(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Coming off a 17-4 drubbing in the rubber match of their series against the UCLA Bruins, the Arizona State baseball team traveled south Tuesday to take on the Arizona Wildcats in one of two exhibition games played this season at Hi Corbett Field.
With junior Jake Godfrey given the mid-week nod by head coach Tracy Smith, the LSU transfer lasted just four innings as ASU went on lose to Arizona 11-2.
Coming off back-to-back strong relief appearances against UCLA and USC the previous weekend, Godfrey was tasked with taking on a Wildcat team that came within one win of a surprise run to the College World Series title in Omaha last season.
Godfrey (2-2) couldn’t make it to the fifth inning, as he allowed five hits, six runs (five earned), while walking four and striking out four.
ASU got on the board first in the opening frame when Andrew Shaps came around to score on a Tyler Williams’ fielder’s choice combined with an error from UA third baseman JJ Matijevic.
The Wildcats proceeded to plate six runs in the next three innings, highlighted by a two-run double and a solo home run from Matijevic.
The game was blown open in then bottom of the fifth inning when Matijevic went deep for the second time with Jared Oliva on base against Zach Dixon, followed by a grand slam from Cal Stevenson against Ryan Hingst.
Arizona State will continue its Pac-12 schedule this weekend when they travel to Berkeley to take on the California Golden Bears. First pitch for game one of the series on Friday night is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Bobby Kraus is a baseball beat reporter for the Walter Cronkite Sports Network. You can follow him on Twitter @bobbykraus22
