ASU Baseball: Devils Win Fifth In a Row, Top UT 3-1
By Jesse Borek
On the back of sophomore left-hander Brett Lilek, the Sun Devils continued their winning ways Friday night as they defeated the Volunteers from the University of Tennessee by the final of 3-1.
With teammate Ryan Burr making his move back to the bullpen official, that opened the door for Lilek to get the ball and neutralize the Volunteers lineup that was laden with left handed hitters.
Lilek went seven strong, yielding only three hits and a walk, along with his three strikeouts. He had only two true clean innings, but with some superbly slick fielding behind him, he was able to avoid disaster.
The scoring got underway early for ASU, as the first three batters reached base against Tennessee right-hander Nick Williams. Johnny Sewald showcased his lightning quick feet by busting it down the first-base line for what may have been an infield single, but was ultimately ruled as an error on the shortstop for rushing the throw. Trever Allen and RJ Ybarra went for back-to-back singles, with Ybarra’s bringing home Sewald to give the Sun Devils the early lead.
Seemingly destined to blow the game open early was catcher Brian Serven as he whistled a line drive down at third baseman Taylor Smart, but was stunned to see the man at the hot corner snare his smash and turn a double play; bringing in a run, but effectively ending the early rally.
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On this night, defense was the name of the game. With very few balls being lofted to the outfield, the onus was on the infielders to make the spectacular plays.
The aforementioned Smart began the whole carousel of one-upmanship that took place for the rest of the contest. Dalton DiNatale did not wait long to join in on the action, as he started an even sweeter 5-4-3 double play to get Brett Lilek out of harm’s way in the top half of the second.
As slick as many other plays happened to be on this night, the crown jewel came in the bottom frame of the third inning with RJ Ybarra at the plate. He smashed a hard groundball up the middle that made it seem impossible for Tennessee second baseman Will Maddox to reach, but the ball promptly deflected off him and took a sharp left turn…straight into the waiting hands of shortstop A.J. Simcox. With Ybarra not having the world’s most blazing speed, the play was close, but ultimately turned into the highlight of the night for the Volunteers; a play even Sun Devil fans had to tip their cap to.
While ASU made their fair share of outstanding plays on the night (with maybe none more crucial than Tucker Esmay’s snag in the top of the 8th with the tying runs on base), they neglected to play an all-around sound game defensively. Brett Lilek, Joey Bielek and Jordan Aboites all contributed with an error on the night; although they were all fortunate enough none of those runs came around.
Dalton DiNatale provided an insurance run in the bottom of the 7th after his first home run of the season was a no-doubter off the bat, putting ASU ahead 3-0. Following him, Joey Bielek singled and Chris Beall doubled, putting runners at second and third with nobody out, yet, the Sun Devils neglected to bring another man at home. At the time, it did not seem problematic, but as the game wore on, it became obvious the extra insurance would have helped.
“New” closer Ryan Burr, made his triumphant return back to the bullpen, slamming the door shut on any Tennessee intentions to make a comeback. It took him a few batters to settle down his arm angle and get his fastball where he wanted it, but at the end of the day, a save is a save and the super sophomore nailed down ASU’s fifth straight win.