LOS ANGELES— Sun Devil Baseball hit the first speed bump on its postseason journey in the winner's bracket of the Los Angeles Regional, dropping an 11-5 decision at the hands of host UCLA on Saturday evening at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
After limiting a strong UC Irvine lineup on Friday, Arizona State couldn't contain the red-hot UCLA bats, which racked up 19 runs in their opening round win over Fresno State, and wasted little time putting up crooked numbers again on Saturday. After a scoreless first inning, UCLA plated two runs before recording an out in the second, and would eventually load the bases for a grand slam strike that capped off a seven-run barrage in the frame.
Despite the early deficit, the Sun Devils fought back valiantly the rest of the way, scattering runs across four different frames. At the same time, the bullpen trio of Max Arlich, Will Koger, and Eli Buxton held the Bruins to just one run in the final six innings of play. Arlich in particular was effective in 3.1 innings of long relief, as the freshman southpaw allowed just one run on three hits with as many strikeouts in his postseason debut.
With the seven-run second inning being the deciding blow of the night, the Sun Devils weren't able to seriously threaten the Bruins the rest of the way. ASU will now turn towards a rematch with No. 2 seed UC Irvine tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. AZT in an elimination game and a chance to advance to the regional final which will follow at 7 p.m. against the Bruins.
TURNING POINT
UCLA put pressure on starting pitcher Jack Martinez early in the second inning with the leadoff man reaching on a single. The next batter connected on a triple down the right field line that scored the leadoff man with ease. After an initial bobble on the triple, Kien Vu fired the ball back into the infield where cut-off man Kyle Walker made an errant throw attempting to gun down the runner at third. The throw sailed over the head of third baseman Beckett Zavorek and the triple turned into a little league home run to give the Bruins an early 2-0 lead and suck the Sun Devil's energy right out of thin air.
BIG MOMENT
The second inning continued with more traffic on the basepaths and pressure from the Bruins. After the little league homer, UCLA layed down a bunt to beat the shift and then reached on two-straight hit by pitches to load the bases. Martinez got Big Ten Player of the Year Roch Cholowsky to ground into a fielder's choice that cut down the lead runner at home to give the Sun Devils a chance to escape with minimal damage. With the bases loaded and two-out, Martinez issued a walk to push across another run for the Bruins to make it 3-0. UCLA then landed the lethal blow, connecting on an opposite field grand slam to blow the game open in just the second inning at 7-0. The deficit remained insurmountable as the Sun Devils couldn't catch up to the early Bruin outburst.
FINAL STRAW
The Sun Devils had a plethora of opportunities to execute with runners on base and a chance to claw back into the game. However, the offense struggled to capitalize on those chances. The final line had the offense going 3-14 with runners on base and just 1-10 with runners in scoring position. The Sun Devils were one swing away at times from potentially altering the course of the evening, but the untimely hitting remained the difference in the loss.
NOTABLES .
- The Sun Devils were the only team in the nation in the regular season to not lose a game by five or more runs, a streak that came to an end on Saturday evening. The six-run loss against the Bruins ended a streak of 79 straight games (27 losses) without losing a game by more than 5 runs dating back to ASU's 14-4 run rule loss at Cal State Fullerton on April 17 of last season.
- ASU has recorded multiple doubles in 41 games this season. The team entered the postseason ranked third in the nation in doubles and now have 147 on the year
- Big innings have been the theme of ASU's season as the team has now scored in 210 halves of an inning on the year and have plated two or more runs in 128 of those (61 percent).
- Max Arlich recorded a career-high 3.1 IP in the outing and tied his career-high of three strikeouts.
- Jacob Tobias recorded multiple hits in back-to-back games for the ninth time this season. It was his 23rd multi-hit game of the season and improved his line to 5-7 with three extra-base hits and four runs scored amidst the regional weekend.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening Statement
"(We) came out and got down big. We tried to fight our way back in there, and had some chances offensively to climb back in it. We just couldn't get a big hit there. Early on we were in a pretty big hole there but our guys continued to battle. We put up some zeros. We had opportunities to get back in that game. We just couldn't push the big hit across when we needed to. But hey, we gotta sleep quick, forget about this one quick and be ready to go again tomorrow."
On mindset for Sunday
"These guys have been resilient all year long. We've been punched in the mouth before and keep bouncing back. I don't expect anything less from our guys for tomorrow. The mindset is we're coming here to win tomorrow. We're going to win two games tomorrow. That's got to be the mindset. It starts with a very tough team with Irvine tomorrow. We know they're going to come battling and give us everything they got. but bottom line, we're not going to turn back. We have to go forward and be aggressive tomorrow. We have to start with one but we're winning 2 games tomorrow we're pushing it to Monday. That's gonna be our push tomorrow."
Infielder Jacob Tobias
On the team vibe with their back against the wall
"I trust these guys more than anything. We've done it all year. I have complete faith in them and I'm really excited to see how we respond tomorrow."
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
Martinez worked an efficient opening frame that saw him pickup a pair of strikeouts and strand the lone batter who reached on a one-out single.
Landon Hairston laced a sinking line drive to left field in which the UCLA defender made an impressive diving grab to rob Hairston of a hit. The rest of the offense had nothing to show as zero's remained on the board after one.
Second Inning
Martinez was not greeted warmly in the second, surrendering a leadoff single before a triple in the right field corner scored the game's opening run. A sailing throw into the infield brought home another run to put the Sun Devils behind by two in the inning before recording an out. Martinez ran into further trouble with two hit-by-pitches and a run-scoring walk later in the inning, before the floodgates opened on a two-out grand slam. Josh Butler limited the damage in relief, securing the final out of the inning to stop the bleeding at seven runs.
Jacob Tobias led off the offensive half of the second for the Sun Devils with a shift-beating chopper towards third base that he legged out for an infield single. Kien Vu took a bases-on-balls thereafter, and Isaiah Jackson would load the bases after reaching on a fielder's choice. Brandon Compton got Arizona State on the board with a sacrifice fly that scored Tobias in the next at-bat, but an inning-ending double play would limit ASU to just one run in the second.
Third Inning
Butler returned to action and the top of the Bruin order cashed in after a leadoff single. UCLA added two runs on three hits to put ASU down 9-1 heading into the home half of the third.
Kyle Walker reached on an error but was gunned down trying to tag and advance to second on a deep fly ball off the bat of Hairston which ended the inning.
Fourth Inning
Max Arlich got the ball out of the bullpen and posted a much-needed zero despite a one-out single. Tobias saved an extra-base hit down the right field line to initiate the rare 3-6-3-4 double play to end the top half of the fourth.
Matt King drew a walk to open the last of the fourth and moved to third on a deep single off the bat of Tobias. After a UCLA pitching change, Kien Vu would bring in a run on an RBI groundout, but ASU couldn't close further on the 9-2 deficit.
Fifth Inning
Arlich returned to work and worked an up-and-down inning that included another Bruin run after an RBI single to make it 10-2. No further damage would ensue after a deep flyout to end the half.
The Sun Devil offense went down in order to conclude the fifth.
Sixth Inning
Arlich tossed his second scoreless frame of the evening with the only blemish being a two-out walk.
The Sun Devils threatened with two out in the sixth on a King double and Tobias walk, but couldn't bring anybody home.
Seventh Inning
Arlich recorded the first out of the inning and then was relieved in favor of Will Koger after a hit batsman. Koger threw just two pitches and induced a double play as UCLA attempted a hit-and-run.
Isaiah Jackson reached via hit-by-pitch and went first-to-third after a base knock from Beckett Zavorek. Jackson would then score on an errand pickoff attempt to first to make it 10-3.
Eighth Inning
UCLA tacked on another run on through baserunning, but Koger stranded another in scoring position to end a hitless inning.
The Sun Devils went down in order to close out the last of the eighth.
Ninth Inning
ASU turned to freshman Eli Buxton to work the ninth as he faced the minimum to end the top half of the ninth.
The Sun Devils added two runs after a hit from Vu, a walk from Jackson and a two-out, two-run double off the bat of Brody Briggs. The deficit remained insurmountable and ASU fell 11-5 Saturday night.