(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN)
After an electrical delay suspended the game Tuesday night, Arizona State (21-9) suffered a 7-6 defeat at the hands of the UNLV Rebels (13-18) on Wednesday.
With the lack of a consistent midweek starter, the Sun Devils tried something different by sending Hever Bueno to the mound to make his first start of the season. The occasional late-inning reliever only lasted 2 and 1/3 innings, partly due to the delay, which was caused by an issue with the lights in the stadium. His struggles were evident, however, allowing three earned runs and six hits in his outing.
ASU got off to a hot start at the plate, jumping out to a 5-2 lead after the second inning. The Sun Devils were all over Rebels’ starter Dan Skelly, who was also making his first start of the season, thanks to four RBI singles.
Skelly had entered the game with a 10.38 ERA and finished with a 11.81 ERA.
Brian Serven got the scoring started in the first inning with his 16th RBI of the season. Joey Bielek, Andrew Snow and Colby Woodmansee all followed his lead with second-inning RBI singles. Snow’s hit brought home two runs.
The Sun Devils offense went quiet after the quick start, though, and they managed only four hits and no runs after the second inning. Serven was one of the only bright spots at the plate, collecting three hits.
Freshman Eli Lingos gave ASU a huge lift out of the bullpen, throwing four innings while allowing two runs after Bueno struggled to get out of the third.
Lingos was cruising until he ran into trouble in the seventh inning, and that’s when the tide shifted. A simple sacrifice bunt from Morgan Stotts with two on and one out ended up tying the game due to a throwing error by David Greer.
A.J. Vanmeetren then drove in his second run of the game with a double off ASU pitcher David Graybill to give the Rebels the lead for the duration.
The Rebels tacked on another run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly. The run was charged to Jordan Aboites, who faced just two batters and failed to get an out.
Trever Allen drove in a run with a single (his second hit of the game) in the ninth. Nevertheless, the Sun Devils couldn’t finish the comeback, as Blaze Bohall was able to close the book on ASU and seal the upset.
ASU will have a few off days before returning home to face the University of Arizona for the Territorial Cup. The series will begin on Saturday and last until Monday.
