PHOENIX – Playing in a top-10 rubber match, No. 9 Arizona State rallied and played the the very final strike with a chance to win in the ninth, but the team came just shy of the comeback bid in a 4-3 decision against No. 3 Oregon State on Sunday afternoon, dropping the deciding game of the series.
ASU fell to 27-7 on the season and 10-5 in the Pac-12 as Oregon State moves to 25-8-1 and 11-4 in the Pac-12.
Spencer Torkelson continued his incredible power tear, going 2-for-4 and hitting his fifth home run in six games and 11th total on the year. He has eight homers in 15 Pac-12 games this season. His two home runs this weekend give him 36 in his career as he moved into a tie for 10th in ASU career history.
Grant Gambrell, Oregon State's starting pitcher, stymied the Sun Devil offense for most of the 5.2 innings that he pitched, striking out 10 and only giving up a run on Torkelson's solo shot in the sixth – another opposite field dinger that has become the staple of the sophomore's arsenal of late.
Erik Tolman showed off his both hitting and pitching skills today, getting a single in his first at-bat and then pitching three scoreless innings with three strikeouts to keep ASU within striking distance.
Oregon State threatened to score early, getting a double on the first pitch of the game and then loading the bases with a pair of walks, but Sam Romero produced a groundout to escape the first inning without giving up any runs.
Romero returned to the mound in the second inning and retired the bottom of the order and then struck out a batter in the third inning with runners at the corners to keep the Beavers scoreless. Romero's gutsy effort resulted in seven stranded Beavers in the first four innings but the ASU offense was unable to capitalize.
Oregon State finally opened up the game after four scoreless innings, hitting four singles, drawing two walks and taking advantage of a passed ball to score four runs on the Sun Devils. The free bases would prove to be ASU's undoing as those would be the only runs for the returning national champions on the day.
In of a rally, Torkelson answered by hitting a solo home run to right center field, only the second Gambrell has given up all year. After Hunter Bishop singled and advanced to third on an error, Carter Aldrete delivered an RBI double to pull within two of the Beavers in the sixth inning.
Erik Tolman kept the Beavers from scoring the rest of the way to give Arizona State a chance to tie or win in the bottom of the ninth inning. With Gage Workman at second, Lyle Lin singled past the shortstop to make it a one-run game. Trevor Hauver drew a walk on four pitches in the next at-bat to give Torkelson a chance to perform some late-game heroics, but he ultimately struck out to end the game.
The Sun Devils come back on Tuesday for a game against Seattle, starting at 6:30 p.m. Arizona time. Follow along with the game on the ASU Live Stream or on NBC Sports 1060 AM KDUS.
ASU fell to 27-7 on the season and 10-5 in the Pac-12 as Oregon State moves to 25-8-1 and 11-4 in the Pac-12.
Spencer Torkelson continued his incredible power tear, going 2-for-4 and hitting his fifth home run in six games and 11th total on the year. He has eight homers in 15 Pac-12 games this season. His two home runs this weekend give him 36 in his career as he moved into a tie for 10th in ASU career history.
Grant Gambrell, Oregon State's starting pitcher, stymied the Sun Devil offense for most of the 5.2 innings that he pitched, striking out 10 and only giving up a run on Torkelson's solo shot in the sixth – another opposite field dinger that has become the staple of the sophomore's arsenal of late.
Erik Tolman showed off his both hitting and pitching skills today, getting a single in his first at-bat and then pitching three scoreless innings with three strikeouts to keep ASU within striking distance.
Oregon State threatened to score early, getting a double on the first pitch of the game and then loading the bases with a pair of walks, but Sam Romero produced a groundout to escape the first inning without giving up any runs.
Romero returned to the mound in the second inning and retired the bottom of the order and then struck out a batter in the third inning with runners at the corners to keep the Beavers scoreless. Romero's gutsy effort resulted in seven stranded Beavers in the first four innings but the ASU offense was unable to capitalize.
Oregon State finally opened up the game after four scoreless innings, hitting four singles, drawing two walks and taking advantage of a passed ball to score four runs on the Sun Devils. The free bases would prove to be ASU's undoing as those would be the only runs for the returning national champions on the day.
In of a rally, Torkelson answered by hitting a solo home run to right center field, only the second Gambrell has given up all year. After Hunter Bishop singled and advanced to third on an error, Carter Aldrete delivered an RBI double to pull within two of the Beavers in the sixth inning.
Erik Tolman kept the Beavers from scoring the rest of the way to give Arizona State a chance to tie or win in the bottom of the ninth inning. With Gage Workman at second, Lyle Lin singled past the shortstop to make it a one-run game. Trevor Hauver drew a walk on four pitches in the next at-bat to give Torkelson a chance to perform some late-game heroics, but he ultimately struck out to end the game.
The Sun Devils come back on Tuesday for a game against Seattle, starting at 6:30 p.m. Arizona time. Follow along with the game on the ASU Live Stream or on NBC Sports 1060 AM KDUS.