When he arrived in Tempe with his UA teammates Tuesday afternoon for a nonconference game against rival ASU, junior pitcher Daniel Workman had no intention of starting on the mound.But when scheduled starter Cory Bernard injured himself during warm-ups, Workman was pressed into duty.
The lanky right-hander, who hadn’t pitched for the Wildcats since March 23, answered the bell, stifling ASU hitters through 6 1/3 innings of five-hit, two-run ball to earn a 4-2 victory in front of 3,566 fans at Packard Stadium.
“He was pitching to what the umpire was giving him,” said senior third baseman Raoul Torrez, whose two-run double off the right field fence in the second inning was the only scoring damage done by ASU. “The umpire was giving him a good zone, a good amount of plate out, and he kept pounding away, pounding away. He pitched really well.”
Freshman Brady Rodgers was also impressive and was burned only by a three-run fourth in which he hit and walked consecutive batters to start the frame. After a sacrifice fly put UA on the board, left fielder Bobby Brown belted a two-run double to center just beyond the reach of sophomore center fielder Johnny Ruettiger to give the Wildcats all the scoring they would need.
UA later added a run in the eighth when a single by second baseman Robert Refsnyder scored catcher Jett Bandy, who had moved into scoring position when sophomore reliever Mitchell Lambson was called for a balk.
The Sun Devils staged a threat in the eighth when sophomore catcher Austin Barnes led of with a single and Deven Marrero reached base with a perfectly executed bunt down the third-base line. After sophomore shortstop Drew Maggi struck out for the third time in the game, senior outfielder Kole Calhoun ripped a single to right to load the bases.
But after a shallow fly out to left off the bat of sophomore Riccio Torrez couldn’t push a run across, sophomore designated hitter Zach Wilson grounded out to end the threat.
“I thought they played great defense,” said ASU coach Tim Esmay, noting several defensive gems by UA shortstop Alex Mejia. “[Workman] pitched really well. I thought he commanded the zone. Normally in a Tuesday game, after playing in the Pac-10 on a weekend, you usually don’t see a 4-2 ball game. So credit both sides; I thought both sides played a well-rounded defensive game.”
The Sun Devils (31-4) got a runner to first in the ninth with one out after junior pinch-hitter Jimmy Patterson was hit by a pitch, but Barnes lined out on an impressive stop by Mejia and sophomore Jordan Swagerty struck out as ASU dropped its first home game of the season.
Sophomore Zack MacPhee, the Sun Devils’ leading hitter, missed his second game in four days with the flu.
Calhoun and Marrero each had two hits to lead ASU. Maggi finished 0-for-4 out of the leadoff spot.
“We’re focused,” Raoul Torrez said. “We’ll have a good practice [Wednesday] and come back and have a good weekend against Washington.”
ASU hosts the Huskies in a three-game series beginning Friday.
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu
