Senior Joey Bielek (right) celebrates with sophomore Brian Serven (left) after a two-run single by freshman Andrew Snow at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Sunday, March 15, 2015. The Sun Devils defeated the Beavers 7-4. (Jacob Stanek/The State Press)Even by ASU baseball’s standards, Sunday’s 5-1 loss in the series finale to Oregon was unusual.
Sometimes you can lose and still be proud of the way your team competed. Today is not that day.
— Tracy Smith (@ASUSkip) March 22, 2015
With junior left-handed pitcher Brett Lilek on the mound and junior left fielder Phil Craig St. Louis on first after a bunt single with one out, freshman right fielder Jakob Goldfarb singled through the right side.
Lilek backed up sophomore third baseman David Greer on the relay throw that went past him third, and collided with Greer when he tried to throw down to second to get Goldfarb, who advanced on the error.
Head coach Tracy Smith came out to the mound to check on Lilek and decided to insert senior right-hander Darin Gillies.
His status is unknown.
The Ducks (15-8, 2-4 Pac-12) jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by freshman catcher Tim Susnara and a an RBI triple by junior third baseman Matt Eureste that plated a pair of runs.
In the fifth, junior center fielder Johnny Sewald put the Sun Devils (15-7, 4-2 Pac-12) on the board with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Greer after he reached third on back-to-back singles.
If the circumstances as they stood weren’t bizarre enough, the oddities escalated when sophomore catcher Zach Cerbo was substituted for freshman left fielder Coltin Gerhart, who went 0-2 at the plate on the day.
ASU managed just six hits on the afternoon to Oregon’s seven, and each side left five runners on base.
In the top of the sixth, sophomore shortstop Colby Woodmansee fouled a pitch off of his shin, and initially fell to the ground in pain.
He walked off the sting and stayed in the box, striking out looking to freshman left-hander Cole Irvin.
Redshirt senior right fielder Trever Allen hit a two-out double just as it began to drizzle for the second time in the same weekend in Eugene.
The rain came down even harder, resulting in a 22-minute delay that doused ASU’s rally, as junior designated hitter RJ Ybarra, hitting behind Allen and sophomore catcher Brian Serven in the cleanup spot, struck out swinging to end the threat.
With a four run lead in the eighth inning – as ASU junior right-hander David Graybill made his collegiate debut on the mound – Oregon attempted a suicide squeeze bunt with 210-pound junior pitcher Josh Graham on third base, and ended up catching him in a rundown.
With Oregon sophomore reliever Stephen Nogosek on the mound, ASU was unable to generate much offense in the late innings on Sunday.
The right-handed relief specialist tossed 1.1 perfect innings, entering with two outs in the sixth and recording four consecutive outs.
In four innings across three games, Nogosek allowed just three hits and one unearned run, racking up four strikeouts.
Junior lefty Garrett Cleavinger breezed through the middle of the Sun Devil order, striking out the side in the ninth in a non-save situation.
ASU will return to Phoenix Muni to host Stanford on Friday, March 27, at 6:30 p.m.
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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