ASU baseball dropped a non-conference game versus rival Arizona as the Wildcats scored three runs in the fifth inning to put the game out of reach.
It was a packed house in Phoenix to see the state’s two top baseball programs compete on a Tuesday night. The atmosphere felt like two teams who were built to make deep runs in June with hopes of Omaha baseball. For the Sun Devils, the young team failed to answer the call.
Arizona State baseball (8-9) lost to their rival Arizona in a non-conference game Tuesday night in Phoenix by a score of 6-2.
The Wildcats jumped on the board in the second with two quick runs and put the game away in the fifth with three runs with two coming off of a Gage Workman throwing error.
The Sun Devils kicked the ball around all night tallying three errors. With the offense also stuck in a funk, there were too many obstacles for ASU to overcome.
“When you look at our losses this year, your eyeballs take you to two spots, errors and walks,” said ASU head coach Tracy Smith. “We always in our losses have that big inning where we just not shown a strong resilience in cutting that off. That’s something we talk about and address as we get into the conference season.”
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Alec Marsh started on the hill for Arizona State, throwing 4 2/3 innings allowing five runs though only three were earned. Marsh did a decent job navigating the potent Arizona order striking out five and only allowed four hits.
“I thought he did his job, he kept us in there gave us a chance to win. Maybe ran out of steam a little bit for him, couldn’t get through five but he did okay,” said Smith.
The timeliness of Arizona’s offense was the difference. Cameron Cannon and Matt Frazier each drove in runs with two-out singles in the second inning.
The Sun Devils had their opportunities to strike with runners in scoring position but failed to cash in. Third basemen Nick Quintana was a big part of the Wildcats’ offensive attack going 2-for-3 with two RBI’s on the night.
Junior Avery Weems started for the Wildcats, and did a good job of carving up the Sun Devil bats. Weems finished his outing throwing 4 2/3 innings allowing two earned runs before being pulled in the fifth. The UA bullpen held the Sun Devils bats scoreless maintaining their lead and facing little resistance.
A positive step for the Sun Devils was the return of redshirt freshman Zane Strand. Strand missed all of last season after tearing his UCL in February 2017 and undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery. Strand threw a scoreless inning and stranded a runner at third base.
“I think there’s definitely going to be a role for him as we get into conference play here. He felt great and you could sense it from the crowd also his teammates t was good to see him back. That kid has worked really, really hard,” said Smith.
Next: ASU Baseball: Bats fall silent as UNC Wilmington wins series
ASU now looks ahead to a weekend series against Oregon at Phoenix Municipal to begin conference play. The Ducks fly to Tempe with a 12-4 record and look to start fast in conference play. First pitch of Friday’s contest is 6:30 p.m. PT and can be seen on the ASU Live Stream.