(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)
The Arizona State baseball team kicked off the era at Phoenix Municipal Stadium with a bang Friday night, as a walk-off home run by Colby Woodmansee gave the Sun Devils a 4-3 extra inning victory over the Cowboys.
In a pitching duel, both teams struggled to put up runs, but it was ASU that scored when it mattered most. Clutch hits by Jordan Aboites and Woodmansee were the decisive factor for the Sun Devils.
Aboites delivered a game-tying double off the face of the left field wall in the eight inning. And with the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the tenth, Colby Woodmansee’s solo home run to left field notched the first win of 2015 for ASU and the first win for Tracy Smith as head coach of the Sun Devils.
“I honestly don’t know what just happened,” Woodmansee succinctly said after the game.
Brett Lilek toed the mound in Friday’s season opener and lasted only 4.2 innings after giving up two runs. The left-hander did amass six strikeouts, but his command faltered and he issued four walks as well.
The Sun Devils bats provided some run support in the fourth inning for Lilek, as Woodmansee singled to left to send in Joey Bielek. Dalton DiNatale then ripped a double to right field to score Woodmansee and extend the ASU lead to 2-0.
The lead was short-lived for the Sun Devils, however, as centerfielder Corey Hassel hit a double off the center field wall to tie the game at two runs apiece. A walk to Gage Green spelled the end of Lilek’s evening.
OSU took the lead in the sixth off ASU relief pitcher Hever Bueno with a Kevin Bradley single that scored Conor Costello. Further damage was averted, though, when Trever Allen gunned down Kevin Bradley at the plate.
An inning of work from highly-touted closer Ryan Burr was sandwiched in between Aboites’s double and Woodmansee’s tenth inning heroics.
Burr started the ninth inning poorly by giving up a walk to Jon Littell and a double to Bradley. But he proved his worth, striking out three consecutive OSU batters to give ASU a chance to walk it off in the ninth.
The Sun Devils couldn’t muster any semblance of a threat in their half of the ninth, but two more strikeouts from Burr in the top of the tenth gave ASU a shot at redemption.
Woodmansee only mustered a .200 batting average a season ago, but he got his 2015 season off to a strong start, as his walk-off home run was his second hit and second RBI of the night.
ASU and Oklahoma State will square off in game two tomorrow at 1:00 MT, as left-hander Ryan Kellogg will start for the Sun Devils and right-hander Jon Perrin will get the nod for the Cowboys.
You can reach the author Mark Harris on Twitter @Harris_Mark
