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ASU Baseball: Sun Devils Look to Notch Series Win At USC

ByJordan Kaye|
Mar 3, 2015; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils pitcher Eli Lingos against the Arizona Diamondbacks during a spring training baseball game at Salt River Fields. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2015; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils pitcher Eli Lingos against the Arizona Diamondbacks during a spring training baseball game at Salt River Fields. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

ASU baseball (9-11, 1-4) will be in a rubber match Sunday Afternoon as they take on the USC Trojans (13-8, 3-2) in L.A.

The Devils lost a heartbreaker in game one, of the series as a fielding error in the 11th inning gave the USC a 5-4 victory.

Ace Eli Lingos could not carry over his hot streak, giving up four runs on eight hits in five innings of work.

The Devils offense wasn’t able to produce that big inning Lingos needed, scoring their four runs in four different innings.

Center fielder Andrew Shaps added to his .308 average, with a 3-4 night from the plate including a fifth inning RBI single to cut the deficit to one.

In game two on Saturday, the Devils notched their first shutout victory in 38 games after a brilliant pitching performance from Freshman Chaz Montoya.

Montoya has come out of the pen the entire year, but in his first start of the season he allowed just two hits in 5.2 innings of work.

Many believed that Montoya had locked up the closer role, but with the Devils struggling to find their third starter, Montoya may need to fill in.

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After Montoya, Eder Erives came in and finished out the deal, also giving up just 2 hits, but in 3.1 innings.  With both those guys having great performances, ASU now has a fresh bullpen for Sunday or a possible bullpen day on Tuesday v.s UNLV.

Saturday had another breakthrough performance, but from the plate as sophomore Tyler Williams knocked in three runs on a 2-4 performance from the plate.

With the win, the Sun Devils broke their four game losing skid, and got their first Pac-12 win of the season.

Head Coach Tracy Smith has been very vocal on twitter about how much he believes in his team even after their losing skid, and the Montoya move may have been used as a spark to energize a struggling team.

Montoya has an energizing personality and defiantly put on an energizing performance for the Devils moving foreword.

Tracy Smith has not announced who will get the ball Sunday afternoon, but it seems like a good spot for freshman Spencer Van Skoyoc.

Van Skoyoc has been the Devil’s regular Saturday starter, and if he gets the nod, will provide a stable starter for a Sunday game, as the Devils have normally gone to a bullpen day.

They have given practically every guy in the bullpen a starter shot with no great results until Montoya.

If Van Skoyoc does get the nod for the rubber match, it may be a spark for him to start a game with the series on the line. He comes in with a flurry of no decisions with just one loss on his résumé in five starts.

Arizona State will need a good pitching performance Sunday because USC have not shown their high-powered offense thus far against the Devils. The Trojans notched 21 runs in their first four Pac-12 games.

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The Devils will look to notch their first Pac-12 series win Sunday afternoon as they will travel to Los Angeles and face USC at 2:00 P.M, MST. The game will be live on Pac-12 Networks.

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