(Photo: Travis Whittaker/WCSN)
The Arizona State baseball team wrapped up its third weekend series of the season on Sunday with a familiar result: a three-game series sweep, this time to improve their record to 11-0.
Facing the Michigan State Spartans at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, the Sun Devil offense flexed its muscles once again in a 13-2 thrashing while getting another solid start on the mound from JUCO transfer RJ Dabovich.
Three different Devils launched home runs, including two from leadoff hitter Trevor Hauver, the first coming three pitches into the bottom of the first inning.
The sophomore has been plugged into the leadoff hole for head coach Tracy Smith in all eleven games so far, and he is the owner of a .405 batting average and a .544 on-base percentage after hitting just .227 as a freshman.
“I just think physically he put the work in in the offseason, he’s always worked hard on his swing,” Smith said. “There’s that and there’s just being comfortable going to the yard every day knowing you’ve earned the job in left field. It allows you to relax a little bit and just do what you do.”
The rest of the offense followed the lead of its leadoff hitter with eight of the nine starters registering a hit and four tallying multiple RBI.
Junior Carter Aldrete broke out of a 2-for-12 slump by going 3-for-5 with three RBI and three runs.
Hauver and the lineup staked Dabovich to a 4-0 lead after one frame and never looked back, tallying double-digit runs for the seventh time in 2019, though the transfer from Central Arizona College would leave in position to win with just two runs of support.
Dabovich, who hurled six innings of four-hit ball with five strikeouts, highlighted the impact that an explosive offense can have on a pitcher’s confidence on the mound.
“When we’re up two, three, four-nothing after the first inning, I think today I threw sixteen or seventeen straight first-pitch fastballs today,” Dabovich said. “Because if they pick up a few hits, it doesn’t hurt us because we’re up 6-1.”
Dabovich has now won his first three Division 1 starts while boasting a 2.50 ERA in 18 innings.
Despite pitching at a junior college last season, Smith has a simple message for his players to remain confident in their ability.
“We tell guys if you’re good, you’re good,” Smith said. “He had a really good junior college season, he was good for us in the offseason. Going back to ‘you get what you earn’ in this program, he’s earned the right to pitch on the weekend for us.”
“With some of the arms who aren’t weekend-starting for us, if you’re beating those guys out you’re pretty good.”
The focus now shifts to Arizona State’s first road trip of the season… potentially.
The team is scheduled to travel to Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday and Wednesday, but inclement weather in Southern California could potentially bring the series to Arizona.
“We’d love to have it here, and I don’t think [Cal State Fullerton] would,” Hauver said postgame with a chuckle. “That’d be awesome for us to play at home against a good team in Fullerton… but whatever we have to do.”
