ASU Baseball: Ybarra shoulders the load, 3-run blast gives Sun Devils a 7-6 win

(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN)

On an afternoon in which ASU needed to squeak one out to even the series over the No.1 TCU Horned Frogs, pitcher Ryan Kellogg was able to settle down after a shaky start and get the 7-6 win.

If one were to look at the stats, it would seem that TCU should have been the victor. ASU had three errors and gave up five two-out RBI to TCU.

“I’ll live with an error as long as it’s aggressive,” head coach Tracy Smith said. “Where I struggle is when the situation of the game would dictate how a guy performs and that’s something I look more at than just the physical piece of it. Our defense has been much better even though today it was a little sloppy and we’re lucky it didn’t cost us the baseball game.”

ASU,  however, put four runners of its own on third with less than two outs, while only stranding four runners in the contest. This ultimately was a saving grace that would come to be a vital factor, combined with ASU’s ability to cash in on TCU mistakes.

The action started in the second inning when TCU’s second baseman Garrett Crain started off the inning with a seeing-eye-single to left field. With two outs in the same frame and another runner aboard, catcher Zack Plunkett hit the scoreboard in right-center field for a three-run homerun.

“I focused on not letting one pitch dictate the next one. As soon as I threw that pitch, a fast ball away, and the kid hit it out. It is what it is, we’re down three but I can’t control that anymore. Just got to get ahead of the next hitter and keep throwing strikes,” Kellogg said.

But ASU answered right back. Designated hitter RJ Ybarra reached second on a ground-rule double that pulled the momentum back to his team. A single from left fielder Coltin Gerhart pulled ASU within two.

“It’s easy to get the offense going when you have Kellogg on the mound who you know is going to give you a quality start, quality pitches and keep you in the game,” Ybarra said.

Ybarra returned to the plate in the third inning (after a sac-fly from Colby Woodmansee) and smashed the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for his own three-run homer, propelling his team to a 5-3 lead.

“I say all the time the greatest motivator in the world is the bench,” Smith said. “(Ybarra) has been a little bit inconsistent in his approach early in the season, but we’ve asked him to lock in and be a little more focused. I think maybe not being in there those past couple games made him narrow that focus a little bit more. (I’m) very pleased and proud of him for putting us on his back offensively today.”

TCU pitcher Tyler Alexander would get the early hook from head coach Jim Schlossnagle in the top of the fifth inning. Brian Howard represented the first pitcher out of TCU’s bullpen this series, as Preston Morrison threw a complete-game shutout on Friday.

On Howard’s first pitch, Woodmansee singled down the left field line to score Sewald and put ASU up three.

The scoring would cease until the top of the eighth, when Smith called closer Ryan Burr to relieve Kellogg, who threw 113 pitches through 7 2/3 innings.

Coming into the inning with two outs and runners on first and third, Burr was unable to get out unscathed. First baseman Jeremie Fagnan slammed one down the right field line for a double that cleared the bases and put TCU back within one at 6-5.

But as was the case throughout the game, ASU had an answer.

After two more TCU pitching changes, which brought Brian Trieglaff to the mound with the bases loaded and one out, pinch-hitter Jake Peevyhouse hit a sac fly to score Ryan Lillard and put ASU up 7-5.

Burr was able to regain compusure in the top of the ninth after giving up an unearned run, as he struck out designated hitter Evan Skoug to end the game.

“It’s one of those things you don’t want to get behind but it’s good to know right now that if we get behind we’re able to battle back and put runs on the board and still win ball games,” Ybarra said. We haven’t had an easy start to our schedule, we’ve played a couple tough opponents, but you know the great thing is we’re not even playing our best baseball yet. We’re playing games to win but we haven’t hit where we want to be yet and that’s what’s a great thing for our team.”

ASU will play the third and final game of the series against TCU on Sunday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. First pitch is at 12:30 p.m.

 

You can reach the author on Twitter @KristinaV_18 or by email at kvicario@asu.edu

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