ASU sophomore catcher Brian Serven fails to tag TCU junior left fielder Dane Steinhagen at home plate on Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The Horned Frogs defeated the Sun Devils 3-0. (Ben Moffat/The State Press)After ASU baseball’s (3-2) Wednesday night win over Oklahoma, head coach Tracy Smith said that the winner in a series like the one against TCU (5-0) would be the team that did the little things well.
Friday's game, in many respects, reflected that statement, and ultimately the box score of intangibles stacked up in favor of the visitors.
Averaging six runs per game in the four played prior to tonight’s matchup at Phoenix Muni, (and just shy of that mark in 2014, at 5.8) ASU’s reliable constant has been its potent lineup.
Enter TCU senior starter Preston Morrison.
Behind their right-handed ace, the visiting Horned Frogs won 3-0 Friday night.
Morrison (2-0) was dominant from about the third inning onward, but the Sun Devils had their best chance of the night in their first trips to the plate.
Junior second baseman Jordan Aboites tripled down the right field line, and a batter later, sophomore shortstop Colby Woodmansee walked.
“We didn’t move the baseball,” Smith said. “And then we dropped the ball at the plate. You don’t know how that sets the tone for the rest of the way, but it certainly didn’t help.”
That was the closest ASU came to scoring all night, as Morrison retired 10 consecutive hitters between the second and fifth innings en route to a three-hit, complete game shutout.
“We’ve got to fight to not over-analyze it,” Smith said. “(Morrison) did a tremendous job of keeping the ball down in the strike zone, and he’s pretty darn good.”
Lost in Morrison’s brilliance was the outing from the home team’s starter, junior lefty Brett Lilek (0-1).
“Brett came in there and did his job,” Smith said. “Then (sophomore reliever) Hever Bueno came in and did a very good job of holding us right there. We fell asleep defensively... But our pitchers did their job, and tonight it did not go our way.”
TCU didn’t overwhelm ASU offensively, and ultimately manufactured a pair of runs in the second simply by taking advantage of the situation that was dealt to them.
Freshman catcher Evan Skoug doubled in the second inning, and was advanced to third via a sacrifice bunt from senior second baseman Garrett Crain.
It set up a grounder to third baseman Dalton DiNatale off the bat of junior right fielder Nolan Brown, who reached via fielder’s choice as Skoug slid in front of DiNatale’s throw, which sophomore catcher Brian Serven bobbled.
Despite that misplay, Serven was successful in a way that could have saved his team from falling behind even further. He threw out three TCU baserunners who attempted to swipe second.
Senior shortstop Keaton Jones singled up the middle to give TCU a 2-0 lead that proved to be plenty of insurance for Morrison to work with.
So much so, that by the time TCU added on a third run in the eighth, Morrison was already dominant to a point at which it seemed that it wasn’t necessary for coach Jim Schlossnagle to even touch his bullpen.
And much to ASU’s chagrin, it wasn’t.
“You have limited opportunities off of a guy like that,” Smith said. “He’s the ace of a staff of a guy that went to the big leagues immediately and pitched ahead of him on Friday night.”
That “guy” was Brandon Finnegan, who led the Kansas City Royals to their first World Series appearance since 1985.
Junior left fielder Jake Peevyhouse mustered a single in the ninth, but the only victory that came Friday night was the addition of another tally into the hit column.
ASU hosts TCU on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 1:00 p.m. at Phoenix Muni.
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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