For those ASU baseball fans frequenting games this season, one more item should be added to their list of things to bring to Packard Stadium: a broom.
The Sun Devils completed their fourth home sweep of the season on Sunday against Big Ten opponent Penn State.
Freshman pitcher and designated hitter Ike Davis started Friday night, but only lasted 1 1/3 innings after giving up five earned runs, spotting the Nittany Lions an early 5-2 lead.
"We've been a little unfair to Ike, asking him to be a frontline pitcher and a four-hole hitter as a freshman," Murphy said. "He's never pitched this much in his life."
However, what Davis lacked on the mound he made up for at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two doubles. He also drove in sophomore infielder Willy Fox three times, including once in the fifth inning to tie the game and again in the sixth inning to give No. 19 ASU (21-7) the lead.
"I like hitting behind Fox because we face a lot of lefties and he usually gets on against lefties and I can get a chance to drive him in," Davis said.
Daryl Arreola relieved Davis in the second and was then lifted for fellow senior Brett Bordes in the sixth. Each pitched 3 1/3 innings, giving up no runs and one hit apiece with Bordes picking up the victory. Junior Zechry Zinicola came in for the final two outs of the game, leaving the final score at 8-5 and earning his fourth save of the season.
"[The bullpen] picked me up when I had a horrible day," Davis said. "I'm just glad we have a staff that can do that and not just rely on our starters."
On Saturday, the Sun Devil bats came out on fire, as they jumped out to a 12-0 lead after four innings.
Davis hit his fourth home run of the year, driving in sophomore outfielder Eric Sogard while Fox drove in three runs.
Senior Frank Mesa made his first career start on the hill, striking out five consecutive Nittany Lions at one point and seven total. Junior Brady Martinez got the win for ASU in a 15-5 blowout.
Sunday afternoon saw the return of junior Pat Bresnehan to the rotation after a six-week hiatus. Bresnehan's last start was a loss to No. 6 Oregon State at the Coca-Cola Classic. Against Penn State (4-16), he gave up three earned runs and struck out five.
"It was the first time in about a month I actually felt strong and was locating and had command of my pitches," Bresnehan said. "It was nice to get out there and have some success."
Even though Bresnehan felt he pitched well, Murphy saw his performance differently.
"In four innings he showed he was pretty much in control, but he didn't have great stuff at all," Murphy said. "I expected more. I thought he'd come out throwing bullets, and be out there for six [innings] and throw the same amount of pitches and totally dominate."
Murphy was also concerned his freshmen accounted for five of the six Sun Devil strikeouts. He was also concerned about sloppy play in the field, which led to three errors.
Sophomore Ryan Sontag had a key error in the seventh that allowed junior outfielder Matt Cavagnaro to score from first, knotting the game up at seven.
Sontag would make up for the mishap in the eighth, as he hit a two-run single to center, giving ASU the lead, 9-7.
That would be all ASU needed as Zinicola pitched the final two innings and shut the door on the visitors.
Reach the reporter at thomas.j.kelley@asu.edu.
