ASU Baseball: Sun Devils earn second consecutive Pac-12 series win

(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN)

No. 7 Arizona State (15-7, 4-2 in the Pac-12) was able to come away with a series victory against No. 15 Oregon (15-8, 2-4 in the Pac-12) while making their first road trip of the season.

The Sun Devils battled the rainy conditions in Eugene to come away with two wins in three games.

      Game 1

The rain started coming down towards the latter half of the game, but ASU snuck away with a ten inning 7-6 victory over the Ducks. It was the first extra inning game the Sun Devils had played in since opening night against Oklahoma State.

Seth Martinez made his fifth start and was shakier than normal, lasting just two and 2/3 innings and allowing three earned runs. Despite the tough outing, Martinez’s ERA still stands at an exceptional 2.37, which surpasses preseason expectations.

Much of the credit for the win has to be given to the Sun Devils bullpen, who let up just two runs in seven and 2/3 innings. Ryan Burr was splendid once again, working his way in and out of trouble while striking out five in two innings. It wasn’t flawless for the junior closer — he walked in the tying run as an inherited runner in the bottom of the 8th.

ASU was not outstanding offensively, but were still able to translate eight hits into seven runs. Colby Woodmansee was the only Sun Devil with multiple hits and David Greer continued his breakout campaign with two RBI.

The Sun Devils benefited from an error by the Ducks’ right fielder Austin Heineman in the 10th. Johnny Sewald hit a looping fly ball to right where Heineman misplayed it in the lights and rain, allowing Greer to score from second. Eric Melbostad appeared in his second consecutive game after debuting against New Mexico and pitched a scoreless 10th for the save.

Game 2

The Saturday game was a textbook Pac-12 pitchers duel. Ryan Kellogg shined bright at PK Park in Eugene, stifling the Ducks bats en route to a complete game. ASU won the game 2-1.

Kellogg’s fantastic outings are becoming customary, and he has still not lost a game this season. He allowed only three hits and struck out seven in the standout performance. The effort was much needed after the bullpen was taxed on Friday night.

For the Canadian junior, Kellogg will likely complete his career pitching in Oregon with three complete games in his three starts.

Ducks starter David Peterson held ASU in check at the plate for the most part, but two runs would be all the Sun Devils would need. They scored their first on a Peterson balk in the 5th and the go-ahead RBI would come on a 7th inning single by the constantly clutch Woodmansee.

Even though ASU had only five hits and zero extra base hits, they were still aggressive on the base paths. Trever Allen and Joey Bielek each stole their third base of the year.

Game 3

The Ducks halted ASU’s momentum in the final game of the series and were able to win on Sunday by a score of 5-1.

Tracy Smith was put in a bind when he had to remove Brett Lilek in the second inning after the left-hander suffered an injury. Darin Gillies and Hever Bueno filled in adequately in a tough situation, while reliever David Graybill, who pitched in his first game on the mound, struggled.

For the second straight game, the ASU bats went silent. The only run came on a Johnny Sewald sac fly. A bright spot in the lineup was Trever Allen, who had two hits and extended his hitting streak to 16 games.

Lilek’s status for next weekend is uncertain, but Gillies would be likely to fill in for him in case he is unavailable for the series against Stanford.

Player of the Series: Ryan Kellogg- GS, 9 IP, 3 H, ER, 7 K, W

Unsung Hero: Trever Allen- 4-12 (.333), 3 GS, 2B, RBI, SB

Stat of the Series: 12 and 2/3- Innings thrown by Sun Devil starting pitchers in the series, aided in large part by Kellogg’s nine.

Coming Up: ASU will host Stanford while Oregon will play consecutive weekday games against UC Riverside before heading to Tucson for a Pac-12 weekend series.

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