PHOENIX – A bizarre weekend for Sun Devil Baseball came to an end with a series win but a loss in the series finale on Saturday afternoon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, falling to Texas Tech, 12-8.
The Sun Devils (25-15, 11-7 Big 12) had to return to the field early this morning to conclude last night's contest, which was suspended in the seventh inning due to rain and field conditions, picking up a win to take the series before rolling into the final game.
ASU was unable to solve Texas Tech starter Zane Petty after tagging him for two runs in the first, going scoreless in innings 2-7 while the Red Raiders recorded six home runs to pull away down the stretch.
Kyle Walker homered and doubled and Landon Hairston tripled and doubled as the duo recorded four of ASU's nine hits in the contest.
Josh Butler and Easton Barrett were solid in relief to keep ASU within striking distance for much of the game, tossing 4.0 innings of one-run ball to give the offense a chance.
ASU will remain in the Valley for a "road" game this week, heading up the I-17 to take on Grand Canyon in a midweek non-conference tilt on Tuesday before returning home to play BYU in a Big 12 conference series beginning Thursday.
TURNING POINT
Texas Tech posed a major threat in the top of the third. After leading off the inning with a solo home run, the Red Raiders moved more runners in scoring position with two-outs. Their next batter smoked a 100 mph single on a 50/50 play to shortstop Matt King. Texas Tech then launched a three-run shot immediately after the Devils nearly escaped the jam to take a 6-2 lead and suck the air out of Muni.
BIG MOMENT
ASU remained in striking distance until the top half of the eighth inning rolled around. Texas Tech was able to get to reliever Jonah Giblin as they brought in four runs on three hits to bring its lead to 11-2, a deficit ASU couldn't overcome.
FINAL STRAW
ASU battled back in the ninth with a plethora of pinch hitters providing a late game spark. Jax Ryan, Beckett Zavorek and Ky McGary all reached to load the bases with nobody out. Jonathon Hernandez got under a sacrifice fly to push a run across prior to two more runs coming home to give the Devils a fighting chance. Kyle Walker later connected on a big swing as he launched a two-run bomb, but unfortunately the ninth inning rally was too little too late as Landon Hairston grounded out to conclude the game.
NOTABLES
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening Statement
"Obviously we had a strange night last night with the weather and we're able to come back today and put up a couple of runs and hold on there for an emotional win there to start the day. I thought every indication was we were going to bounce back and use that momentum coming into the second game today and we just didn't. Had a nice start where we came back and bounced back and put two runs on the board. But offensively we didn't have a very good approach or we got away from our approach for five or six innings there which can't happen. We weren't able to do much and we made some mistakes defensively that cost us a little bit and gave up quite a few barrels in the offensive or pitching standpoint. I guess that the only silver lining was the fact that we didn't quit. Battled and put up five in the 9th there and kind of made it interesting. But yeah, we were hoping to get all three."
On defensive miscues leading to runs
"I get more disappointed at our position guys. Like, man we got to make plays for them (pitchers). There's especially day games when the ball's carrying here, we cannot give teams extra outs. I don't care who we are and it came back and bite us today a couple times on plays that were make-able. I think they went down as hits, but I think we all know that they should have been made. I think they could have been made and it came back to bite us during the 3rd inning - we gave up a three-run homer right after that. Obviously you'd like the pitchers to pick up the position player on that play, but we're tough on our position guys. We need to make plays when the opportunity presents itself."
On offensive struggles
"We just chased below the zone too much. We had a good approach in the first inning off of him (Texas Tech pitcher Zane Petty) and made him be up. And then I don't know if guys weren't recognizing as well, but we continued to chase the cutter-slider that he had just below the zone. We had way too much weak contact and I think sometimes when you have early success off of an arm you think it's gonna be easy the rest of the way and you get out of your game plan. That's a sign of immaturity, at times, and we've preached upon that pretty much all year long, is to get pitches above the zone and stay out from below the zone. But, we just didn't do a great job of that."
Infielder Landon Hairston
On the experience of finishing game two then playing game three on the same day
"It was pretty crazy. I've never done that in my life, never resumed a game the next day. So that was a different experience, but we had a lot of confidence knowing that Cole was coming out for the two innings that we had. We started off with the bases loaded with our leadoff guy, so we knew we were getting a good at-bat out of Kyle. Then for me, just trying to pass it along to the next guy and that's what we did."
On seeing the ball well
"Obviously early on in the year you're trying to make adjustments and adjust to the speed of the college game. But I think now I'm starting to settle in and starting to get comfortable in the box. Have some confidence in myself with two strikes and just put the ball hard in play."
Pitcher Cole Carlon
On keeping the energy from last night
"I think just having confidence in ourselves and each other. Starting the day in the seventh inning is kind of crazy. So I think that itself just brought a lot of energy, knowing that we just had to lock in for two innings to get a win."
On his advice for the freshmen pitchers on the team
"Just letting them know that we all have a lot of confidence in them and that their stuff is really good. Just go attack, fill up the zone and attack hitters. Max (Arlich), Easton (Barrett) and (Eli) Buxton all have great capabilities and they can go in and get outs for us in any situation."
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
Jaden Alba took the bump for the Sun Devils and began with a very shaky first inning. After a strikeout of the Texas Tech leadoff man, the Red Raiders put together a pair of extra base hits including a two-run homer to jump to an early 2-0 advantage. Alba picked up three strikeouts in the frame including the final two after the home run.
Kyle Walker started things off with a leadoff double and came around to score on an RBI triple screaming off the bat of Landon Hairston. Hairston rounded third and came home as Matt King reached on an error to quickly erase the 2-0 deficit and knot it up at 2-2 almost instantly. The inning concluded shortly after King got doubled off trying to advance on a Jacob Tobias flyout.
Second Inning
Alba recorded the first two outs before a Texas Tech single snuck into left field. A Red Raider flyout brought the top half to a close.
The bottom half was not productive for the Devils as they went down 1-2-3.
Third Inning
Alba got roughed up in the third as the Red Raiders plated a four-spot on four hits, and three extra base knocks that included two home runs to put them ahead 6-2.
The Sun Devils went quietly for the second consecutive inning unable to make any ground.
Fourth Inning
Josh Butler entered to pitch for Arizona State. The Phoenix native induced back-to-back groundouts before Texas Tech reached base on an infield single. A flyout shortly after ended the inning.
The Sun Devils went down in order for the third-straight inning.
Fifth Inning
Texas Tech added another run by way of the longball to extend its lead to 7-2. Butler responded with a quick out shortly after to conclude the fifth.
Kien Vu laced a double to straight away center to open the inning, but the Sun Devils had nothing to show for it, with three straight outs quickly after.
Sixth Inning
While the Red Raiders got a runner on base to start the sixth due to a muffed throw, Butler notched two outs, both on a fielder's choice. Easton Barrett came into pitch and induced a flyout to end the inning.
Matt King walked with one out but a double play concluded the bottom half.
Seventh Inning
Barrett continued on the mound, issuing a leadoff single to start the seventh. Barrett then picked off the runner and picked up a strikeout before Tech put two-on with two-out. The threat ended via groundout and the Devils remained down five headed into the backend of the seventh.
Texas Tech starter Zane Petty remained in complete control, picking up yet another 1-2-3 inning to send the Devils down quietly.
Eighth Inning
Jonah Giblin took the mound to pitch for ASU. Texas Tech added to its lead with a two-run double, then a two-run homer made it 11-2. Sean Fitzpatrick came in to relieve Giblin and prevented further damage.
Isaiah Jackson led off with a double to left field and came around to score on an RBI double by Landon Hairston. That proved to be the only run for the Sun Devils in the inning.
Ninth Inning
Tyler Meyer took over on the bump for the ninth. He gave up a leadoff homer and was then lifted in favor of Max Arlich after recording one out. Arlich worked a scoreless rest of the frame in relief of Meyer.
The bottom of the ninth saw a slew of pinch hitters, where Jax Ryan and Beckett Zavorek each recorded a base knock. Ky McGary reached on a walk as Jonathon Hernandez drove in a run via sac fly. Zavorek then came around to score on a wild pitch to add another run to make it 12-5. Josiah Cromwick brought a run in on a fielder's choice as Kyle Walker launched a two-run shot, making it 12-8. Landon Hairston then grounded out to conclude the game.
The Sun Devils (25-15, 11-7 Big 12) had to return to the field early this morning to conclude last night's contest, which was suspended in the seventh inning due to rain and field conditions, picking up a win to take the series before rolling into the final game.
ASU was unable to solve Texas Tech starter Zane Petty after tagging him for two runs in the first, going scoreless in innings 2-7 while the Red Raiders recorded six home runs to pull away down the stretch.
Kyle Walker homered and doubled and Landon Hairston tripled and doubled as the duo recorded four of ASU's nine hits in the contest.
Josh Butler and Easton Barrett were solid in relief to keep ASU within striking distance for much of the game, tossing 4.0 innings of one-run ball to give the offense a chance.
ASU will remain in the Valley for a "road" game this week, heading up the I-17 to take on Grand Canyon in a midweek non-conference tilt on Tuesday before returning home to play BYU in a Big 12 conference series beginning Thursday.
TURNING POINT
Texas Tech posed a major threat in the top of the third. After leading off the inning with a solo home run, the Red Raiders moved more runners in scoring position with two-outs. Their next batter smoked a 100 mph single on a 50/50 play to shortstop Matt King. Texas Tech then launched a three-run shot immediately after the Devils nearly escaped the jam to take a 6-2 lead and suck the air out of Muni.
BIG MOMENT
ASU remained in striking distance until the top half of the eighth inning rolled around. Texas Tech was able to get to reliever Jonah Giblin as they brought in four runs on three hits to bring its lead to 11-2, a deficit ASU couldn't overcome.
FINAL STRAW
ASU battled back in the ninth with a plethora of pinch hitters providing a late game spark. Jax Ryan, Beckett Zavorek and Ky McGary all reached to load the bases with nobody out. Jonathon Hernandez got under a sacrifice fly to push a run across prior to two more runs coming home to give the Devils a fighting chance. Kyle Walker later connected on a big swing as he launched a two-run bomb, but unfortunately the ninth inning rally was too little too late as Landon Hairston grounded out to conclude the game.
NOTABLES
- Kyle Walker has now recorded a hit to start the game in 11 of the last 22 games since becoming the leadoff batter, and a hit on the FIRST PITCH now five times.
- Walker extended his on-base streak to 29 games with the leadoff knock.
- Kien Vu extended his on-base streak to 18 games with his fifth inning double.
- Freshman Landon Hairston has caught fire over the last six games. He is hitting .423 (11-26) with six extra-base hits, two home runs, 11 RBIs, nine runs scored and four multi-hit games amidst the hot-streak.
- Jaden Alba picked up all three outs via strikeout to start the game. It was the fourth-straight game where the Sun Devils struck out the side in the first inning and the fifth of the last six games doing so.
- Big innings have been the theme of ASU's season as the team has now scored in 142 halves of an inning on the year and have plated two or more runs in 92 of those. -
- The Sun Devils have 50 innings this season scoring at least three runs, 22 with 4+ and 13 with 5+.
- ASU has outscored teams 541-356 over its last 56 regular season games dating back to last season, posting a 38-15 record in the process.
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening Statement
"Obviously we had a strange night last night with the weather and we're able to come back today and put up a couple of runs and hold on there for an emotional win there to start the day. I thought every indication was we were going to bounce back and use that momentum coming into the second game today and we just didn't. Had a nice start where we came back and bounced back and put two runs on the board. But offensively we didn't have a very good approach or we got away from our approach for five or six innings there which can't happen. We weren't able to do much and we made some mistakes defensively that cost us a little bit and gave up quite a few barrels in the offensive or pitching standpoint. I guess that the only silver lining was the fact that we didn't quit. Battled and put up five in the 9th there and kind of made it interesting. But yeah, we were hoping to get all three."
On defensive miscues leading to runs
"I get more disappointed at our position guys. Like, man we got to make plays for them (pitchers). There's especially day games when the ball's carrying here, we cannot give teams extra outs. I don't care who we are and it came back and bite us today a couple times on plays that were make-able. I think they went down as hits, but I think we all know that they should have been made. I think they could have been made and it came back to bite us during the 3rd inning - we gave up a three-run homer right after that. Obviously you'd like the pitchers to pick up the position player on that play, but we're tough on our position guys. We need to make plays when the opportunity presents itself."
On offensive struggles
"We just chased below the zone too much. We had a good approach in the first inning off of him (Texas Tech pitcher Zane Petty) and made him be up. And then I don't know if guys weren't recognizing as well, but we continued to chase the cutter-slider that he had just below the zone. We had way too much weak contact and I think sometimes when you have early success off of an arm you think it's gonna be easy the rest of the way and you get out of your game plan. That's a sign of immaturity, at times, and we've preached upon that pretty much all year long, is to get pitches above the zone and stay out from below the zone. But, we just didn't do a great job of that."
Infielder Landon Hairston
On the experience of finishing game two then playing game three on the same day
"It was pretty crazy. I've never done that in my life, never resumed a game the next day. So that was a different experience, but we had a lot of confidence knowing that Cole was coming out for the two innings that we had. We started off with the bases loaded with our leadoff guy, so we knew we were getting a good at-bat out of Kyle. Then for me, just trying to pass it along to the next guy and that's what we did."
On seeing the ball well
"Obviously early on in the year you're trying to make adjustments and adjust to the speed of the college game. But I think now I'm starting to settle in and starting to get comfortable in the box. Have some confidence in myself with two strikes and just put the ball hard in play."
Pitcher Cole Carlon
On keeping the energy from last night
"I think just having confidence in ourselves and each other. Starting the day in the seventh inning is kind of crazy. So I think that itself just brought a lot of energy, knowing that we just had to lock in for two innings to get a win."
On his advice for the freshmen pitchers on the team
"Just letting them know that we all have a lot of confidence in them and that their stuff is really good. Just go attack, fill up the zone and attack hitters. Max (Arlich), Easton (Barrett) and (Eli) Buxton all have great capabilities and they can go in and get outs for us in any situation."
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
Jaden Alba took the bump for the Sun Devils and began with a very shaky first inning. After a strikeout of the Texas Tech leadoff man, the Red Raiders put together a pair of extra base hits including a two-run homer to jump to an early 2-0 advantage. Alba picked up three strikeouts in the frame including the final two after the home run.
Kyle Walker started things off with a leadoff double and came around to score on an RBI triple screaming off the bat of Landon Hairston. Hairston rounded third and came home as Matt King reached on an error to quickly erase the 2-0 deficit and knot it up at 2-2 almost instantly. The inning concluded shortly after King got doubled off trying to advance on a Jacob Tobias flyout.
Second Inning
Alba recorded the first two outs before a Texas Tech single snuck into left field. A Red Raider flyout brought the top half to a close.
The bottom half was not productive for the Devils as they went down 1-2-3.
Third Inning
Alba got roughed up in the third as the Red Raiders plated a four-spot on four hits, and three extra base knocks that included two home runs to put them ahead 6-2.
The Sun Devils went quietly for the second consecutive inning unable to make any ground.
Fourth Inning
Josh Butler entered to pitch for Arizona State. The Phoenix native induced back-to-back groundouts before Texas Tech reached base on an infield single. A flyout shortly after ended the inning.
The Sun Devils went down in order for the third-straight inning.
Fifth Inning
Texas Tech added another run by way of the longball to extend its lead to 7-2. Butler responded with a quick out shortly after to conclude the fifth.
Kien Vu laced a double to straight away center to open the inning, but the Sun Devils had nothing to show for it, with three straight outs quickly after.
Sixth Inning
While the Red Raiders got a runner on base to start the sixth due to a muffed throw, Butler notched two outs, both on a fielder's choice. Easton Barrett came into pitch and induced a flyout to end the inning.
Matt King walked with one out but a double play concluded the bottom half.
Seventh Inning
Barrett continued on the mound, issuing a leadoff single to start the seventh. Barrett then picked off the runner and picked up a strikeout before Tech put two-on with two-out. The threat ended via groundout and the Devils remained down five headed into the backend of the seventh.
Texas Tech starter Zane Petty remained in complete control, picking up yet another 1-2-3 inning to send the Devils down quietly.
Eighth Inning
Jonah Giblin took the mound to pitch for ASU. Texas Tech added to its lead with a two-run double, then a two-run homer made it 11-2. Sean Fitzpatrick came in to relieve Giblin and prevented further damage.
Isaiah Jackson led off with a double to left field and came around to score on an RBI double by Landon Hairston. That proved to be the only run for the Sun Devils in the inning.
Ninth Inning
Tyler Meyer took over on the bump for the ninth. He gave up a leadoff homer and was then lifted in favor of Max Arlich after recording one out. Arlich worked a scoreless rest of the frame in relief of Meyer.
The bottom of the ninth saw a slew of pinch hitters, where Jax Ryan and Beckett Zavorek each recorded a base knock. Ky McGary reached on a walk as Jonathon Hernandez drove in a run via sac fly. Zavorek then came around to score on a wild pitch to add another run to make it 12-5. Josiah Cromwick brought a run in on a fielder's choice as Kyle Walker launched a two-run shot, making it 12-8. Landon Hairston then grounded out to conclude the game.