PHOENIX – On Friday night, Arizona State put up a six-run inning as it dominated West Virginia. 24 hours later, it was the Mountaineers putting up a six-run inning as they dominated the Sun Devils.
It was a rough second inning for junior right-handed pitcher Alex Overbay, who struggled. The ten batters he faced in the inning scored six runs for No. 17 West Virginia () as it beat No. 22 Arizona State () 13-7.
“He’s (Overaby) got to work ahead in the counts, bottom line,” Bloomquist said. “His stuff’s really good. We all know that, but it doesn’t work when you’re playing from behind the count every time.”
Coming into the game, Overbay had struggled in conference play with an 18.69 ERA in a pair of starts. To start the year, he had a 0.69 ERA in non-conference play in a mixed-use role, with the majority of his appearances coming from the bullpen.
In his start on Saturday, Overbay threw two and a third innings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits, two walks, a hit batsman, a wild pitch and a strikeout. That is the most hits and runs he has allowed in his career. Of the 18 batters he faced, six hitters were in hitters' counts on their final pitch of their at bat, compared to three being in pitcher’s counts.
Overbay’s season ERA rose to 7.78. His conference ERA moves to 21.60.
After Overbay, junior righty Jaden Alba came in and pitched well in two and two-thirds innings. Alba only allowed a pair of walks and struck out two. His season ERA lowered to 6.87.
“I thought staying over the plate, trying to get ahead as much as I can, make some pitches, fastball, off speed, just going right after them (worked well for me tonight),” Alba said.
Junior southpaw Brady Louck entered the game. He pitched a scoreless seventh and, in the eighth, he allowed a single (that scored later) before being pulled. His ERA rises to 8.10.
Junior righty Josh Butler relieved Louck. He struggled, going an inning, allowing two runs on a trio of hits. His ERA rises to 3.95.
Senior right-hander Nick Anello pitched the ninth. He struggled, allowing a pair of runs and on three hits and a walk. His ERA goes up to 11.57.
Sophomore outfielder Landon Hairston slugged his 11th homer in his last 14 games. That compares well next to Isaiah Jackson’s 12 blasts in his final 17 games of last season.
Hairston also singlehandedly scored a run in the first by doubling, advancing on a wild pitch, and scoring on a throwing error. Hairston has already set his single-season highs in RBI, homers and doubles this season.
“I think Landon’s the best I’ve ever had the opportunity to play with, like a pure hitter, swing at strikes, take balls, and not just swing at strikes but hammer strikes,” Graduate outfielder Matt Polk said. “I think he’s a one-of-a-kind hitter and a one-of-a-kind talent on the baseball field.
5th-year right fielder Dean Toigo had a pair of hits and an RBI.
Junior shortstop PJ Moutzouridis recorded a hit, scored a run and was hit by a pitch.
Bloomquist made a trio of lineup changes from last night. Two brought in right-handed bats to face the WVU lefty pitcher. The other was junior center fielder Dominic Longo coming in for sophomore center fielder Ky McGary. Longo scored on the Hairston home run.
Polk slugged a three-run shot in a pinch hit appearance, knocking in sophomore catcher Coen Niclai and junior outfielder Sam Myers, who pinch hit in the ninth. That was Polk’s second home run of the season.
“Sam (Myers) and Coen (Niclai) did an amazing job of being able to get on base in front of me,” Polk said. “All I was trying to do is just try and keep the train rolling and just put the ball in play hard.”
Sophomore infielder Beckett Zavorek had a hit in one of his plate appearances. Zavorek and Longo were pinch-hit for late in the game.
The Sun Devils did not record a walk off a West Virginia pitcher all game. They went 3-5 with runners in scoring position.
“I think the overall approach was fine,” Bloomquist said. “I thought we swung the bats decent tonight against a kid of that caliber.”
With his poor performances as of late, could Overbay head back to the bullpen, and who could replace him as a starter?
It is worth noting that the Sun Devils have their midweek on Monday night and face Arizona on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with Easter Sunday off next week. That complicates things, with the likelihood of moving senior righty Kole Klecker up in the rotation.
Sophomore lefty Easton Barrett has been pitching well in midweeks with a 0 ERA in eight innings across his last two starts. Redshirt junior right-hander Colin Linder had a 4.26 ERA in his three starts as a weekend starter. Graduate righty Colby Guy and sophomore Taylor Penn have been pitching well in the bullpen, and both have starting experience.
“We’re gonna get through tomorrow and really evaluate,” Bloomquist said
Penn threw on Friday, and it will be interesting to see who throws (and does not) in the next three games. That could show who might be the starter next Friday in game two against the Wildcats. Overbay could still pitch, as the three offenses he has faced were in the top half of the conference in runs scored.
As of now, Bloomquist does not know who will be in the rotation next week, as the Sun Devils have the rubber match against TCU on Sunday and a game on Monday against San Diego State.
“The biggest thing, when everybody doesn’t do very well, is we all tend to get behind hitters and go into longer counts,” Alba said. “He’s good enough to where he can bounce back from these past couple (starts) and just move on from it, flush it, and go right after guys.”