Relief pitching has rarely been a point of concern for the No. 1 ASU baseball this season.
Saturday night was certainly an exception.
A pair of three-run innings given up by sophomores Mitchell Lambson and Jordan Swagerty, who entered the contest with earned run averages of 2.13 and 1.29, contributed to the Sun Devils' demise in a 9-4 loss to Washington in front a packed crowd of 4,209 at Packard Stadium.
Lambson started in the seventh inning in relief of junior Merrill Kelly, who gave up three runs — two earned — in his six innings of work.
The left-hander, taking the ball with a 4-3 lead, walked UW leadoff hitter Julien Pollard (junior) to begin the frame. After a sacrifice bunt by senior second baseman Doug Cherry moved Pollard to second, freshman third baseman Jacob Lamb pulled the Huskies even with an run-scoring double to left field.
Two batters later, designated hitter Chase Anselment belted a two-run blast to right that nearly reached Rural Road, giving UW a 6-4 lead.
The Sun Devils had several chances to draw even after falling behind in the seventh.
In the bottom of that frame, ASU put runners on first and second with one out, but sophomore designated hitter Zach Wilson struck out and sophomore centerfielder Johnny Ruettiger grounded out back to the mound to end the threat.
In the eighth, junior left fieler Matt Newman reached on a one-out single to center field, but sophomore catcher Austin Barnes grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The Sun Devils’ inability to produce runs was magnified in the top of the ninth when Swagerty, after retiring Pollard to begin the inning, surrendered four singles and a walk that led to three more UW runs, putting the kibosh on any hopes of walk-off theatrics for ASU.
“We got beat, bottom line,” ASU coach Tim Esmay said. “[UW] pitched better, they had more quality at-bats with runners in scoring position, they played good defense. They just played a better game. It wasn't us having a lack of energy.”
The Huskies scratched a run across in each of the first two innings, and junior catcher Miles Kizner — a transfer from Glendale Community College — put UW up 3-0 with an RBI double in the fourth. Kelly, who entered the game tied for the NCAA lead with eight wins, gave the visitors additional opportunities by hitting three Husky batters.
ASU's bats woke up fourth and notched three runs, fueled by sophomore second baseman Zack MacPhee's NCAA-leading 11th triple of the season and back-to-back home runs by senior right fielder Kole Calhoun and sophomore first baseman Riccio Torrez that tied the score without an out recorded in the inning.
But after Wilson singled for the fourth straight hit of the inning and Ruetigger walked, freshman third baseman Deven Marrero and Newman struck out and Barnes flew out to center field, squandering a golden opportunity to seize the lead and additional momentum.
“You'd like to be able to square some balls up in that situation and kind of put the hammer down,” Esmay said. “In the game of baseball sometimes, the guy on the mound isn't willing going to let you do that, and I thought [UW sophomore pitcher Andrew Kittredge] did a good job of not letting us get rolling there.”
ASU took it's only lead in the game, 4-3, in the fifth when a sacrifice fly off the bat of Riccio Torrez brought home MacPhee, who had doubled earlier in the inning.
After missing three of the last four games with the flu, MacPhee, now just two shy of the school record for triples (13) set in 1971 by Alan Bannister, didn't show any signs of rust.
“Zack's a baseball player, and it's nice to have him healthy again,” Emay said. “It's nice to have a healthy and fresh, because when you have that in a Zack MacPhee, you're are going to get more night like that than you're not.”
Lambson took the loss for the Sun Devils, dropping his record to 3-2.
Sophomore Jake Borup will start for ASU in the series finale on Sunday.
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu
