SALT LAKE CITY – A four-hit, three-run rally in the top of the ninth inning fell 90 feet short as No. 6 Sun Devil Baseball dropped game two against Utah, 6-5, on Friday at Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City.
Arizona State entered the final inning with a four-run deficit, but used two singles and two doubles to bring the tying run to third base with two outs. First baseman Joey Bielek began the Sun Devils’ (20-8, 8-3) late push as he doubled to right field and scored on a wild pitch and a balk to bring ASU within three, 6-3.
Second baseman Andrew Snow and center fielder Johnny Sewald followed with a pair of base hits, and after a strikeout from pinch hitter Ryan Lillard, shortstop Colby Woodmansee delivered a two-run double down the left-field line to make it a one-run game. Woodmansee advanced a base on a wild pitch, but a long fly ball to center field by designated hitter RJ Ybarra ended the rally.
The Utes (10-18, 4-7) used a three-run seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie and added a run in the eighth via a hit batter with the bases loaded to take a 6-2 lead into the ninth.
Starting left-hander Ryan Kellogg (5-1) took his first loss of the season and just his second career conference loss in 24 Pac-12 starts. He allowed 11 hits and two walks and was responsible for four runs after he was chased in the seventh inning. Kellogg struck out six and stranded seven runners on base through six innings, including ending each of the first four with a strikeout, before the Utes broke through with three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Woodmansee tallied his seventh multi-RBI game of the season, Sewald went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and catcher Brian Serven homered for the third time in the past four games.
Sewald led off the game with an infield single and moved to second on a groundout before the Utes issued three consecutive walks to bring him home for the first run of the game. Utah left fielder Andre Jackson matched the Devils’ run in the bottom of the second with a RBI double off the wall in left-center field.
Serven hit a two-out solo home run over the right field fence to tie the game, 2-2, in the top of the sixth, but the Utes countered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to retake the lead, 5-2. Utah opened the frame with a solo home run and added a RBI single and a sacrifice fly to establish a three-run advantage.
Right-handed reliever Jordan Aboites took over for Kellogg with a runner on second and no outs in the seventh and conceded a sacrifice bunt, a single and a sacrifice fly. Fellow right-hander David Graybill entered the game in the eighth and recorded two outs before a walk and a pair of hit batters brought home the eventual game-winning run.
Utah starting right-hander Dalton Carroll (4-4) scattered two runs on three hits over six innings to earn the win and fellow right-hander Bret Helton pitched the final three innings.
Notes
The Devils moved to 34-6 all-time against Utah…third baseman David Greer singled in the eighth inning and now has at least one hit in 16 of the past 17 games he’s started.
Up Next
The Sun Devils close out their three-game series with Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Networks.
Saturday’s Projected Pitching Matchup
ASU: LHP Brett Lilek (2-2, 4.40 ERA)
UTAH: RHP Jayson Rose (2-3, 4.00 ERA)
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