(Photo: Madison Sorenson/WCSN)
PHOENIX — When UNLV and Arizona State first matched up against one another in late March, the Rebels nearly capitalized on a sloppy showing from the Sun Devils, scoring 11 runs after facing a 12-0 deficit. The comeback attempt ultimately fell short despite a scrappy team effort from the Rebels, but it showcased that ASU could ill afford the same lackluster play once they met again. On Wednesday night, the Sun Devils unfortunately found themselves suffering from the habits that crept up in their first meeting.
No. 20 ASU (24-10, 7-5) fell to UNLV (19-14) 7-5 as defensive blunders and poor pitching execution plagued the team, while the pesky Rebel offense refused to go quietly.
The Sun Devils jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, as graduate student outfielder Matt Polk laced an RBI single through the infield, and maintained it until the top of the third. That was when the first UNLV counterpunch occurred, and the Sun Devils relinquished the lead for good.
Starting the frame, UNLV senior outfielder Reggie Bussey drew a walk from the Sun Devil’s freshman righty Austin Musso. The big blow came the following at bat, when junior second baseman Marcos Rosales homered deep to left field, and that swing wasn’t the only instance he made the Phoenix Municipal crowd collectively groan.
Rosales’ fingerprints were all over Wednesday night’s game, as he recorded two hits, runs and RBIs in the contest. He also pulled off a pair of dazzling double plays for the Rebels on defense, both of which were inning-ending.
After surrendering the long ball, Musso finished his day by retiring the next three Rebel hitters in order. It was Musso’s first appearance as a starter, and the Rosales homer was the only blemish on an otherwise encouraging performance.
“I thought Austin threw the ball outstanding, got us off to a decent start”, head coach Willie Bloomquist said.
In the inning following Musso’s departure, the usually sharp juniorright-handerr Josh Butler was quite the contrary. He allowed the first three UNLV batters he faced to reach, and a two-RBI double from UNLV’s junior catcher Gavin Taylor stretched their lead to four.
“UNLV can swing the bats; they are a very capable offensive team”, said Bloomquist.
In the next at bat, sophomore second baseman Beckett Zavorek committed an error on a routine ground ball, allowing Taylor to score from second.
Zavorek’s misplay would not be the last to cost the team crucially. In the fifth inning, a wild pitch from junior lefty Brady Louck ushered home a Rebel baserunner. In the ninth, the same mistake from junior lefty Derek Schaefer allowed Rosales to advance to third, and he later came around to score on a sacrifice bunt.
In all, the Sun Devils had four wild pitches and two errors in the field, and went 1-12 as a team with runners in scoring position.
“Didn’t play very good defense, had some routine plays we kicked around. Offensively, just didn’t come with that mindset that I like to see”, Wille Bloomquist assessed.
Although the team struggled with runners on and was unable to avoid Rosales’ stellar glove in key situations, the ASU offense still mounted a valiant comeback effort.
The player who is most frequently associated with ASU run production, standout sophomore outfielder Landon Hairston, was the catalyst for the Sun Devils once again. He hit his second double of the night in the seventh, which scored Zavorek and cut the UNLV lead to three. He later scored on a passed ball from UNLV’s Taylor and brought the Sun Devils within two. Hairston extended his consecutive hit streak to 17 games, and his extra-base hit streak to 10.
In the eighth, junior infielder Dominic Longo hit an RBI double of his own, but it would be the last run ASU could muster in the futile comeback try.
