PHOENIX – The evening began with a group photo and an exchange of hats in the outfield grass and ended with handshakes and embraces near home plate as two sides of the world came together Tuesday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium during an exhibition game between Sun Devil Baseball and Meiji University from Tokyo.
Whether it was complementing Pac-12 Global, an unprecedented effort to promote goodwill and showcase the Pac12 and its member institutions around the world through student-athlete exchanges and sport, or adding to ASU’s reputation as the “most innovative school,” a tag bestowed on the school in a recently released U.S. News & World Report college ranking, the exhibition game proved athletics is a universal language.
The connections between the two cultures also stretched beyond tonight’s game as Kenjiro Nomura, who was a teammate of Sun Devil for Life Louie Medina on the Hiroshima Toyo Carp from 1993-95, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Keisuke Iwao, a current foreign exchange student from Japan and former student manager with the baseball program.
The Sun Devils won their fourth consecutive game in walk-off fashion, 4-3, on a RBI single to left field from second baseman Andrew Snow in the bottom of the ninth after Meiji tied the game at three runs apiece with a sacrifice fly in the top of the frame.
ASU used 11 total pitchers, including nine freshmen to hold Meiji four hits. Three first-year pitchers combined to hold Meiji scoreless for the first five innings, including two innings each from starter Fitz Stadler and Zach Dixon, and one from Liam Jenkins. Fellow freshmen Gio Lopez and James Ryan also tossed scoreless frames.
Center fielder Coltin Gerhart went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a RBI and a run scored to pace the Sun Devils, who have won eight straight games, the program’s longest winning streak since May 2014 and tied for the longest since 2010, heading into a weekend road series at No. 3 Oregon State.
Right fielder Ryan Lillard opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth that brought home catcher Zach Cerbo, who led off the frame with a walk and moved to third on a ground-rule double from Gerhart.
Meiji responded with a pair of runs in the top of the ensuing inning to move ahead, 2-1, behind a walk, hit batter, a RBI single and a wild pitch. However, the Devils retook the lead in the bottom of the seventh behind a leadoff triple from first baseman Chris Beall, a two-out, safety squeeze bunt from Gerhart, and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to designated hitter RJ Ybarra.
Sun Devil fans shared a special moment with Meiji after the game concluded as the team faced the crowd and tipped their hats, to which fans responded with a standing ovation, cheers, waves, and appreciation.
Meiji, a member of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League, ended the 2015 season on a high note as two players, an outfielder and pitcher, were drafted in the first round of the professional Japanese baseball draft, according to a Meiji University statement.
The international showdown was not the first meeting between the two teams; Meiji made the same trip to the desert when Packard Stadium was still the home of Sun Devil Baseball in March 2010.
Meiji struck fast to gain one run in the first inning on that Tuesday night more than six years ago, but went scoreless for the remainder of the game while ASU racked up nine runs to clinch the victory.
Notes: ASU’s overall record and player statistics from the night will not affect the season standings…
Up Next
The Devils begin Pac-12 play with a three-game road series against Oregon State March 18-20 in Corvallis, Ore. The conference opener against the Beavers on March 18 is slated for a 5:35 start, with Saturday and Sunday set for 1:35 p.m. and 12:35 p.m., respectively (all times AZ/PT).
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