PHOENIX – Sun Devil Baseball dropped its midweek tilt against UNLV by a final score of 9-1 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium Tuesday night.
The Sun Devil bats only recorded six hits on the night, with two of them coming off the bat of Joe Lampe. Lampe homered on the first pitch of the game before the offense went stagnant for the remainder of the night.
The last four Sun Devil pitchers were able to keep UNLV scoreless, working through the top offense in the country without further damage done. Christian Bodlovich, Danny Marshall, Luke La Flam, and Andrew Lucas pitched 3.1 shutout innings, combining for six strikeouts. TURNING POINT
The second pitch of the game. Joe Lampe homered on the first pitch he saw in the first inning, his tenth homer of the season. Sean McLain took a strike on the next pitch and the offense didn't do anything for the rest of the game. THE BIG MOMENT
UNLV immediately came out in the second with a triple and two singles to tie the game at 1-1. Osman got two outs but the third eluded him as a two-RBI single on a full count made it a 3-1 game instead of a 1-1 game and the rout was on from there. THE FINAL STRAW
With the game at 5-1 and still very much in the balance in the fourth inning, the Sun Devils booted back-to-back routine grounders to second with two outs, allowing UNLV to score and make it a 6-1 game and absolutely sucking all momentum out of the ASU approach. NOTABLES
FIRST INNING
Graham Osman made his return to the mound in good fashion, working his way out of an error and a two-out double, getting out of the early drama unscathed. Lampe started things off for the Sun Devils with a home run to right-center field on the first pitch he saw. McLain and Campos flew out to right, but Davis drew an HBP and Tobias doubled, putting runners on second and third for the Devils, but Baez struck out on three pitches to end the threat.
SECOND INNING
Osman had a lot tougher of an inning after coming out with one run of support. A leadoff triple for UNLV would signify an early uphill battle. Immediately, UNLV drove the run in on a single. A second single put runners at first and second. Osman buckled down to get two outs, striking out one and getting the other to ground out. With two outs, the Sun Devils looked to get out of the inning being tied at one, however a fourth hit brought two more home. A pop up took McLain to the outfield to collect the third out. Kai Murphy, Will Rogers, and Hunter Haas went down in order.
THIRD INNING
Osman was not able to escape any trouble in the third, as UNLV was able to capitalize on a couple of hits and score a pair to make the score 5-1. Arizona State had no response for the four-run deficit as they went down in order.
FOURTH INNING
Baez managed to snatch a liner barely above the ground for the first out. UNLV got a man on base with a single, but the Sun Devils got a second out right after. With two outs, Haas bobbled a grounder, putting the runners at first and third. The next at bat was a duplicate, as Haas was met with a grounder, but was not able to handle it. The second error brought in a run to make it 5-1. Levine took it upon himself to finish the inning, striking out his batter on three pitches.
FIFTH INNING
Haas made up a couple of great plays at second to redeem himself from his errors in the previous inning. A pitch that looked like it was strike three, ended up being a walk giving the Rebels a two-out baserunner, but Levine escaped the inning on a ground ball that Tobias was able to make a good scoop at first base to save an error. The ASU bats went down on a couple of grounders and a strikeout.
SIXTH INNING
Jared Glenn relieved Levine. Back-to-back walks started the inning. Glenn struck out his first out, but would give up a single and double to drive in three total runs. With two outs, Bodlovich was called upon to end the inning, and he did so on a strikeout. Lampe hit a hard single and would advance to second on a balk during Campos' at-bat, but neither he nor Davis could bring him home.
SEVENTH INNING
Danny Marshall relieved Bodlovich after recording two outs on a full count strikeout and a liner to shallow left. Marshall was welcomed in with a walk but proceeded to pitch inside on the next batter to get him to pop up to short. Breuser started the inning for the Sun Devils with some hope as he singled up the middle, but a Baez 6-4-3 double play quickly killed the momentum the seventh inning was trying to have, and Murphy ended the inning with a strikeout.
EIGHTH INNING
Danny Marshall was on the brink of the Sun Devils' first three-up, three-down inning after striking out his first two. A full count walk prolonged the inning, and brought Luke La Flam into the game, who ended it with an infield popup. Will Rogers got a leadoff single, but no other Sun Devil could get on base.
NINTH INNING
Andrew Lucas went in for some work in the ninth inning, and retired two of the hitters he faced on three-pitch strikeouts, and the other on a tough play from McLain at short. Davis was able to record a two-out hit in the bottom half of the inning, but that would do it for Arizona State.
The Sun Devil bats only recorded six hits on the night, with two of them coming off the bat of Joe Lampe. Lampe homered on the first pitch of the game before the offense went stagnant for the remainder of the night.
The last four Sun Devil pitchers were able to keep UNLV scoreless, working through the top offense in the country without further damage done. Christian Bodlovich, Danny Marshall, Luke La Flam, and Andrew Lucas pitched 3.1 shutout innings, combining for six strikeouts. TURNING POINT
The second pitch of the game. Joe Lampe homered on the first pitch he saw in the first inning, his tenth homer of the season. Sean McLain took a strike on the next pitch and the offense didn't do anything for the rest of the game. THE BIG MOMENT
UNLV immediately came out in the second with a triple and two singles to tie the game at 1-1. Osman got two outs but the third eluded him as a two-RBI single on a full count made it a 3-1 game instead of a 1-1 game and the rout was on from there. THE FINAL STRAW
With the game at 5-1 and still very much in the balance in the fourth inning, the Sun Devils booted back-to-back routine grounders to second with two outs, allowing UNLV to score and make it a 6-1 game and absolutely sucking all momentum out of the ASU approach. NOTABLES
- Nate Baez made his first start at third base, making it the fifth position he has started at this season.
- Joe Lampe's leadoff home run immediately extended his team leading active hitting streak to 11 straight games. Ryan Campos saw his hitting streak come to an end at 10 while Baez watched his 19-game reached base streak end as well
FIRST INNING
Graham Osman made his return to the mound in good fashion, working his way out of an error and a two-out double, getting out of the early drama unscathed. Lampe started things off for the Sun Devils with a home run to right-center field on the first pitch he saw. McLain and Campos flew out to right, but Davis drew an HBP and Tobias doubled, putting runners on second and third for the Devils, but Baez struck out on three pitches to end the threat.
SECOND INNING
Osman had a lot tougher of an inning after coming out with one run of support. A leadoff triple for UNLV would signify an early uphill battle. Immediately, UNLV drove the run in on a single. A second single put runners at first and second. Osman buckled down to get two outs, striking out one and getting the other to ground out. With two outs, the Sun Devils looked to get out of the inning being tied at one, however a fourth hit brought two more home. A pop up took McLain to the outfield to collect the third out. Kai Murphy, Will Rogers, and Hunter Haas went down in order.
THIRD INNING
Osman was not able to escape any trouble in the third, as UNLV was able to capitalize on a couple of hits and score a pair to make the score 5-1. Arizona State had no response for the four-run deficit as they went down in order.
FOURTH INNING
Baez managed to snatch a liner barely above the ground for the first out. UNLV got a man on base with a single, but the Sun Devils got a second out right after. With two outs, Haas bobbled a grounder, putting the runners at first and third. The next at bat was a duplicate, as Haas was met with a grounder, but was not able to handle it. The second error brought in a run to make it 5-1. Levine took it upon himself to finish the inning, striking out his batter on three pitches.
FIFTH INNING
Haas made up a couple of great plays at second to redeem himself from his errors in the previous inning. A pitch that looked like it was strike three, ended up being a walk giving the Rebels a two-out baserunner, but Levine escaped the inning on a ground ball that Tobias was able to make a good scoop at first base to save an error. The ASU bats went down on a couple of grounders and a strikeout.
SIXTH INNING
Jared Glenn relieved Levine. Back-to-back walks started the inning. Glenn struck out his first out, but would give up a single and double to drive in three total runs. With two outs, Bodlovich was called upon to end the inning, and he did so on a strikeout. Lampe hit a hard single and would advance to second on a balk during Campos' at-bat, but neither he nor Davis could bring him home.
SEVENTH INNING
Danny Marshall relieved Bodlovich after recording two outs on a full count strikeout and a liner to shallow left. Marshall was welcomed in with a walk but proceeded to pitch inside on the next batter to get him to pop up to short. Breuser started the inning for the Sun Devils with some hope as he singled up the middle, but a Baez 6-4-3 double play quickly killed the momentum the seventh inning was trying to have, and Murphy ended the inning with a strikeout.
EIGHTH INNING
Danny Marshall was on the brink of the Sun Devils' first three-up, three-down inning after striking out his first two. A full count walk prolonged the inning, and brought Luke La Flam into the game, who ended it with an infield popup. Will Rogers got a leadoff single, but no other Sun Devil could get on base.
NINTH INNING
Andrew Lucas went in for some work in the ninth inning, and retired two of the hitters he faced on three-pitch strikeouts, and the other on a tough play from McLain at short. Davis was able to record a two-out hit in the bottom half of the inning, but that would do it for Arizona State.