Maybe sophomore Seth Blair and the Sun Devils are learning how to finish their business.
After losing two of its previous three Pac-10 Sunday games, the No. 2 ASU baseball team (28-8, 13-2 Pac-10) earned its third Pac-10 sweep of the season with a 6-3 win over Stanford behind Blair’s 6 2/3-inning, six-strikeout performance.
“They have been counting on me to go out there on Sundays and do my job,” Blair said. “[It was] definitely good to get the sweep today.”
Going into Sunday’s game, after wins from aces Mike Leake and Josh Spence on Friday and Saturday, respectively, ASU was 16-2 with Spence or Leake on the mound, compared to 11-6 with other starters.
Despite having shown glimpses of dominance, Blair had been on the wrong end of faulty defense and unlucky bounces of late.
“Ever since [USC], Blair has been lights out,” ASU coach Pat Murphy said.
Blair was due for a “W.” With his combination of mid-90s fastball and mid-80s slider, Blair has the stuff to shut down a good lineup any given Sunday. It just so happens that he follows the best 1-2 starting pitching punch in the country.
“He was great wasn’t he?” Murphy said after the game. “It’s not easy to be in that role. Just think of the hitters. The hitters get to see Spence and [Leake], and then you‘re looking for, ‘Hey, they can’t have another guy that good.’ I thought [he was] better than the other two compared to how he threw the ball.”
Despite temperatures in the mid-90s, Blair maintained his mid-90 fastball through the sixth inning, and Stanford struggled to mount scoring threats. One of the two threats against Blair was quickly erased.
In the fourth inning, the infield combination of freshmen shortstop Drew Maggi and second baseman Zack MacPhee turned an inning-ending double play.
The Cardinal’s lone unearned run off Blair came in the sixth and was initiated by an error on third baseman Raoul Torrez.
ASU’s offense, much like the night before, came all at once and in a large portion.
After putting together a seven-run game-winning rally in the bottom of the eighth on Saturday, ASU notched a five-run rally in the fourth inning on Sunday.
Stanford’s freshman pitcher Brett Mooneyham, one of the most touted left-handed pitchers in the country, was filthy but off the mark much of the afternoon, walking eight batters in only three and a third innings.
Going into the fourth inning, ASU had stranded six base runners.
The Sun Devils uncorked in the bottom of the fourth, though, after a Maggi bloop single to right field scored a runner when the throw home went through the wickets of Stanford’s catcher Zach Jones.
Jones followed his first error with another blunder, allowing a passed ball to score ASU’s second run.
Instead of attempting to draw another walk from a Stanford pitcher, junior Carlos Ramirez unloaded a 3-1 pitch into the left-center gap off relief pitcher Max Fearnow, making it 4-0.
Another passed ball on a walk scored the fifth run. ASU added a sixth run in the seventh inning on an RBI single from Jared McDonald, who has begun to earn a penchant for clutch hitting.
Freshman Mitchell Lambson, in his third outing in as many games, earned his third save by pitching two and a third innings while allowing only one run — a solo shot to right field.
Blair moved his record on the season to 4-1.
Reach the reporter at nick.ruland@asu.edu.
