(Photo: Paige Cook/WCSN)
After winning three of its previous four games, Arizona State Baseball was swept this weekend in the Bay Area, losing to Stanford 16-10 on Sunday afternoon.
The Sun Devils held a 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but a five-run frame for Stanford gave the Cardinal the lead in the fourth and they never gave it back.
ASU junior right-handed pitcher Chase Webster was in his second full inning of work in that inning. Junior outfielder Brock Jones began it with a double. On the next pitch, sophomore infielder Carter Graham singled up the middle, scoring Jones to tie the game at five apiece.
With the bases loaded, senior catcher Vincent Martinez hit Stanford’s second grand slam in as many days to push the Stanford lead to 9-5. Following a single by sophomore infielder Drew Bowser, Webster’s afternoon was done. He went 1.2 innings, allowing six hits and five earned runs while walking two batters and striking out three.
The first three batters of the game for ASU all reached. Redshirt sophomore outfielder Joe Lampe singled, redshirt sophomore infielder Sean McLain walked and sophomore infielder Ethan Long was hit by an 0-2 pitch to load the bases. Those were the only three batters Stanford redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Cody Jensen would face.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Brandt Pancer would come into the bases-loaded, no-out scenario no pitcher wants to face. He got a strikeout of ASU senior infielder Conor Davis. Then, on a 3-2 pitch, freshman infielder Jacob Tobias won the battle, singling home Lampe and McLain to give the Sun Devils a quick 2-0 lead.
Redshirt sophomore outfielder Kai Murphy reached on a fielder’s choice which allowed Long to score and make it 3-0 ASU.
The Cardinal would respond. Jones homered on a 1-2 pitch from ASU redshirt senior starting right-handed pitcher Jacob Walker to immediately put them on the board at 3-1 in the next frame.
After a single and a double put runners on second and third base with one out, junior catcher Kody Huff reached on an error by McLain, which scored Graham to bring Stanford within a run at 3-2.
ASU got both of those runs back in the top of the second. Freshman infielder Cam Magee continued his hot hitting, doubling home freshman catcher Ryan Campos to double up the lead at 4-2. Stanford again went to the bullpen, going to sophomore right-handed pitcher Joey Dixon.
Lampe welcomed him to the ballgame with an RBI double the opposite way, scoring Magee. That took the lead back to three at 5-2 Sun Devils.
However, the Cardinal weren’t going to waste any time getting those runs back. Sophomore outfielder Eddie Park singled and went to third on a single from Jones. Graham brought him home on a sacrifice fly. Jones scored four pitches later on a single by junior infielder Brett Barrera, which again brought Stanford to within a run at 5-4.
Leading 9-5 in the bottom of the fifth, Stanford would add on. Freshman outfielder Braden Montgomery hit a two-run home run off of ASU sophomore right-handed pitcher Blake Pivaroff to extend the lead to 11-5 Cardinal.
The Cardinal added on in the sixth. Park walked and then stole second. Junior infielder Adam Crampton brought him home on an RBI single to push the lead to 12-5 Stanford.
The high-scoring affair continued into the seventh as ASU plated a pair of runs. Davis doubled, while sophomore catcher Nate Baez and Tobias walked to load the bases with one out. Campos singled home a run and Magee grounded out, bringing ASU to within five runs at 12-7.
Huff singled home a run off ASU sophomore right-hander Brock Peery to make the score 13-7. Martinez then drilled his second homer of the game – a two-run shot to give the Cardinal a 15-7 lead. Crampton brought home the inning’s fourth run on an RBI single to make it a nine-run lead at 16-7.
ASU kept fighting, scoring a pair of runs in the eighth inning. Long continued his solid ballgame with an RBI double, scoring McLain. Two batters later, Tobias singled him home for his third RBI of the contest to push the deficit down to a touchdown at 16-9.
On a positive note for the Sun Devils, ASU did score a 10th and final run to put the Sun Devils in double digits for the eighth time this season.
ASU will conclude their Bay Area road trip with a game at Santa Clara on Monday afternoon.
