ASU baseball began the season on a high note including defeating the No. 1 team in the country. Since that 4-1 start, the Sun Devils have lost five of seven games the bullpen has struggled to keep the team in the game and the offense has cooled off.
A weekend home series against Long Beach State can go a long way to building the team’s confidence back. The weekend starters have done their job this season, and that will be the biggest key to Pac-12 play. But in order for those games to matter, ASU baseball will need to get some good non-conference wins.
I would however also argue that things could be worse, because if your name isn’t Lyle Lin or Eli Lingos you have struggled in some part of your game this season. Andrew Snow has been impactful at the plate, but his defense has allowed more runs than he’s knocked in. Spencer Van Scoyoc has shows impressive stuff for a freshman, but has walked 13 batters in 13 1/3 innings. Andrew Shaps missed the start of the season, but since his return even though his statistics are good the team’s record is not.
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The team can talk about shoring up the little things, like defensively and throwing strikes but there’s only so many adjustments you can make midseason. The team’s youth will create these mistakes. Having never been in pressure packed situations at a high level will also show who is best to handle future high leverage situations. Freshman Chaz Montoya closed out the first game of the season for ASU after Eder Erives couldn’t get the job done, but was shelled by TCU the next weekend.
As for the present, the Sun Devils have a great shot at victory every Friday night. The rest of the nights, much like Arizona’s March weather, is unpredictable.