PHOENIX – Alec Marsh was dominant and Spencer Torkelson showed zero signs of a sophomore slump as the Sun Devil Baseball team rolled to a 10-1 victory over Notre Dame on Opening Night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Sun Devil pitching staff combined for 14 strikeouts (10 coming from Marsh) while the defense played error-less ball. The offense was efficient with the timely hits, scoring 10 runs on eight hits and walking eight times to just six strikeouts.
Four players logged multi-RBI games, three posted multi-hit efforts and eight different Sun Devils scored a run.
Marsh tossed a gem of an outing, going 6.2 innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts. He allowed just one run on four hits and walked just one batter. The 10 strikeouts were the first for a Sun Devil since Seth Martinez in March of 2016.
Marsh also became the first Sun Devil in at least 20 years to throw 10 strikeouts on Opening Night. Since at least 1998 (as far back as readily accessible records go), no Sun Devil had struck out more than eight batters on Opening Night until Marsh's performance on Friday.
Dating back to last season, Marsh now has six quality starts in his seven Friday night starts since assuming the mantle in the latter third of 2018.
Preseason All-American Spencer Torkelson picked up right where he left off last season, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs, a walk and a run scored. The sophomore opened the game up early with a bases-loaded double in the bottom of the second to bring three runs across and give ASU a 4-0 lead it wouldn't relinquish.
After an injury plagued freshman season and redshirting his sophomore season with injury, Sam Ferri made his return to the lineup with a vengeance. The catcher finished 2-for-4 with a career-high three runs batted in and a double.
Lyle Lin continued to be Mr. Opening Day for the Sun Devils as he went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk. In five Opening Day games over three seasons at ASU (doubleheaders in 2017 and 2018), Lin is now 10-of-19 (.526) with seven RBIs and four runs scored.
Hunter Bishop scored two runs on Friday, finishing 2-for-4 on the day with a walk and a stolen base as well. Alika Williams added two RBI to go along with two runs scored. Trevor Hauver notched three of the team;s eight walks in the contest.
The Sun Devil relievers were nearly flawless, holding Notre Dame scoreless over the final 2.1 innings of action. Freshman Erik Tolman made his Sun Devil debut and shined under the lights, striking out three of the six batters he faced over a scoreless 1.2 innings of work with just one hit allowed and no walks.
ASU did the majority of it's damage with a pair of crooked-number innings in the second and seventh innings. Williams got the second inning rally started by hustling out a dropped third strike that should have ended the inning to give ASU a chance to open things up. That set up Ferri's RBI double to give ASU the first run of the game. A pair of walks from Drew Swift and Hauver loaded the bases for Torkelson, who delivered with a slick piece of hitting on a double to opposite right center to give ASU a 4-0 lead.
After Notre Dame got on the board with a solo shot in the top of the seventh, the Sun Devils responded with five runs in the bottom half of the inning to blow the game out. Lin's bases-loaded RBI walk opened the scoring in the frame and was followed by a pair of two-RBI singles from Williams and Ferri to give ASU a commanding lead.
The Sun Devils will continue the series tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. Arizona time. The game will be streamed online through the Pac-12 Networks Plus. Sophomore right-hander Boyd Vander Kooi is penciled in to take the mound for his first start of the season.
The Sun Devil pitching staff combined for 14 strikeouts (10 coming from Marsh) while the defense played error-less ball. The offense was efficient with the timely hits, scoring 10 runs on eight hits and walking eight times to just six strikeouts.
Four players logged multi-RBI games, three posted multi-hit efforts and eight different Sun Devils scored a run.
Marsh tossed a gem of an outing, going 6.2 innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts. He allowed just one run on four hits and walked just one batter. The 10 strikeouts were the first for a Sun Devil since Seth Martinez in March of 2016.
Marsh also became the first Sun Devil in at least 20 years to throw 10 strikeouts on Opening Night. Since at least 1998 (as far back as readily accessible records go), no Sun Devil had struck out more than eight batters on Opening Night until Marsh's performance on Friday.
Dating back to last season, Marsh now has six quality starts in his seven Friday night starts since assuming the mantle in the latter third of 2018.
Preseason All-American Spencer Torkelson picked up right where he left off last season, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs, a walk and a run scored. The sophomore opened the game up early with a bases-loaded double in the bottom of the second to bring three runs across and give ASU a 4-0 lead it wouldn't relinquish.
After an injury plagued freshman season and redshirting his sophomore season with injury, Sam Ferri made his return to the lineup with a vengeance. The catcher finished 2-for-4 with a career-high three runs batted in and a double.
Lyle Lin continued to be Mr. Opening Day for the Sun Devils as he went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk. In five Opening Day games over three seasons at ASU (doubleheaders in 2017 and 2018), Lin is now 10-of-19 (.526) with seven RBIs and four runs scored.
Hunter Bishop scored two runs on Friday, finishing 2-for-4 on the day with a walk and a stolen base as well. Alika Williams added two RBI to go along with two runs scored. Trevor Hauver notched three of the team;s eight walks in the contest.
The Sun Devil relievers were nearly flawless, holding Notre Dame scoreless over the final 2.1 innings of action. Freshman Erik Tolman made his Sun Devil debut and shined under the lights, striking out three of the six batters he faced over a scoreless 1.2 innings of work with just one hit allowed and no walks.
ASU did the majority of it's damage with a pair of crooked-number innings in the second and seventh innings. Williams got the second inning rally started by hustling out a dropped third strike that should have ended the inning to give ASU a chance to open things up. That set up Ferri's RBI double to give ASU the first run of the game. A pair of walks from Drew Swift and Hauver loaded the bases for Torkelson, who delivered with a slick piece of hitting on a double to opposite right center to give ASU a 4-0 lead.
After Notre Dame got on the board with a solo shot in the top of the seventh, the Sun Devils responded with five runs in the bottom half of the inning to blow the game out. Lin's bases-loaded RBI walk opened the scoring in the frame and was followed by a pair of two-RBI singles from Williams and Ferri to give ASU a commanding lead.
The Sun Devils will continue the series tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. Arizona time. The game will be streamed online through the Pac-12 Networks Plus. Sophomore right-hander Boyd Vander Kooi is penciled in to take the mound for his first start of the season.