(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)
TEMPE — Headed into the seventh inning, Arizona State baseball had a 4-2 lead on Ohio State. In the two innings prior, the Sun Devils managed to hold the Buckeyes scoreless.
In the top of the seventh inning, sophomore left-handed pitcher Sean Fitzpatrick was replaced by senior right-handed pitcher, Hunter Omlid. Immediately afterward, Matthew Graveline, the sophomore center fielder for Ohio State, hit a home run to center field with two RBI. The two-run lead was quickly erased and the game was tied up at four.
“The Graveline kid stays on a nice slider and hits it out to right center. Great piece of hitting on his part,” Arizona State head coach WIllie Bloomquist said.
Graveline’s first home run of the season ignited a spark for Ohio State. The hit was followed up by another Ohio State player racking up their first home run of the season. This time, it was junior third baseman Tyler Pettorini. Omlid was later pulled from the game when graduate right fielder Mitchell Okuley hit a double down the left field line. He was replaced by junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Scheifer, who allowed a run that gave Ohio State a 6-4 lead.
“Couldn’t stop the bleeding right there,” Bloomquist said.
Scheifer momentarily gave the Sun Devils some pitching stability, as his 1.2 IP was the most of anyone in the bullpen today. However, when 1.2 IP is the most of five relief pitchers, it’s often never a good sign for the bullpen. That was definitely the case on Saturday, as the bullpen was at the forefront of issues in a 13-4 loss for ASU.
“It’s not piecing together on that backend right now and that’s something we’re going to have to evaluate,” Bloomquist said. “Who are our arms that can get it done and one thing we’re finding out is who can’t.”
ASU trotted out five relief pitchers in the final four innings. Those four combined for 10 earned runs, seven strikeouts, 10 hits, and four walks. The last substitution of the day came when Brock Eddy came in for Scheifer at the top of the ninth inning. This decision came after Ohio State’s graduate second baseman Joseph Mershon hit a triple due to a dropped fly by sophomore center fielder Isaiah Jackson.
This was when Ohio State sealed the victory. The first two pitches for the freshman pitcher were walks, causing the bases to be loaded. From there, junior center fielder Josh Stevenson hit a single to right field and Mershon advanced to home plate, giving Ohio State a 7-4 lead.
Immediately afterward, junior designated hitter Nick Giamarusti hit a home run to left field with the bases still loaded, extending the lead to seven runs. Shortly after, Graveline hit his second home run of the game and the season to give Ohio State a double-digit run lead. It took 41 pitches for Eddy to leave the mount.
“All they need is contact so we went with Brock and gave up some runs there,” Bloomquist said. “We’re going to have to figure out a way to finish games.”
While the bullpen was the most glaring issue for the Sun Devils, there wasn’t much help from the offensive side of the ball either. More specifically, the batting for ASU’s inability to capitalize when presented with the opportunity. The Sun Devils were collectively 8-22 (.364) on the day when it came to advancement opportunities and 2-9 (.222) when runners were in scoring position.
“We had a lot of great at bats and guys in scoring position we just didn’t cash in as much as we’d like to,” Bloomquist said.
Before the seventh inning, there were a decent amount of bright spots for ASU. One of those bright spots was senior left-handed pitcher Connor Markl. Markl started his second game of the season with his most recent being an early exit a week prior. The difference between the two starts was night-and-day. A week ago against Santa Clara, Markl had played three full innings and recorded two extra outs before being replaced. Over those innings, he allowed seven hits and five earned runs. On Saturday, Markl played five full innings and allowed five hits and just two earned runs.
“All-in-all, happy with his performance, he threw the ball well,” Bloomquist said.
If the Sun Devils want to even the series, they will have to improve at maintaining a lead. This is an aspect that Bloomquist made sure to emphasize as an area of improvement.
“That’s baseball, if you’re not going to go work ahead and have out pitches late in the game, then you’re going to get burned.”
