(Photo: Paige Cook/WCSN)
Arizona State Baseball redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Kyle Luckham didn’t have the best Friday night.
He had just been tagged for four runs on a pair of homers against the 14-10 Stanford Cardinal – who took two of three from No. 5-ranked Oregon State last weekend – in the second inning of the series opener, reasonably frustrated with himself in the moment.
But then it got worse.
The next pitch Luckham threw popped junior second baseman Brett Barrera square on the back of the helmet – a clear misfire on the part of Luckham that got away from him. Home plate umpire Ramon Armendariz didn’t see the situation in the same light, tossing Luckham – and eventually ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist – without hesitation, leaving the two puzzled and distraught.
As it has been quite a few times this season for the Sun Devils, the frustration and confusion in the early innings was symbolic of a game where nothing went their way, leading to an 8-0 loss on the road to begin a crucial series for the Sun Devils. ASU had three hits and just one walk against Stanford senior right-hander Alex Williams, who twirled a complete game shutout on just 101 total pitches.
Williams retried the side on ten or fewer pitches on three separate occasions. He also struck out six batters and lowered his season earned run average down to 2.29.
Stanford’s lineup capped off the eventful, six-run second inning with a two-run homer off the bat of freshman right fielder Braden Montgomery, who finished 2-for-4 with three runs driven in. The homer came off of ASU sophomore righty Jared Glenn, who has now given up a run in eight consecutive outings.
Glenn was sharp for the ensuing 4.1 innings on the flip side, striking out a pair while allowing no walks and three hits. Redshirt sophomore left-hander Graham Osman had a bounce-back appearance in relief as well, striking out a pair in his lone inning of work.
As ASU’s lineup staggered to get anything going, the Cardinal tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning before their night was done offensively. Montgomery drove in his third run on an RBI single up the middle before junior catcher Kody Huff added another on a sacrifice fly to center.
Redshirt sophomore left fielder Nate Baez was a lone bright spot for ASU at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 on the night.
The Sun Devils have hit a stretch of their regular season that is unforgiving should they fall into another rut after arguably their biggest win of the year against No. 11 Arizona on Tuesday. They are currently on the outside looking in when it comes to the projected NCAA Tournament field of 64 according to both D1Baseball and Baseball America, all while playing in the middle of a loaded Pac-12 Conference sporting a 5-5 record.
It has become that much more important for ASU to find another gear with the second half of its 2022 campaign just getting started. There is still plenty of season left to recover from a less-than ideal first half of the year, but bouts of inconsistency like Friday night in Stanford will be amplified moving forward, which begins tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. MST.
