ASU Baseball: Sun Devils drop conference opener after two critical bunts go unexecuted

(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN)

Only two days ago, Tracy Smith addressed the progress of his team heading into conference play. The answer was a resounding work-to-be-done attitude—with a greater attention to executing the fundamentals the main focus of that attitude.

Smith’s 12^th-ranked Sun Devils (10-6, 0-1) dropped their conference opener to Oregon State (15-3, 1-0) on Friday night, as two critically unexecuted bunts and a costly error ultimately propelled the Beavers to a 1-0 win.

Knotted in a scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh, Arizona State scampered its first runner to third base of the evening behind singles from RJ Ybarra and Trever Allen. An intentional walk to Brian Serven followed, giving pinch-hitter Zach Cerbo a bases loaded situation and a chance to break the game open.

Smith, however, opted to call a suicide squeeze. Nearly everything about the attempted squeeze was executed properly on ASU’s part. Ybarra, who was the runner on third base, took off at the appropriate time—as soon as OSU starter Andrew Moore was about to release the ball. Cerbo didn’t show bunt until the last possible second and did a nice job getting the ball down in fair territory.

Nevertheless, the bunt was pushed right back to the mound—the one place it couldn’t be—and Oregon State defended it perfectly, ultimately turning an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play.

“In that game at that point, the way the wind was howling in, my mind said ‘One run is probably going to win this thing,’” Smith said. “We got RJ at third, ball wasn’t carrying, so a ball in the air probably isn’t going to score him. We were just trying to get a run right there. It was a suicide squeeze and it looked like it was pretty much right back at him—the only spot it couldn’t be—and they turned a double play.”

A similar situation arose for the Sun Devils in the bottom of the eighth inning, as a double from David Greer and a fastball to the elbow guard of Johnny Sewald presented a runners-on-first-and-second situation.

Perhaps the second poorly executed bunt of the evening was foreshadowed a few pitches prior, as Greer gutsily opted to steal third base on a passed ball after an initial hesitation.

That same hesitation reared itself on the subsequent safety squeeze from Joey Bielek, which resulted in Greer being thrown out at the plate to end the threat.

“There was a little hesitation there. You could say could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. It’s been umpteen times where we’ve said, ‘Gosh darn it, we should’ve just done a push bunt right there especially since we haven’t had a lot of success with guys at third.’”

“So now you do it and it doesn’t work. We’re just a little bit out of sync right now. It comes down to executing and getting the job done and doing what we’re supposed to. It’s just a lot of the little things that catch you in a game like that,” Smith said.

“Nine point nine times out of ten, we’re not going to do it in that situation,” Smith continued. “I was playing the conditions a little bit and looking at the personnel and where they were. Obviously, if I didn’t think that’s what gave us the best chance to score the run, I wouldn’t have done it… That’s why this game is so great and that’s why this game also rips your heart out.”

Oregon State went on to capitalize on the Sun Devils’ miscues in the top of the ninth.

A leadoff walk issued by Darin Gillies (who took the loss and fell to 0-2) and a critical throwing error from shortstop Colby Woodmansee set the stage for Caleb Hamilton’s game-winning RBI single off Ryan Burr.

The loss for ASU also spoiled a brilliant outing from starter Seth Martinez, who finished with a career-high eight scoreless innings, four hits and three strikeouts. Aside from three issued walks, his command was other-worldly, registering a sterling 66 K% from 71 strikes and 107 total pitches.

“He was fantastic,” Smith said. “He was commanding both sides of the plate. He was in control and he was in the strike zone. It’s a shame you get a pitching performance like that and not take advantage of it.”

The loss for ASU drops it to 29-24 in conference openers, and certainly demonstrates the fundamental adjustments that continue to have to be made.

“Those plays work, you look like a genius,” Smith said. “Those plays don’t, you look like a fool. I’ll certainly stand here and wear it because those are my decisions. But the bottom line is, we have to execute in a zero-zero ball game; we have to make plays in a zero-zero ball game; we can’t walk people in a zero-zero ball game. It got us tonight. They executed and we didn’t.”

Ryan Kellogg (3-0) will take the mound for the Sun Devils tomorrow in what will be his third consecutive outing against the Beavers that was preceded by a shutout loss. He will be opposed by right-hander Drew Rasmussen (2-0). First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Follow Jacob Garcia on Twitter @Jake_M_Garcia or connect with him on LinkedIn.

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