The ASU baseball team had a chance to win their first Pac-12 series after a 6-5 win in the first game of their series against Washington State, and they did just that, winning game two 10-7.
ASU baseball finally put together two good back-to-back games as they downed the Cougars. This was a huge win for the team and it all started with the offense.
On the day, Arizona State totaled 15 hits and they were able to get to Washington State’s pitching staff early, earning six runs in the first inning.
“I think just psychologically where we have been the past couple of weeks, for us to not always be chasing is a big thing for us right now,” head coach Tracy Smith said after the win.
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After the first inning, however, the bats stayed quiet as they only tacked on four more runs, those runs ended up being the difference maker in the end as the Sun Devil pitching staff allowed seven Washington State runs.
“We haven’t shown the ability to close the door on anybody, so every run for us is important and I’m not proud of the fact that we have to keep piling on late in the game but it’s just where we are right now,” Smith said.
Long reliever Eder Erives got the start for ASU as Smith still hasn’t been able to find a consistent pitching rotation. Erives lasted three and 2/3 innings before being replaced by James Ryan who gave up three runs, and Grant Schneider who gave up four runs. Ryan Hingst came in for the final inning and 1/3 to solidify Arizona State’s victory.
This is the first Pac-12 series win of the season for the Sun Devils and Smith thinks that it is very important that the team gains confidence from this achievement to help carry them to a strong end-of-the-season finish.
“Every game is important, again, we are just taking it one game at a time because our goal is to extend our season not only in the [Pac-12] but you’ve got to do stuff mid-week so hopefully guys feel good about themselves and carry that confidence into the next game and you get a little bit of momentum going so you learn how, and you know, you can win,” Smith said.
Next: ASU Softball Run-Rules Stanford for Series Win
The Arizona State baseball team will be back in action tomorrow looking for their first Pac-12 series sweep. In taking it one game at a time, it is unclear who is going to be starting for the Sun Devils but the presumed starter is Spencer Van Scoyoc and he will take the mound at 12:30 p.m. PST. The game can be seen live on the Arizona State live stream.