(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Having climbed back to .500 in Pac-12 play, the Arizona State baseball team traveled to Corvallis over the weekend to take on No. 5 Oregon State and looked stay afloat in the conference and compete with one of the nation’s top teams.
The Sun Devils were tasked with facing senior Luke Heimlich Friday night while OSU squared off against ASU sophomore Alec Marsh.
Marsh lasted seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out eight.
“He was matching [Luke Heimlich] pitch for pitch and I think every time out, he’s taken a step in the right direction in becoming a legitimate weekend starter in the Pac-12,” head coach Tracy Smith said of his sophomore who has settled into the Friday night role.
Marsh kept the Devils in the game until his exit, at which point the bullpen experienced the struggles that have become nearly expected this season. It took Jake Godfrey, Spencer Van Scoyoc and Grant Schneider to escape the eighth inning where the three hurlers combined to allow four unearned runs on two hits and two walks. A wild pitch and fielder’s choice hurt ASU, allowing the Beavers to take a 6-0 lead heading into the top of the ninth.
For much of the game, Heimlich stymied Sun Devil hitters, as they were only able to manage two hits through the first eight innings while Heimlich struck out 11 while not walking a batter.
The tune changed in the ninth, as with one out, Spencer Torkelson drilled his 21st home run of the season over the left field wall to ruin Heimlich’s shutout. After singles from Carter Aldrete and Lyle Lin, Heimlich was removed from the game in favor of Dylan Pearce, who gave up an RBI single to Taylor Lane but was able to finish off the game for a 6-2 final in favor of OSU.
Lane was the only Sun Devil with two hits on the game while Aldrete made his season debut at first base, with Spencer Torkelson playing in left field.
After scoring in the ninth Friday night, the offense continued where it left off, as the Sun Devils started the scoring in the first inning. After Torkelson led off with a walk, Gage Canning singled him in. Canning then came across to score in the third inning, singled in by Carter Aldrete to give ASU an early 2-0 lead.
Aldrete left the game soon, however. Making his second start at first base this season, and in as many days, the natural shortstop dropped a ball while attempting to apply a tag after fielding a routine ground ball at first base that led to an unearned run.
Aldrete was replaced at first by Lane, who had started the game in left field. Trevor Hauver took over in left, then moved to first base in the seventh after Hunter Bishop, pinch hit for Lane. Hauver, like Aldrete, a natural shortstop, made his collegiate debut at that position and turned an unassisted double play on a hard-hit line drive from OSU’s Nick Madrigal that ended the seventh inning.
After Myles Denson pinch hit for Hauver in the top of the eighth inning, freshman pitcher Boyd Vander Kooi, who had not seen game action since March 24 against UCLA, took over duties at first base.
Vander Kooi had spent time in previous weeks practicing at the position but had not done anything but pitch for ASU prior to Saturday’s contest.
Five different players saw time there over the three-game series, including four different players (Aldrete, Lane, Hauver and Vander Kooi) on Saturday, three of whom (Aldrete, Hauver and Vander Kooi) had never played there before in college.
“We make way too many errors at first base and I think it’s just a matter of finding someone who wants to embrace the position, has the skillset to play the position,” Smith said. “Everybody has this misconception that it’s the big ‘oaf’ that you put over there, but if you look at that position in itself, you’re handling the baseball as much, if not more than anybody in the infield. Right now, it’s guys understanding how important that role is, how important the defensive aspect to that position it’s not just a place to hide a hitter. And we’re going to work and work and work until we find somebody.”
While OSU scored three runs in the fourth inning and one in the fifth, ASU’s offense proved to be the superior one as they counted the Beavers’ five tallies with four unanswered runs, with Lin, Hunter Jump and Gage Workman all driving in runs to secure an 8-5 victory and upset over the country’s No. 5 team.
Sam Romero only pitched 3.1 innings in his start Saturday, giving up 6 hits and five walks that resulted in four runs crossing the plate.
“It seemed like he was behind everybody,” Smith said. “I thought he battled, I thought he competed well, he just didn’t have the best command, the best stuff. Just one of those nights for him.”
Chaz Montoya threw 1.1 innings, allowing three hits and another run to score, but Dellan Raish proved to be the hero of the game.
“He’s been doing that for us all year, to come in and close the door like that, I thought he settled in,” Smith said. “If we didn’t have him, who knows how that thing finishes out. I’m very proud of him and what’s he’s been able to do, it just seems like he’s getting better and better.”
The redshirt freshman pitched the final 4.1 innings of the game, his fourth outing of three or more innings, en route to his third win of the season and second in his last three appearances.
The Sun Devils set the tone again on Sunday, jumping out to an early lead in the first when Lin singled in Canning.
The back and forth style of Saturday’s game continued into the rubber match, as OSU scored four runs on the power of eight hits, two of them home runs.
The Devils had an answer, with Torkelson, Canning and Jump all contributing to the effort, going so far as to jump out to a 5-4 lead.
Like it has often times this season, the lead did not hold, with Eli Lingos allowing two runs in the seventh inning to give the Beavers a 6-5 lead that held for the remainder of the contest.
Lingos was removed after the seventh, in favor of Spencer Van Scoyoc, who pitched a scoreless inning, but not before the senior lefty tossed 127 pitches, allowing 13 hits and four walks, while only striking out two.
For the Sun Devils, there were many encouraging takeaways from the weekend. For one of the few times all season, even though they were down at the end of the game Friday, the Devils were not out, putting up two runs to counter OSU’s offense.
On Saturday, Oregon held a lead twice in the game, but the Sun Devils were able to respond to each of the Beavers’ attacks, regaining the lead both times they lost it.
The story was similar Sunday, as the Devils held leads over the nation’s No. 5 team twice.
While they were unable to come through with a victory, the level of competition at many points throughout the weekend was one much higher than the team had played at for most of the season, as the Beavers only outscored them by two runs, 17-15 in the series.
“I thought with a young team in one of the toughest places to play in the country, I thought our guys handled it really, really well,” Smith said. “I would have liked to have gotten out of here with the series win and I know I speak for all those guys in the locker room too … I think when we figure out that component as a group, playing hard every single pitch, that’s just something that with such a young team, you want to make sure they understand that moving forward.”
Playing hard on every single pitch, however, was an issue that plagued the Devils all weekend and proved to be the difference. The defense combined to make five errors over three games, many of which hurt them, as 12 of the 17 runs allowed were earned.
“We’re not losing games because of our offense, we’re losing games because of our defense and occasionally the pitching,” Smith admitted. “So we’re going to continue to try to find the best defensive lineup we can put out on the field while balancing the offense piece of it.”
While not as significant as it has been at points this season, pitching was an issue once again, as the bullpen on Friday and Romero on Saturday gave a talented OSU offense more chances to score runs.
The story of the weekend was a story that has become synonymous with Sun Devil Baseball in 2018: inconsistency. For Smith, the cause of that inconsistency can be pinpointed with one thing: the youth of the roster.
“It’s guys learning how to win and what it takes to do it on a consistent basis,” he said.
OTHER NOTES (from post-game interview Sunday with Tracy Smith):
- Smith noted that Boyd Vander Kooi has been doing some hitting in practice. While he isn’t game-ready with the bat, they would like to see him in the field at some point.
- Unsurprisingly, Smith is very proud of Hunter Jump. “He’s the living example of, you get out of it what you put into it. So many times, guys want everything now. He didn’t even travel two weeks ago and he’s inserted into the lineup, he does what you’re supposed to do, which is make me play you.”
- When asked about Carter Aldrete’s exit from the game on Saturday, Smith had this to say… “You’ve got to play with something to you, to this game. Our little mini motto is play hard or don’t play and it’s one of those things where sometimes you’ve got to light a fire and we’re going to make sure guys play hard because there’s plenty of good players on the bench that are practicing every day, working hard to get in there and if someone’s going to mentally take a rep off or a pitch or a play off, we’ve got good enough guys on the bench that are ready to play.” So take that as you will.
- After Drew Swift made two errors in the weekend, Smith reaffirmed that he will remain the team’s shortstop and he doesn’t plan to explore other options. “He’s earned it. Sometimes you get players who are trying to do too much but he’s a very, very good infielder and will continued to get better.”
