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Sun Devils take down rival Grand Canyon

HE'S SAFE: Sophomore infielder Zach Wilson slides into second base in the Sun Devils’ win against Northern Illinois. (Photo by Scott Stuk)
HE'S SAFE: Sophomore infielder Zach Wilson slides into second base in the Sun Devils’ win against Northern Illinois. (Photo by Scott Stuk)

For one night at least, a new intrastate rival was in town.

The No. 2 ASU baseball team got all it could handle from cross-town rival Grand Canyon, a Division II school located in Phoenix, winning 4-2 behind stellar pitching and a few clutch hits from the squad’s veterans.

Freshman Brady Rodgers, in his first career start, threw five two-hit, scoreless innings, exiting after 54 pitches.

With three games coming up against Auburn this weekend, coach Tim Esmay said he wanted to be able to use the freshman during the set.

“I thought he handled his first start very well,” Esmay said of Rodgers, who retired 10 straight batters during one stretch. “It kind of sets up for him to be fresh and ready to throw again this weekend.”

GCU struck for its scores — both unearned runs — in the top of the sixth off junior Josh Moody. After a single and a throwing error on sophomore third baseman Riccio Torrez put runners on second and third, pinch-hitter Colin Courtland belted a two-run single to give the Antelopes the lead.

In bottom of the frame, it was senior Kole Calhoun delivering an Omaha-style clutch hit to draw the Sun Devils (12-0) even.

With the bases loaded and two outs, last year’s College World Series hero belted a single the opposite way to left field, plating junior Jimmy Patterson and sophomore Drew Maggi.

“I told the guys I thought that was the biggest [at-bat] of the game,” Esmay said. “They had the momentum … and he did what he needed to do; he stayed on it and came up with the big knock. That kind of settled our guys in, I thought.”

ASU added the go-ahead run in the seventh on an RBI infield single by Patterson that scored sophomore Zach Wilson, who doubled to start the inning.

Senior Raoul Torrez broke out of a 1-for-13 slump later in the inning with an RBI single to complete the scoring for ASU.

Of course, the additional run wasn’t needed, as GCU had no runners reach base after its scores in the sixth.

After Moody retired Antelope hitters in order in the seventh, freshman Jake Barrett struck out the side in the eighth with a barrage of fastballs, some that reached 97 miles per hour on the radar gun.

Sophomore Jordan Swagerty provided the perfect encore in the ninth, earning the save by matching Barrett’s feat of fanning the side.

“Barrett and Swagerty on the back end — those guys are performing and doing their jobs,” Esmay said. “I thought this was a great test tonight. They gave us everything they could.”

Moody, who hadn’t pitched in a week and a half and was sick during the Surprise tournament, earned his first-career win.

Extra bases

Sophomore Zack MacPhee missed his second straight game and will not play against Auburn on Friday.

MacPhee is serving a three-game suspension stemming from an incident in Saturday’s win over UC Riverside, when an umpire determined that MacPhee attempted a punch following a close play at the plate. MacPhee will be in the lineup on Saturday.

The record for ASU’s best start is 21-0.

Former Sun Devil Jeff Urlaub pitched one inning for GCU.

Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu


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