ASU baseball missed out on an opportunity to take the series at Long Beach State on Saturday night, dropping the contest 5-2 and setting up a rubber match for the Sunday afternoon game.
With Hever Bueno out for the weekend with a muscle strain, head coach Tracy Smith moved junior Seth Martinez up to the Friday slot. Following Martinez's gem, sophomore lefty Eli Lingos (1-1) gave up two runs on five hits in just 1 1/3 innings.
He left a bases-loaded jam for sophomore Ryan Hingst in the second inning. Hingst managed to escape it, keeping the Sun Devils in the game. He gave up a run on three hits and issued three walks in 3 2/3 innings.
Long Beach State sophomore Chris Mathewson, who was the Big West's Freshman Pitcher of the Year in 2015, continued performing at an extremely high level. He had 12 strikeouts and retired 16 in a row at one point during his outing.
Mathewson didn't allow ASU (5-2) to score until the top of the sixth when senior third baseman Jordan Aboites singled and stole a base. Then, a wild pitch and a balk from Long Beach State brought hime home.
Junior catcher Brian Serven singled in the seventh inning and was eventually brought home by junior designated hitter Sebastian Zawada, who drove in another run after hitting one of ASU's two three-run homers in Friday night's win.
And just as the Sun Devils were within a run at 3-2, they experienced shades of Tuesday night's 11-5 loss to Nevada. Aboites' two throwing errors led to two runs — the first allowed the leadoff man to advance to second base, and the second allowed the two runs to score.
In the top of the ninth, ASU attempted to start a late rally, but a double play ended the game.
Sophomore lefty Reagan Todd will look to have another good outing in the young season when he takes the mound for the rubber match on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or on Twitter @justintoscano3.
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