(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Going into the 2018 season if anyone had predicted that on April 25th Spencer Van Scoyoc would be making just his third start for Arizona State baseball, the predictions would have been far worse than a 6th-place standing in the Pac-12.
Nevertheless, Van Scoyoc’s inconsistencies this season continued Wednesday night against the New Mexico State Aggies as the Sun Devils ended up on the wrong end of a back-and-forth affair, coming up just short by the score of 8-7.
Making his first start since February 23rd against Saint Mary’s, Van Scoyoc faced just one over the minimum through the first two innings, but ultimately departed before recording an out in the fourth.
It has been an ongoing process for Smith and his coaching staff to unlock the potential they see in Van Scoyoc since he stepped onto campus 18 months ago, but attempting to correct a pitcher in game action can go one of two ways.
“We’re in a results-oriented business, so you have to pick and choose your spots. You don’t want to sacrifice the good of the team for one individual’s development, that’s the constant balancing act we’re in as coaches,” Smith said. “Yes I wish [Van Scoyoc] would’ve gone five or six innings, didn’t happen tonight. But we’re not giving up on him.”
The sophomore finished with 3+ IP, allowing five runs (four earned) while allowing five hits and walking two. His ERA now sits at 6.41 while having walked 18 batters in just 19.2 innings.
Van Scoyoc turning in a short outing was only one aspect of this contest that reflected the Sun Devils’ struggles this season, as fielding miscues and hampered their chances to end threats and keep themselves within striking distance offensively.
First baseman Spencer Torkelson’s struggles in the field were at the forefront in tonight’s game, first mishandling a sacrifice bunt attempt up the first base line that allowed Logan Bottrell to reach, followed up two batters later by a throwing error attempting to catch Joey Ortiz off third base. Ortiz came in to score as the ball trickled away from Gage Workman, which proved to be very costly in the one-run defeat.
“This game’s a game of catch and throw, and you gotta play catch, and we didn’t do that tonight,” Smith said. “Just play catch, just slow the game down, and you take some of those freebies off the board. And we’ve been giving our fair share of freebies.”
The Sun Devils put up a valiant effort against the Aggies, scraping three runs across in the seventh inning to pull within 8-7, before working two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Hunter Bishop struck out looking to end the game with Torkelson and his NCAA-leading 20 home runs left stranded in the on-deck circle.
Despite the game coming down to the offense being unable to scrape across the tying run in the ninth, Smith does not want to place all of the blame on his hitters.
“Our issue isn’t with the bats, it’s defensively. We’re making mistakes we shouldn’t, but we have to get better on the mound,” Smith said. “We can’t keep relying on our offense to bail us out. That’s not how you win games. You win games with your pitching and your defense, so those things need to get better and be more consistent.”
The loss sees Arizona State’s overall record drop to 17-23 overall, still holding a 9-9 record in Pac-12 play heading into this weekend’s series against No. 5 Oregon State.
Having lost six straight against the Beavers, Smith’s message to his young team prior to heading to Corvallis is as simple as it gets:
“We gotta pitch it better, and when they give you outs you have to take the outs. You can’t be throwing the ball all over the diamond, you just can’t do that,” Smith said. “I would imagine with their pitching staff, you’re not going to be able to climb back in and score seven-to-ten runs a game.”
