(WCSN Photo: Susan Wong)
The mound is his throne and Phoenix Municipal was his kingdom.
The crowd was animated and many stood up to cheer on sophomore right-hander Will Levine who faced Cal State Fullerton sophomore third baseman Zach Lew at the plate with the bases loaded and one out remaining in the ninth.
“The crowd was honestly as loud as I’ve heard them in a long time,” head coach Tracy Smith said. “I think it helped.”
After throwing one strike, Levine battled as Lew continued to stay in the game. Then finally, at Levine’s fifth pitch to Lew, the sweet sound of a pop fly echoed through the stadium.
With the sweep of Fullerton complete after the 5-2 win Sunday afternoon, the Sun Devils earned their ninth consecutive win.
Freshman third baseman Hunter Haas earned three RBI after hitting a clutch double to left field in the bottom of the second inning.
“The best part about him is he’s never satisfied,” Smith said. “He’s one of our hardest workers. We’re going to see another high-caliber player develop right in front of our eyes.”
Throughout the three-game series, the Sun Devils scored 21 runs on 28 hits. Levine closed the game for Arizona State but junior left-hander Justin Fall kept the Sun Devils steady for 5 ⅔ innings.
“I thought it was key for us today to have him go that deep,” Smith said.
Fall ended the afternoon with four strikeouts, four hits and one run.
“I’m just trying to pitch when my name is called to the best of my ability,” Fall said.
Both leadoff hitters for Fullerton and Arizona State, Lew and junior shortstop Drew Swift, came out aggressively in the first inning and each got a single. The Titans were unable to get any runners in scoring position; however, Arizona State left Swift stranded on third, unable to capitalize on the scoring opportunity.
The Titans came out aggressive again in the second inning and secured a 1-0 lead over Arizona State. That quickly changed in the bottom of the second inning when freshman second baseman Sean McLain hit a solo home run in his third straight game, putting the Sun Devils on the scoreboard 1-1.
After McLain’s solo home run, Arizona State chose the small ball approach and utilized mostly base hits to get runners in scoring position. Fullerton’s sophomore right-hander Michael Knorr got himself into a tough situation as he loaded the bases with two outs. Haas took advantage of the pitcher’s dire situation and doubled to left field which earned him three RBI. This gave Arizona State a steady 4-1 lead over the Titans.
After an action-packed second inning, both teams quieted down in the third. Fullerton seemed to lose momentum with all three batters grounding out in the top of the inning. Though Knorr had to face five Sun Devils in the third inning, freshman right fielder Kai Murphy was left in scoring position as Knorr was able to tame Arizona State’s bats.
The fourth inning proved to be a stellar defensive outing for the Sun Devils. Swift dove for a grounder from Titans freshman center fielder Nate Nankil and lobbed the ball to second baseman McClain who then threw it to Pivaroff at first for the perfect double play.
The fifth and sixth innings were quiet both offensively and defensively for the Sun Devils.
The seventh inning featured several defensive errors from Arizona State which included a failed pickoff attempt and a wild pitch by ASU right-hander Brady Corrigan. The errors allowed Fullerton to reduce the Sun Devils lead 4-2.
Nevertheless, Arizona State earned an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore center fielder Joe Lampe scored off a single up the middle from Haas, extending Arizona State’s lead 5-2.
“I like the way we’re playing the game of baseball,” Smith said. “Up to this point in the season, we’ve done a pretty good job of getting the W.”
Arizona State will next host UNLV on Tuesday in one final non-conference game before Pac-12 play begins.
