Brendan OKeeffe/WCSN)
Arizona State Baseball came into the 2021 season with uncertainty, but its opening series win against Sacramento State answered some of its biggest question marks.
Here are four key takeaways from the Sun Devils’ duel with the Hornets.
Pitching, pitching and more pitching
Coming into this season, it was figured that pitching would be the strength of ASU’s roster. Yet, its impact against Sacramento State was even larger than possibly expected.
Head coach Tracy Smith said that the pitching staff, both the starting and relief pitchers, dominated for practically the entire weekend except for the ninth inning of Friday’s game, where Sacramento State’s junior catcher Dawsen Bacho hit a go-ahead grand slam to seal the win.
On Sunday, ASU’s pitchers allowed only one hit and recorded 10 strikeouts. It was the Sun Devils’ first one-hitter since 2007.
ASU should be able to rely heavily on its starting pitching this season, as redshirt freshman left-hander Cooper Benson, redshirt sophomore right-hander Tyler Thornton and redshirt sophomore left-hander Erik Tolman combined for just two runs and two walks in 16.2 innings pitched this past weekend.
The bats still need to wake up
After losing a number of home-run hitters this offseason, ASU has had to reinvent themselves and become much more of a contact-based team. While the bats finally woke up on Sunday with 10 hits, multiple players are still struggling at the plate.
As a team, ASU is batting .247. Through the first two games, redshirt junior shortstop Drew Swift was responsible for three of the team’s four runs. However, the Sun Devils have shown what their small-ball squad is capable of, as the team displayed a balanced hitting attack that laced liners through the infield on Sunday.
Smith said the offense has to improve in situational hitting scenarios to advance runners, but remains optimistic about ASU’s early hitting woes.
Joe Lampe leads the wave of transfers
When ASU completed its recruiting class in the offseason, the headliners among the abundance of transfers were redshirt senior infielder Conor Davis from Auburn and redshirt junior outfielder Allbry Major from Xavier.
But, with Davis out for the season with an ACL injury, and while Major has come along nicely, it has been Lampe who has shined the brightest for the Sun Devils. The redshirt freshman outfielder is 5-9 to start the season with 2 RBI and a .556 batting average.
Lampe has been called the the fastest player on the team by associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Ben Greenspan, and was frequently seen stretching singles into doubles and doubles into triples this weekend.
Defense is the name of the game
The Sun Devils have been recognized as one of the top offensive teams in the country in recent years, so to see defense be the star of the show could be considered striking.
Throughout its opening series, ASU made several Web-Gem-worthy plays in the infield and outfield.
Swift made a couple leaping grabs throughout the weekend and pulled off a tough off-balanced throw to home plate to save a run for Thornton on Saturday.
A pair of freshmen also made an impact defensively. On Saturday, redshirt freshman outfielder Kai Murphy made a catch down the right-field line and hung on as he toppled over the fence, and freshman third-baseman Hunter Haas made a diving catch and throw to first base from his knees on Sunday.
In additon, redshirt senior catcher Sam Ferri caught a Hornet base-runner trying to steal second, with redshirt freshman second-baseman Sean McLain applying the tag with ease.
ASU could have been fortunate to play a team like a mid-major program like Sacramento State in its opening series, as it allowed them to feel things out. While the pitching looked almost flawless, the offense, however, will likely have to improve once Pac-12 Conference play rolls around.
