(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
A night after Arizona State head coach Tracy Smith referred to the pitching and defense as “abysmal,” the Sun Devil baseball team rebounded well, topping the Pacific Tigers 8-3 in one of the better-played ballgames the team has put together all season.
Making his 13th start of the season, senior left-hander Eli Lingos delivered yet another quality start, throwing six strong innings on seven hits and three runs. All three runs, along with six of the hits came over his final two innings of work, at which point ASU already had a steady lead.
“It’s very comforting knowing when we roll out there that Eli’s on the mound,” sophomore outfielder Hunter Bishop said. “When Eli rolls out there, you know we’re going to hit, everyone gets really excited when Eli gets on the mound.”
With Lingos on the mound, the Sun Devil offense was able to get hits, collecting seven in the first five innings.
Hunter Jump took over the leadoff spot in ASU’s lineup Monday night and scored the first run of the game, coming home on a Carter Aldrete sacrifice fly after the Devils loaded the bases. The scoring continued into the fourth as three hits and two walks, all with two outs, produced three more runs and gave the Sun Devils a 4-0 lead after four.
Despite Pacific loading the bases in the fifth and scoring two runs on four hits, the Devils countered back quickly, as Gage Workman collected the first two of his three RBI on the night, singling in Aldrete and Gage Canning.
“I was just kind of sticking with my approach, trying to hit the ball up the middle,” Workman said of his 3-4 day at the plate. “[Their pitchers] left a couple of pitcher over the plate and I just hit them good tonight.”
Not only did the offense and pitching click early and all game long, the defense did as well in one of ASU’s most well-rounded games in 2018.
“It’s great to see that,” Smith said after the win. “As bad as it was last night, which was about as bad as I’ve seen, it was probably as good as I’ve seen in a long time tonight.”
With a runner on first in the eighth inning, Tigers third baseman Carter Hayes drilled a fly ball deep to left field that Bishop, ASU’s left fielder, jumped at the wall for and brought back, robbing Hayes of a home run and making one of several spectacular defensive plays on the night.
“Probably the hardest part is putting your head down and feeling out where the wall is and taking your eye off the ball,” Bishop said. “I had to work on that a lot over the summer and with our coach Mike Earley a lot, so it’s just trusting yourself and knowing that once you see the ball of the bat, you can trust where it is”
With the likes of Bishop, Workman, Drew Swift and Alika Williams all holding strong defensively, the Sun Devils completed their 16th game of 49 this season without an error, improving their record to 10-6 in such games.
The offense scored twice more in the game, as Workman doubled in Bishop and Aldrete singled in Canning in the final two innings to give ASU a comfortable 8-3 lead that the Tigers could not come back from.
Fitz Stadler, Sam Romero and Dellan Raish each allowed multiple runners on in their relief efforts, but the three held Pacific scoreless over the final three innings to secure ASU’s 21st win of the year.
Despite the outcome being favorable for ASU, especially after Sunday afternoon’s game, the lack of consistency is still an issue the Devils look to overcome.
“We’ve outhit a lot of the best teams and like Skip says, it’s pitching and defense that win you games,” Bishop said. “We have the guys for sure, it’s just coming together.”
With a winning record out of the question, the Sun Devils have six more games to end the season in what they hope is a strong fashion. This Thursday, ASU heads south for three games in Tucson against Arizona before concluding the season at home against Cal.
