SALT LAKE CITY – After jumping out to a big early lead, the Sun Devil Baseball bullpen unraveled down the stretch as Utah scored 11 unanswered runs to earn an 11-6 victory in the series finale on Sunday in Salt Lake City.
The Sun Devils got out to a 6-0 lead through four innings before the bats went silent for the final five, leaving the door open for the Utah rally.
Trey Newman went 3-for-4 as part of an 11-hit day of the Sun Devils. Ryan Campos had a 2-for-4 afternoon with two RBIs and Wyatt Crenshaw homered for the second time in as many games and had two RBIs.
Jonah Giblin was rock solid in his second career start, going 5.0 innings with just two runs allowed and three strikeouts. Blake Pivaroff had a scoreless inning in relief.
TURNING POINT
After taking a 6-0 lead through four innings, ASU had opportunities to add more but a pair of inning-ending double play interference calls in the fourth and seventh innings stifled chances to put more runs on the board and allowed Utah to stay in striking distance. The one in the fourth was especially painful as it wiped a run off the board as well.
BIG MOMENT
Things came apart in the seventh inning ASU as Utah scored four runs to tie things up, aided by three HBPs and a walk.
FINAL STRAW
Things came totally undone in the ninth as Utah erupted for five runs on five hits to cap the 11-run rally.
NOTABLES
First Inning
ASU wasted absolutely no time getting on the board with Wyatt Crenshaw cranking a leadoff jack for a 1-0 lead. Ryan Campos walked and Luke Keaschall drove him home from first with a double to left center and immediately scored on a Tobias RBI single right after that to give the Devils a 3-0 lead out the gates.
Jonah Giblin made sure not to allow any repeats of the prior two days, recording a 1-2-3 inning capped by a backwards K.
Second Inning
Kien Vu and Trey Newman led off the inning with singles and moved to second and third on a groundout. The Utah pitcher made a nice snag on a liner back to him and caught Vu taking too much of a lead at third for the second out though Contrades made it to second on the run down. Campos did the rest with a two-out, two-RBI single to make it 5-0.
Giblin again worked efficiently with yet another 1-2-3 inning highlighted by a diving catch by Jackson in center and again capped with a backwards K.
Third Inning
The Sun Devil went down in order and Giblin allowed his first baserunner of the day on a one-out walk but got the next two outs without any aplomb to keep it 5-0. Contrades made a nice charging bare-handed play in the frame as well.
Fourth Inning
Kien Vu led off the frame with an HBP and took second on a failed pickoff attempt and took third on a single into the hole at short from Newman. Crenshaw plated Vu on a sac fly to make it 6-0 and ASU loaded the bases with a Contrades single and Campos reach on a fielder's choice in which all runners were safe. The inning ended on a double play with interference that required a replay review to verify.
Giblin got into his first jam of the game with a one-out walk and the first hit of the game and both in scoring position after a wild pitch. But the sophomore handled it with a steady hand, striking out the next batter and recording the 1-3 putout for the final out to strand a pair.
Fifth Inning
ASU got a pair of two-out baserunners on a Jackson HBP and Vu's second single of the day but a foul out ended the threat. Utah got on the board with a leadoff first-pitch solo shot and added another a couple batters later on a one-out RBI single but Giblin kept it a four-run game.
Sixth Inning
The top of the Sun Devil order went down in order in the sixth. A leadoff baserunner reached on a muffed through at first but Keaschall and Hill quickly turned a sweet double play to wipe the run off the board and a ground out kept it at 6-2.
Seventh Inning
Keaschall led off with a single through the right side but a flyout and another interference on a double play call brought the minimum to the plate for the inning. Utah loaded the bases with one out and scored on an RBI single and back-to-back hitter batters brought Utah back within a run. A sac fly tied the game but Kien Vu made a significant catch on the play while running into the wall to save extra runs before ASU finally got out of it with a fielder's choice.
Eighth Inning
Newman got a two-out single but ASU could do no more. Utah post five runs in the bottom half of the frame as the bats came alive with five hits to effectively put the game out of reach.
Ninth Inning
Luke Keaschall reached base but that was the extent of the Sun Devil rally.
ON DECK
ASU hosts a slew of in-state competition this week at Phoenix Municipal Stadium starting with a midweek tilt against cross-town rival Grand Canyon on Tuesday evening. With rain in the forcast for the majority of the day, fans are encouraged to follow Sun Devil Baseball on Twitter (@ASU_Baseball) for any potential schedule updates involving that game.
The Sun Devils will then welcome rival Arizona for a three-game Pac-12 series beginning Friday at 7 p.m. AZT. All games will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network and available over the airwaves on KDUS 1060 AM.
The Sun Devils got out to a 6-0 lead through four innings before the bats went silent for the final five, leaving the door open for the Utah rally.
Trey Newman went 3-for-4 as part of an 11-hit day of the Sun Devils. Ryan Campos had a 2-for-4 afternoon with two RBIs and Wyatt Crenshaw homered for the second time in as many games and had two RBIs.
Jonah Giblin was rock solid in his second career start, going 5.0 innings with just two runs allowed and three strikeouts. Blake Pivaroff had a scoreless inning in relief.
TURNING POINT
After taking a 6-0 lead through four innings, ASU had opportunities to add more but a pair of inning-ending double play interference calls in the fourth and seventh innings stifled chances to put more runs on the board and allowed Utah to stay in striking distance. The one in the fourth was especially painful as it wiped a run off the board as well.
BIG MOMENT
Things came apart in the seventh inning ASU as Utah scored four runs to tie things up, aided by three HBPs and a walk.
FINAL STRAW
Things came totally undone in the ninth as Utah erupted for five runs on five hits to cap the 11-run rally.
NOTABLES
- After a slow start in the double category this season, ASU has come alive - recording one today and 26 in the last nine games. ASU posted just 13 in the first 11 games.
- ASU has scored in the first inning in an incredible 13 of 20 games played this season, going 9-4 in those games.
- Campos extended his reached base streak to 18 games. In the last seven games he leads the team with a .560 average (14-of-25) with an insane seven walks and a HBP for a .667 OBP. He's added a team-best 13 runs and is second on the team with 10 RBIs in that time
- Jacob Tobias extended his team-leading reached base streak to 19 games.
- In ASU's last seven games, Luke Keaschall has bat .552 (16-of-29) with a team-best 14 RBIs, six doubles and three homers for a monstrous 1.069 slugging mark.
- Nu'u Contrades is batting .500 (15-of-30) in the last seven games with nine RBIs, two homers and two doubles.
First Inning
ASU wasted absolutely no time getting on the board with Wyatt Crenshaw cranking a leadoff jack for a 1-0 lead. Ryan Campos walked and Luke Keaschall drove him home from first with a double to left center and immediately scored on a Tobias RBI single right after that to give the Devils a 3-0 lead out the gates.
Jonah Giblin made sure not to allow any repeats of the prior two days, recording a 1-2-3 inning capped by a backwards K.
Second Inning
Kien Vu and Trey Newman led off the inning with singles and moved to second and third on a groundout. The Utah pitcher made a nice snag on a liner back to him and caught Vu taking too much of a lead at third for the second out though Contrades made it to second on the run down. Campos did the rest with a two-out, two-RBI single to make it 5-0.
Giblin again worked efficiently with yet another 1-2-3 inning highlighted by a diving catch by Jackson in center and again capped with a backwards K.
Third Inning
The Sun Devil went down in order and Giblin allowed his first baserunner of the day on a one-out walk but got the next two outs without any aplomb to keep it 5-0. Contrades made a nice charging bare-handed play in the frame as well.
Fourth Inning
Kien Vu led off the frame with an HBP and took second on a failed pickoff attempt and took third on a single into the hole at short from Newman. Crenshaw plated Vu on a sac fly to make it 6-0 and ASU loaded the bases with a Contrades single and Campos reach on a fielder's choice in which all runners were safe. The inning ended on a double play with interference that required a replay review to verify.
Giblin got into his first jam of the game with a one-out walk and the first hit of the game and both in scoring position after a wild pitch. But the sophomore handled it with a steady hand, striking out the next batter and recording the 1-3 putout for the final out to strand a pair.
Fifth Inning
ASU got a pair of two-out baserunners on a Jackson HBP and Vu's second single of the day but a foul out ended the threat. Utah got on the board with a leadoff first-pitch solo shot and added another a couple batters later on a one-out RBI single but Giblin kept it a four-run game.
Sixth Inning
The top of the Sun Devil order went down in order in the sixth. A leadoff baserunner reached on a muffed through at first but Keaschall and Hill quickly turned a sweet double play to wipe the run off the board and a ground out kept it at 6-2.
Seventh Inning
Keaschall led off with a single through the right side but a flyout and another interference on a double play call brought the minimum to the plate for the inning. Utah loaded the bases with one out and scored on an RBI single and back-to-back hitter batters brought Utah back within a run. A sac fly tied the game but Kien Vu made a significant catch on the play while running into the wall to save extra runs before ASU finally got out of it with a fielder's choice.
Eighth Inning
Newman got a two-out single but ASU could do no more. Utah post five runs in the bottom half of the frame as the bats came alive with five hits to effectively put the game out of reach.
Ninth Inning
Luke Keaschall reached base but that was the extent of the Sun Devil rally.
ON DECK
ASU hosts a slew of in-state competition this week at Phoenix Municipal Stadium starting with a midweek tilt against cross-town rival Grand Canyon on Tuesday evening. With rain in the forcast for the majority of the day, fans are encouraged to follow Sun Devil Baseball on Twitter (@ASU_Baseball) for any potential schedule updates involving that game.
The Sun Devils will then welcome rival Arizona for a three-game Pac-12 series beginning Friday at 7 p.m. AZT. All games will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network and available over the airwaves on KDUS 1060 AM.