(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)
Arizona State Baseball got struck with some misfortune.
On Thursday, it was announced that both redshirt freshman left-handed pitcher Cooper Benson and junior right-hander Boyd Vander Kooi would miss the remainder of the season due to Tommy John surgery.
The demoralizing losses of the Sun Devils’ Friday-night ace and veteran swiss-army knife arm made sophomore right-hander Tyler Thornton the next man up in the rotation, as he took the hill to open the weekend set against Utah on Friday.
While Thornton looked a lot shakier in his third start of the season, it proved to be just enough, as the bullpen and some timely offense helped ASU capture a 4-3 win over the Utes.
Head coach Tracy Smith summed up the Sun Devils’ performance succinctly.
“We found a way to win,” he said.
Both sides failed to muster any offense until the third inning, when Utah redshirt freshman infielder Trey Clarkson rocketed a ball over the left-center field fence for a two-run homer off of Thornton.
Thornton fought his way out of a couple huge jams, including one in the fourth inning where he squeaked out of a bases loaded predicament unscathed. That situation proved to be the end of Thornton’s night though, as he exited after just four innings, walking three and striking out eight.
“I liked his competitiveness,” Smith said. “If you’re not gonna have your best stuff that’s fine, but as long as you stay competing I don’t have an issue with that.”
The Sun Devils’ bullpen took care of the rest, as freshman right-hander Jared Glenn, redshirt freshman left-hander Graham Osman, redshirt freshman right-hander Cam Dennie and freshman right-hander Ethan Long combined to allow one run the rest of the way. Overall, the bullpen gave up five walks and two hits while striking out five.
“We didn’t do a good job making them earn their baserunners,” Smith said. “At the end of the day if we can still do that and find a way to win by playing good defense, it shows progress.”
While they didn’t do as much damage as they did against Nevada on Tuesday, ASU’s bats came through when it mattered most. It started in the fourth inning, when both freshman third-baseman Hunter Haas and junior designated hitter Hunter Jump led off with a pair of hits before scoring on freshman first-baseman Nate Baez’s sacrifice fly and senior catcher Sam Ferri’s groundout, respectively, to tie the game at two.
The Sun Devils continued to be stifled by Utah redshirt junior starter Justin Kelly, as the right-hander went six-and-two-third innings while giving up seven hits and striking out six.
That all changed in the seventh inning when ASU freshman infielder Blake Pivaroff followed up freshman left-fielder Kai Murphy’s double with a pinch-hit bloop single to give the Sun Devils the lead. Redshirt freshman outfielder Seth Nager pinch-ran and reached third on an errand throw while stealing second-base and wound up scoring on a throwing error by Utah freshman third-baseman Kai Roberts.
“You can’t count us out,” Murphy said. “Getting that lead late makes us feel in control, and of course our bullpen is pretty nasty.”
The defining moment of the night came in the eighth inning. After Dennie gave up a run on a single from Utah senior outfielder Jaylon McLaughlin, the Sun Devils brought Long in to try and keep the deficit at one.
Long inevitably found himself in a bases-loaded jam with only one out before Utah redshirt sophomore catcher Jayden Kiernan and Clarkson were retired on a fly-out and a line-out.
Long stayed in to shut the door in the ninth inning, securing ASU’s first Friday-night win in almost a year.
“When it comes to the guys who we feel fit that role, [Justin] Fall, Dennie and Ethan, the big separator for him is the mentality,” Smith said.
The Sun Devils will look to keep their winning streak going on Saturday afternoon after securing their fourth in a row in the series-opener.
