PHOENIX -The No. 5 Sun Devil baseball team dropped its midweek matchup against Long Beach State, 14-9, on Tuesday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
It was a tough day for ranked teams across the nation, with 11 different Top-25 teams dropping their midweek tilts, including ASU and Oregon State out of the Pac-12. After a thrilling and emotional five-hour finale in the Sun Devils' series sweep over Arizona Sunday, ASU was sluggish out of the gates against the Dirtbags in a game that quickly got away despite a furious Sun Devil rally down the stretch.
ASU got things accomplished offensively, outhitting LBSU 12-10 and scoring nine runs. But the Devils were undone by 12 walks, two hit batters and two critical errors. In the contest. Six of those 12 walks would end up scoring runs.
The defensive and pitching woes overshadowed a career day from Trevor Hauver, as the sophomore went 5-for-6 with two doubles and an RBI. It marked Hauver's career-high in hits in a single game – two more than his previous best of three - while also making him the first Sun Devil since Gage Canning in 2018 to record a five-hit game. Hauver doubled twice and scored two runs to pace the Sun Devil offense.
ASU also got an positive eye-raising effort out of freshman Marc Lidd out of the bullpen. Lidd, who is primarily an infielder for the Sun Devils, entered in the seventh inning and gave the Sun Devils 3.0 hitless and scoreless innings of relief. In just his second career appearance on the mound, Lidd pounded the strike zone and had just one walk as the lone blemish on his record for the evening as the frosh looks to have earned himself some more quality innings out of the pen as the season progresses.
Two walks and a single set an inauspicious tone for the Sun Devils right out the gates as the Dirtbags jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.
However, like Sunday, ASU countered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning behind RBI singles from Spencer Torkelson and Gage Workman, cutting the lead to 4-3. Torkelson pushed his hitting streak to 12 straight games in the process as well as reaching base for the 19th contest in a row.
The rally was short-lived as Long Beach State took advantage of erratic pitching and several defensive miscues to post five more runs in the top of the second and extend its lead to 9-3.
Despite a disastrous start to the game, Sam Ferri provided a spark for the Sun Devil offense with an opposite-field solo home run in the home half of the third to keep the Devils within striking distance.
Unfortunately, LBSU struck right back with another four-run inning that was aided by free bases issued by the pitching staff and a defensive error to take a commanding 14-4 lead.
Marc Lidd, who has made an appearance both in the field and on the mound, would step in to stop the bleeding in the top of the seventh, ultimately blanking the Dirtbags over three hitless innings of relief.
ASU did not go down without a fight, tacking on five runs in the eighth inning to trim the lead to 14-9.
Sophomore Alika Williams continued his hot streak on the season by knocking in 3 RBIs for the second-straight game and third time this season – two of those coming on a double off the wall in left that was about two feet shy of a grand slam in the eighth.
Despite getting a pair of baserunners into scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, the Sun Devils couldn't keep the rally alive en route to just its second loss of the season.
The Sun Devils will return to action this weekend as they travel to Los Angeles to take on Pac-12 South rival USC. All three games will be broadcast on the USC live stream as well as on NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM. Fans are encouraged to keep up with the team while they are on the road by following @ASU_Baseball on Twitter for updates and results.
It was a tough day for ranked teams across the nation, with 11 different Top-25 teams dropping their midweek tilts, including ASU and Oregon State out of the Pac-12. After a thrilling and emotional five-hour finale in the Sun Devils' series sweep over Arizona Sunday, ASU was sluggish out of the gates against the Dirtbags in a game that quickly got away despite a furious Sun Devil rally down the stretch.
ASU got things accomplished offensively, outhitting LBSU 12-10 and scoring nine runs. But the Devils were undone by 12 walks, two hit batters and two critical errors. In the contest. Six of those 12 walks would end up scoring runs.
The defensive and pitching woes overshadowed a career day from Trevor Hauver, as the sophomore went 5-for-6 with two doubles and an RBI. It marked Hauver's career-high in hits in a single game – two more than his previous best of three - while also making him the first Sun Devil since Gage Canning in 2018 to record a five-hit game. Hauver doubled twice and scored two runs to pace the Sun Devil offense.
ASU also got an positive eye-raising effort out of freshman Marc Lidd out of the bullpen. Lidd, who is primarily an infielder for the Sun Devils, entered in the seventh inning and gave the Sun Devils 3.0 hitless and scoreless innings of relief. In just his second career appearance on the mound, Lidd pounded the strike zone and had just one walk as the lone blemish on his record for the evening as the frosh looks to have earned himself some more quality innings out of the pen as the season progresses.
Two walks and a single set an inauspicious tone for the Sun Devils right out the gates as the Dirtbags jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.
However, like Sunday, ASU countered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning behind RBI singles from Spencer Torkelson and Gage Workman, cutting the lead to 4-3. Torkelson pushed his hitting streak to 12 straight games in the process as well as reaching base for the 19th contest in a row.
The rally was short-lived as Long Beach State took advantage of erratic pitching and several defensive miscues to post five more runs in the top of the second and extend its lead to 9-3.
Despite a disastrous start to the game, Sam Ferri provided a spark for the Sun Devil offense with an opposite-field solo home run in the home half of the third to keep the Devils within striking distance.
Unfortunately, LBSU struck right back with another four-run inning that was aided by free bases issued by the pitching staff and a defensive error to take a commanding 14-4 lead.
Marc Lidd, who has made an appearance both in the field and on the mound, would step in to stop the bleeding in the top of the seventh, ultimately blanking the Dirtbags over three hitless innings of relief.
ASU did not go down without a fight, tacking on five runs in the eighth inning to trim the lead to 14-9.
Sophomore Alika Williams continued his hot streak on the season by knocking in 3 RBIs for the second-straight game and third time this season – two of those coming on a double off the wall in left that was about two feet shy of a grand slam in the eighth.
Despite getting a pair of baserunners into scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, the Sun Devils couldn't keep the rally alive en route to just its second loss of the season.
The Sun Devils will return to action this weekend as they travel to Los Angeles to take on Pac-12 South rival USC. All three games will be broadcast on the USC live stream as well as on NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM. Fans are encouraged to keep up with the team while they are on the road by following @ASU_Baseball on Twitter for updates and results.