(Photo: Karli Matthias/WCSN)
The No. 12 Sun Devils hit the road for the first time this season, stopping in Fullerton for a two game set against the Cal State Fullerton Titans. After coming off a humbling 18-10 loss to Nebraska last Sunday in Phoenix, the Devils were looking to start fresh after having their six-game winning streak snapped.
The Devils were able to return to their 2019 form at the plate against the Huskers after scoring 37 runs over the course of the weekend. Meanwhile the pitching staff, led by first-year pitching coach Jason Kelly, was eager to get back on track after their performance on Sunday.
In game one, Boyd Vander Kooi took to the hill for the Devils in his second start of the season after a couple of relief outings against Boston College and Nebraska. Coming in, Vander Kooi possessed a 1.08 ERA in 16.2 innings pitched.
Fullerton got off to a quick start in the bottom of the first against Vander Kooi, scoring two runs on an RBI double from sophomore infielder Zach Lew and a sacrifice fly from freshman JJ Cruz. Vander Kooi and senior catcher Nick Cheema seemed to be out of sync in the early going before eventually getting on the same page for the remainder of the ballgame.
The Sun Devils struggled to string anything together at the plate until the third when Titan’s starter Landon Anderson walked Trevor Hauver to bring in ASU’s first run of the game before Drew Swift drove in a pair on an RBI single to give the Devils a 3-2 lead.
Swift went 9-for-13 at the plate in the Nebraska series and also cracked his first collegiate home run on Sunday. He would go on to drive in two of the eventual five runs that the Devils scored later in the sixth inning.
Freshman utility man Nathan Baez started things off in the sixth inning with an RBI double before Dusty Garcia brought home a run on an RBI single to right. Hauver brought home another on a single before Swift’s two run single extended the ASU lead to 8-2.
Fullerton struggled to get it’s offense going once Vander Kooi hit his stride in the middle innings, but they threatened in the bottom half of the sixth after putting runners on the corners. Vander Kooi pitched his way out of the jam and finished strong, going eight innings without giving up an earned run or a walk while striking out six.
The Devils tacked on two more runs in the eighth when Spencer Torkelson mashed his sixth homer of the season over the left-centerfield wall to make it 10-2 ASU. Torkelson now sits three home runs behind Bob Horner for No.1 all time in program history.
ASU pushed across a pair in the ninth on wild pitches before freshman reliever Christian Bodlovich shut the door on the Titans to help the Devils claim the 12-2 victory in game one.
Game two proved to be much of the same for the Devils as Erik Tolman got the nod for his third start of the season.
Drew Swift stayed hot at the plate doubling in his first at-bat in the top half of second inning before being driven in by Gage Workman. Swift would end up going four-for-five with two RBIs, expanding his hit total to six on the series.
Tolman struggled with control early on which hurt him in the second inning after Fullerton put to men on base with a walk and a hit. Kameron Guangorena drove in one of the runners on an RBI single to right to tie the game up at one before Jackson Lyon hit a sac fly to center driving in a second making it 2-1 Titans.
Tolman found himself in a jam once again in the third when he allowed two runners to reach base. He eventually found his way out of it when Dusty Garcia made an incredible catch in centerfield up against the wall which left Fullerton runners stranded on second and third. From that point forward, it was all ASU as Tolman found his groove.
The Sun Devils reclaimed the lead in the fourth when Workman drove two more runners home after Hunter Jump layed down a sac bunt advancing Trevor Hauver and Swift to second and third. ASU tacked on three more runs on a Hauver double in the fifth and a Swift single to make it 6-2 Devils.
Tolman would later be pulled after six quality innings of work. He gave up two earned runs on two hits while walking five and striking out eight on 105 pitches. Tolman’s strikeout total now sits at 30 which is good for top 10 in the Pac-12.
Freshman Cam Dennie replaced Tolman and pitched a scoreless seventh in his only inning of work before turning it over to Seth Tomczak in the eighth.
Swift drove in his second run of the ballgame on a single to left scoring Torkelson who was walked to start the inning. Nathan Baez plated one more run on the first homer of his college career to extend the Sun Devil lead to 8-2.
The Titans brought home one more run after Austin Schell reached on an infield single scoring Trevor Cadd.
Hauver’s third run of the game came off a solo shot to right field in the ninth. Junior flamethrowing closer RJ Dabovich came in the finish things out in the bottom of the ninth giving ASU the 9-3 win and putting the final touches on a two game sweep of the Titans.
ASU extends its all-time record against the Titans to 36-26 after taking both games in the series, and it improves to 10-4 at the quarter mark of the season.
The Devils will be back at home this weekend against the Fresno State Bulldogs before the start of conference play the following weekend against Utah.
