(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
In their second-straight series played away from Phoenix Municipal Stadium, the Arizona State baseball team continued its up-and-down start to Pac-12 play as they dropped the first two games to the Washington State Cougars before avoiding the sweep on Saturday afternoon.
Here’s a look at how the Sun Devils fared in each game up in Pullman, a series that saw their conference record fall to 5-4.
Game One: Washington State 8 Arizona State 7 (10 innings)
The Sun Devils jumped out to a quick 4-0 first-inning lead against Cougar starter A.J. Block, highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of second baseman Alika Williams following an error by Block on a Lyle Lin sacrifice bunt attempt.
Gage Workman added an RBI single two batters later, as ASU was able to chase Block and get into the WSU bullpen after just one inning.
Unfortunately for the Sun Devils the early lead would be short-lived, as junior transfer Sam Romero turned in his first poor performance since being handed the Friday night role three weeks into the season. Romero didn’t make it out of the second inning, while allowing six runs on six hits.
A three-run home run by Collin Montez, an RBI double by Andres Alvarez and a two-run base hit by Dillon Plew put the Cougars on top 6-4 after two, though the Sun Devils were able to stop the bleeding by gunning Plew down trying to stretch his base hit into a double.
An RBI ground-out by Hunter Bishop in the third cut the Washington State lead to one, before freshman sensation Spencer Torkelson uncorked his 12th home run of the season in the sixth inning turning a 6-5 deficit into a 7-6 advantage.
The home run by Torkelson broke a tie with ASU legend Barry Bonds to establish a new freshman record in program history.
A Cal Waterman sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the sixth inning evened the score at seven, which would hold until the bottom of the tenth inning, when left fielder Justin Harrer launched a walk-off solo home run off Chaz Montoya to give the Cougars the victory in game one of the series.
Game Two: Washington State 4 Arizona State 3 (11 innings)
Torkelson continued his mastery of college pitching with two outs in the first inning, blasting a solo home run off of Scotty Sunitsch to give Arizona State a 1-0 lead.
Washington State answered right back in their half of the first, with an RBI triple off the bat of Blake Canton and an RBI base hit courtesy of Wyatt Segle making the score 2-1.
A Lyle Lin RBI single in the sixth inning to pull ASU even at 2-2 was answered immediately in the bottom half of the frame, with JJ Hancock’s single scoring Harrer to put WSU back up by the score of 3-2.
The Sun Devil pitching staff fared better against the Cougars on Friday night, as starter Alec Marsh pitched effectively into the sixth inning while allowing only three runs while scattering eight hits. Brady Corrigan relieved the sophomore to record the final out of the sixth, escaping a bases-loaded jam by inducing a fielder’s choice off the bat of Ryan Ramsower.
Bishop joined Torkelson in the long ball action in the top of the eighth inning, as his solo blast off of Sunitsch evened up the score at 3-3.
The score would remain deadlocked until the bottom of the eleventh when junior Connor Higgins, in his third inning of relief for ASU, walked Hancock leading off the frame.
Sophomore Zane Strand was brought on to extend the game to a twelfth inning, but following a Jack Smith groundout and Ryan Teel reaching on a hit-by-pitch, Danny Sinatro singled into center field to score Hancock and give the Cougars their second-consecutive walk-off victory.
Game Three: Arizona State 7 Washington State 0
Veteran leadership paved the way on Saturday for Arizona State, as senior left-hander Eli Lingos took matters into his own hands to secure the final game of the series.
Staked to a 4-0 lead after three innings via a Workman sacrifice fly, a two-RBI single by Taylor Lane and an run-scoring single by Myles Denson, Lingos pitched aggressively and effectively as he mowed down the Cougar lineup one frame after another.
The Sun Devils added some much needed insurance in the top of the ninth inning, as Williams was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which preceded a two-RBI pinch-hit single from Carter Aldrete that ballooned the score to 7-0.
This was just a formality, however, as Lingos trotted back out for the ninth inning and worked around a one-out double to finish off the Cougars, along with the complete game shutout.
Lingos allowed just two base runners from the third inning through the seventh, as he scattered six hits and struck out seven while walking just one. He finished with 122 pitches, with an astonishing 88 of them thrown for strikes.
While they may have lost their second straight Pac-12 series after sweeping Oregon to begin conference play, the Sun Devils were still able to keep their conference record above .500 as they now sit at 5-4.
The team will have a quick turnaround as they return home to welcome the Titans of Cal State Fullerton for a two-game midweek series beginning on Tuesday, before the USC Trojans descend upon Phoenix beginning on Friday, April 6th.
