There is nothing better than the end of Fall for a baseball team. Not only does that mean they are that much closer to the season, but for most college teams, that means some sort of series. Getting to face off against their own teammates in a split-squad type tournament, Arizona State is no different.
After drafting teams on Sunday night, ASU baseball was split into two teams, Maroon and Gold, and pinned against each other in this year’s Maroon and Gold World Series.
The first game was played on Monday and was taken by the Maroon side, winning 8-2 in seven innings.
After a first inning that saw no action from either side, the Gold got to work in the top of the second. After a two-out single gave them their first hit of the day, Cal-transfer Dominic Smaldino got the Gold team on the board first with an RBI-double, putting them up 1-0.
That ended up being their only lead of the day, though, as Maroon came to bat in the bottom half and put up four runs in the second and another three in the third. First, an RBI-flyout from fellow Cal-transfer PJ Mountzouridis tied the game up. After that, a bases-loaded double from sophomore Beckett Zavorek gave Maroon their first lead of the day.
A passed ball one batter later gave them another run before the end of the second, as a two-RBI double and an RBI-single in the third quickly gave Maroon a 7-1 lead over Gold.
Smaldino singled in another run for Gold in the fourth before an error gave Maroon the run right back, now leading 8-2, a score they took all the way to the win in seven innings.
Only three pitchers managed 1-2-3 innings between both sides. Maroon starter Easton Barrett, reliever Brady Louck and Gold’s Josh Butler. Butler was one of the only arms to throw more than one inning, coming in to close out the third and getting the fourth.
For Maroon, the offense was coming from all around. Their top two hitters, Zavorek and sophomore Landon Hairston, combined for four hits, and their bottom three, freshmen Finn Leach, Tommy Brown and Brenden Lewis, reached base six times between them. Almost every hitter on the Maroon side reached base.
The same can’t be said for Gold, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some stars on the team. Other than Smaldino, who reached twice with two RBI-base hits, Utah Valley-transfer Dominic Longo was carrying the offense for the Gold, finishing the day 2-for-3.
The second game of the series will be played at 2 p.m. on Thursday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
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