ASU baseball gets back on track with Surprise tournament sweep

(Photo: Allyson Cummings/WCSN)

This is the team that everyone was anticipating.

The Arizona State Sun Devils (6-4) have now won four games in a row, as they swept all three games of the Sanderson Ford Baseball Classic in Surprise.

On Thursday, the Sun Devils rebounded from a 3-0 deficit and went on to earn a 9-6 win over the Santa Clara Broncos (5-5). Darin Gillies struck out six and threw a career-long six innings to earn his first win of the season. Shortstop Drew Stankiewicz led the offensive charge with three hits, and catcher RJ Ybarra continued his scorching start to the season with two more hits.

On Friday, Ryan Burr earned his first win as a collegiate starting pitcher, firing six innings and only allowing two runs. True freshman Brian Serven got the start behind the plate and he did not disappoint. Serven went 4-for-5, bolstering his team-leading .476 average (10-for-21). Right fielder Trever Allen put the game out of reach for Gonzaga (2-8) with an eighth-inning grand slam, giving the Sun Devils a 10-5 win.

After a Saturday’s game was cancelled due to a torrential downpour, the Sun Devils extended their winning streak to four games with a 6-1 win over No. 14 Oklahoma State (10-2). Ryan Kellogg regained his form that catapulted him to ace-status last season. The sophomore lefty earned his first win of the season and struck out 10 batters in only five innings.

Player of the Series:

Many Sun Devils turned in performances worthy of such a prestigious recognition. In fact, the case could easily be made for the pitching staff as a collective group; however, for the sake of abiding by the title of this section, we must single out one specific player. Thus, sophomore southpaw Ryan Kellogg will be awarded this week’s “Player of the Series.” Kellogg undoubtedly turned in the most dominant pitching performance of the weekend, perhaps the most dominant in all of college baseball up to this point. Kellogg struck out a remarkable ten batters and only allowed one run on two hits. Kellogg becomes the first Sun Devil pitcher since 2012 to record double-digit strikeouts.

Oh by the way, this was all against the No. 14 team in the country. A team that had won 10 of 11 games and scored 10 or more runs in six of those games before Kellogg’s outing.

Biggest Concern:

It is tough to identify many negatives for this ASU squad after sweeping the three games of the Sanderson Ford Baseball Classic, so this is getting really knit-picky. In each of the three tournament games, the Sun Devils fell behind early, making each of their wins come-from-behind wins. On Thursday, Santa Clara jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, behind four singles in the first inning. On Friday, Gonzaga took a 2-0 lead in the first inning; however, Ryan Burr would settle down and dominate the rest of the way. On Sunday, before Sun Devil pitching turned in a dominant, 15-strikeout performance, Oklahoma State took a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Falling behind early puts unneeded and avoidable stress on the entire offense, as hitters start pressing to give their pitcher some run support. It did not hurt the Sun Devils this weekend, but it could down the road.

Unsung Hero:

Sophomore center fielder Johnny Sewald takes home this week’s unsung hero. Last season, Sewald only appeared in 27 games, and received only nine starts in the outfield. This season, however, Sewald has solidified himself as the every day center fielder and leadoff hitter. In this weekend’s three game tournament, Sewald went 4-for-11 (now hitting .348 this season) with four runs and three RBIs. Sewald has a .500 on-base percentage, and leads the team with six walks and three steals—perfect table-setting statistics for the big bats of Trever Allen, RJ Ybarra and Dalton Dinatale.

Stat of the Series:

24 in 21.

Over the three-game weekend, Sun Devil starting pitchers struck out 24 opposing hitters in only 21 innings—a remarkable stat considering their inconsistencies up to this point. Darin Gillies struck out six in six innings; Ryan Burr struck out two in six innings; and Ryan Kellogg and Brett Lilek combined for 15 in 9 innings. Interestingly enough, it was Burr who recorded the least amount of strikeouts, as he is the pitcher most known for his overpowering, swing-and-miss stuff. And, Kellogg, normally known for pitching to contact and avoiding high pitch-count innings that strikeouts tend to create, led the strikeout charge with 10 in five innings. Regardless, both were highly effective so it is tough to complain.

What’s next?

The Sun Devils will now return to Packard Stadium for the first time in over two weeks to host a three-game weekend series with (10-0) Tennessee. First pitch is Friday at 6:30 p.m.

You can reach Jacob Garcia on Twitter @jake3garcia or via email at Jacob.M.Garcia@asu.edu

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