Pac-10 championships are won on the weekends.
But don’t tell that to the ASU baseball team when it travels to Tucson for a non-conference game Tuesday night against bitter rival UA.
Each year the two Arizona schools meet two additional times outside the Pac-10 schedule. The games do not count toward conference standings, but do count in the Territorial Cup point race.
“It’s UA, we’re going down there with a purpose,” ASU second baseman Zack MacPhee said. “We always take them seriously.”
The No. 6 Sun Devils (21-6, 5-1 Pac-10) took two of three conference matchups from the No. 21 Wildcats (20-9, 2-4 Pac-10) in Tempe March 25 to 27.
On the mound for ASU will be Kyle Ottoson (2-0, 3.91 ERA).
The junior transfer hasn’t pitched since March 19 against Oral Roberts when he threw six innings, giving up one earned run on four hits in the 4-3 Sun Devil win.
“I feel good about throwing him out there,” ASU coach Tim Esmay said. “He had been a starter for us, but since we’ve started the Pac-10, he’s kind of been pushed back a bit.”
The Sun Devils’ three starting pitchers threw 22 2/3 innings in a sweep of Oregon last weekend, leaving the bullpen well rested for Tuesday if Ottoson struggles.
“Our rotation kept those guys fresh, and that’s a good thing for the long process of the season,” Esmay said. “It’s nice to give the bullpen some weekends off.”
Freshman Trevor Williams, sophomore Alex Blackford and junior closer Mitchell Lambson were the only ASU relief pitchers to throw against the Ducks.
In his last 17 1/3 innings, Williams has given up just one earned run and now boasts an ERA of 1.47.
“(Pitching coach Ken) Knutson does a good job of preparing kids for roles they might not be used to,” Esmay said. “Trevor (Williams) is a kid who had been a starter in high school, and now he has to prepare himself every day to be in the back end of the bullpen.”
Helping both the starting rotation and the bullpen has been the stellar performance of the Sun Devil defense.
In its last seven games, the ASU defense has committed five errors.
“We like our pitchers to throw a lot of strikes and keep us on our toes,” sophomore outfielder Andrew Aplin said. “We just want to give them the confidence that when they miss a pitch, we’ll go track it down for them.”
Even when MacPhee, the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Year, was slumping at the plate, his defense remained at an elite level.
“I figure if you’re not going to get a hit, you might as well go out there and take a hit away from the other team,” said MacPhee, who has two errors in 107 chances. “There’s two sides to the game, so I try to leave my bat in the dugout.”
MacPhee did brake out of his slump this weekend with five hits against Oregon with four RBIs.
“He’s been playing great defense all year long and now he’s also swinging the bat,” Esmay said. “I’m seeing a very relaxed, confident kid at the plate.”
Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu
