Bullpen blues continue as Arizona State suffers first series loss of season

It was a rough weekend for Arizona State's bullpen, which gave up late leads to Minnesota in losses Friday and Saturday and came close to doing it again Sunday.

The Sun Devils (8-4) dodged a bullet in the series finale at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, despite allowing four home runs to the Golden Gophers (4-5) in the seventh inning to turn a six-run lead into an 8-6 ballgame.

Sophomore right-hander Derek Schaefer came up big in the ninth inning, striking out the final two batters after inheriting runners at second and third to secure the 8-7 victory and earn the first save of his collegiate career. The Cave Creek, Arizona, native has yet to allow a run and has notched eight strikeouts with just one walk in 6 2/3 innings this season. 

"That's why we brought him in right there," ASU coach Willie Bloomquist said after the game. "[We said,] 'Who's our best punch-out guy right now? Schaef.' So we went and got him, and he picked us up big time. ... He came in eager to get the ball and he threw with conviction."

It was an important victory for Arizona State, which lost 7-6 in 10 innings after leading after the eighth Friday and then blew a seventh-inning lead to lose 6-4 Saturday.

"Minnesota's scrappy," Bloomquist said after Sunday's series finale. "That's a team that doesn't give in. ... We had a chance to win all three of those games, and they kept coming after us. They got the first two from us and almost got this one. The positive of our side is that we did drop the last two games that were tough, [and they] stung quite a bit, but we were able to bounce back and hold on [Sunday]. So that was the positive, but the overall takeaway is we've got a lot to work on." 

Freshman Easton Barrett earned his first career victory after being called into action earlier than expected Sunday. Barrett, a left-hander from Springville, Utah, stepped in for Jaden Alba to start the fourth inning after the starter left the game with a leg injury.

Barrett (1-1) tossed 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit while striking out two and walking one. Alba was off to a strong start before leaving the game due to injury, tossing three scoreless innings and striking out five.

ASU pitchers combined to strike out 37 Minnesota batters in the three games — the highest total of the season.

Offensively, freshman Beckett Zavorek scored or drove in four of ASU's eight runs, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases.

"Kid's a baseball player," Bloomquist said of Zavorek. "We just talked about it as a team on having that baseball player instinct and being baseball players. The kid has it."

Josiah Cromwick hit his team-leading fifth home run in the series finale, while Brandon Compton had two RBIs on two hits and Kyle Walker went 2-for-3 in his first multi-hit game of the year.

Arizona State avoided a sweep by Minnesota with Sunday's victory but still suffered its first series loss of the season.

Up next

ASU returns to action at 6:30 p.m. MST Tuesday against UNLV (8-4) at Phoenix Municipal Stadium and then hosts Gonzaga (2-7) for a three-game series Friday-Sunday.