ASU Baseball: Sun Devils walk off on UC Davis for the second straight game

(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN)

At this point, extra innings are becoming a formality for the Arizona State Sun Devils. Despite the added action, ASU has been clutch when they have needed it the most, winning its third consecutive game in extra innings on Saturday night by a score of 4-3. The team moved to 4-0 overall on the season when forced to go into the tenth inning and beyond.

“I think that stuff makes you better down the road,” head coach Tracy Smith said. “You learn how to play in pressures situations so you are trying to win one inning at a time as opposed to nine.”

It was Brian Serven once again who had the walk off, this time on a four-pitch walk. He singled home David Greer last night in the bottom of the 11^th for the victory.

However, also in a repeat of yesterday, ASU blew a ninth inning lead. While it was not quite a five-run deficit that the UC Davis Aggies climbed out of this time, the ninth inning will come even further into focus in the next week for Smith and the Sun Devils.

The situation may solve itself though, as projected closer Andrew Shaps is inching his way towards a return to the mound.

The game started out promising, as ASU jumped out to a 2-0 lead that it carried through the first five innings. Greer’s RBI double was the big blow at the time. He finished the night with three hits and has now climbed back over .400.

ASU’s lead was secure early on due to the splendid pitching of junior Seth Martinez, who carried a no-hitter through 5 and 1/3 before back-to-back doubles ruined his bid. He eventually gave up two runs in the inning.

“When the velocity was there early on, he was commanding both sides of the plate,” Smith said. “Seth is Seth, and he showed why he is one of the better pitchers, not only that we have, but around the country because he gives you a chance to win every single time he takes the mound.”

Martinez was fantastic overall, pitching potentially his best outing ever as a Sun Devil. He set a career high with 11 strikeouts and allowed just five hits in eight innings of work.

“I was getting ahead with my fastball early and working inside out and having them swing the bat,” Martinez said. “Once it got to 0-2 or 1-2 I just wanted to throw something in the dirt that they could swing at and it was working pretty well.”

He nearly threw a complete game, but was removed after surrendering a leadoff hit in the top of the ninth.

It has been a string of excellent starts for the right hander, who has handled transitioning from the Saturday starter to the Friday starter and back seamlessly. His ERA sits at 1.61 through four games started.

Even more impressive was the taxed bullpen picking Martinez up nicely. Jordan Aboites surrendered a sacrifice fly, a run that was charged to Martinez, but settled in nicely for 2 and 1/3 scoreless innings before Ryan Hingst shut out the Aggies in 1 and 2/3 innings.

“Just having guys in the back end of the bullpen that can compete and throw strikes helps a lot,” Martinez said of the two relievers.

Junior college transfer Sebastian Zawada took center stage offensively once again. His raw power was put on display today when he gave ASU the lead back in the sixth inning with a mammoth solo home run, his fourth of the season. He then nearly hit a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth, but missed it by just a couple feet.

“That’s why we brought him here, because of his power,” Smith said. “If we moved those fences in I think he would have had a game winner.”

After some previously blown chances, ASU finally broke through in the 12^th not with their bats, but with their patience at the plate. Jeremy McCuin, Greer and Colby Woodmansee all drew walks before Serven did the same to give ASU its seventh consecutive victory.

The trio of games was the first time ASU has played three straight in extra innings since April 8-13, 1995 against both USC and Cal. Smith will need another strong outing from tomorrow’s starter, likely Reagan Todd, in order to preserve most of the pitching staff as the Sun Devils head into conference play starting next weekend.

Overall, the decision to schedule a relatively easy non-conference slate has paid dividends for the team, as it is very possible for it to enter the top-25 rankings next week.

The Sun Devils will go for their third straight home series sweep against the Aggies tomorrow before departing for Corvallis for Pac-12 play.

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