ASU baseball dropped the first game of a two-game series versus Pacific 12-7 as the Sun Devils couldn’t hold on to a 7-4 lead.
Arizona State broke their streak of three straight games of giving up seven runs. This is because on Sunday they gave up 12 to Pacific and fell 12-7 at home.
After back-to-back quality starts, Alec Marsh did not have his usual command on Sunday. His start only lasted 1.2 innings, in which he walked three while giving up three earned runs. A throwing error by Marsh also brought home an unearned run in the second before he was taken out of the game.
Spencer Van Scoyoc was the first out of the bullpen and did not fare any better. His outing only lasted 1.1 innings, and like Marsh, he gave up three earned runs with three walks. Van Scoyoc, ASU’s opening day starter, has a 6.65 ERA after Sunday.
Brady Corrigan would also give up a couple of runs in less than two innings as the rough outing for ASU pitching continued into the fifth inning. Pacific led 9-7 after five.
Good news for Arizona State was that Boyd Vander Kooi got some work in. He returned on May 6 after being out since March 24.
In the eighth, he held Pacific to just one hit and got out of the inning quickly. In the ninth, he got the first two batters out with ease. But, a two-out infield single started a rally that would bring in three runs, two of which were earned by Vander Kooi.
The Sun Devil offense got off to a hot start before getting buried by the runs they were chasing.
They scored seven runs on nine hits in the first three innings. They had just four hits and were shut out for the rest of the game though. Four batters had multiple hits and six different players had an RBI. Carter Aldrete blasted a home run for the second straight game.
But, despite leading 7-4 after the third inning, the offense could not keep hitting at a high enough rate to make up for the pitching and defense.
Next: ASU Baseball: Offense prevails as Devils win at San Diego
The loss dropped ASU to 20-28. The Devils play Pacific at home on Monday before traveling south to Tucson, where they have a three-game set against rival University of Arizona.