In its first Pac-12 action at Packard Stadium this year, the ASU baseball team took two of three contests from visiting California in a series highlighted by several impressive pitching performances, errors and offensive fireworks.
“Whenever you have a home series, you’ve got to win it,” junior shortstop Deven Marrero said. “That’s the whole point of home-field advantage. It was definitely a big weekend for us, bouncing back from last week and getting back into contention for the Pac-12.”
The Sun Devils (15-8, 2-2 Pac-12) opened the series with a 5–1 win Friday thanks to yet another solid performance from junior pitcher Brady Rodgers (4-0, 1.31 ERA). The right-hander gave up eight hits, one walk and struck out nine while going the distance for the victory.
At the plate, ASU was led by an array of characters as four Sun Devils drove in runs.
Junior centerfielder Andrew Aplin recorded three hits and an RBI on the night while senior first baseman Abe Ruiz and sophomores designated hitter James McDonald and third baseman Michael Benjamin also drove in one run apiece.
A pair of miscues by the Golden Bears’ (13-9, 1-5 Pac-12) infield enabled ASU to score three unearned runs in the second and grab an early lead that it never relinquished.
“This weekend, we had a mindset and we stuck with it,” Marrero said. “It turned out great for us.”
In game two, Cal’s senior right-hander Matt Flemer (3-2, 2.76 ERA) outdueled the Sun Devils’ righty sophomore Trevor Williams (5-1, 1.11), and this time it was ASU that shot itself in the foot with errors.
Cal got on the board in the first via a two-out error by ASU freshman third baseman Drew Stankiewicz, and then scored once more in the second because of another error by the infielder.
After Cal tacked on another run after senior catcher Chadd Krist’s first home run of the season in the sixth, Stankiewicz made up for his earlier mistakes with a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh. The hit cut the score to 3–2, but ASU was unable to make up the final run. With the bases loaded in the ninth, junior second baseman Joey DeMichele had a deep fly-out to centerfield to end the game.
“It was a tough loss,” ASU coach Tim Esmay said. “But if you want to look at the silver lining, Trevor Williams had close to a complete game, which allowed us to not have to go to the bullpen.”
Sunday afternoon’s rubber match was a back-and-forth affair with Cal jumping out to a 2–0 first-inning lead courtesy of RBI singles from Krist and sophomore first baseman Andrew Knapp.
The Sun Devils drew blood next by taking advantage of a second-inning error by Cal freshman shortstop Chris Paul, as junior catcher Max Rossiter singled McDonald home after the leftfielder reached on an errant throw by Paul. The Sun Devils then added a pair of runs in the third to make it 3–3.
“We could be down 10–0 and still think we’re in the ballgame,” Marrero said. “That’s the Sun Devil mentality. We could put up five runs just like that.”
Cal regained the lead with a one-run fifth and a three-run sixth, but the Sun Devils struck back again.
In the latter half of the sixth, ASU scored five runs on three hits, three walks, a hit-by-pitch and another Golden Bear error to go ahead 8–6. DeMichele added a solo homer in the eighth to make it a 9–6 ASU advantage.
“That was a great inning,” Marrero said of the sixth. “That’s what every Sunday is. You’ve got to come out here and grind and battle, and that’s what that inning was — just trying to get to the next guy (in the lineup) and trying to make something happen.”
The lead proved to suffice for the Sun Devils, as juniors Robert Ravago, Matthew Dunbar and Jake Barrett tossed a scoreless seventh, eighth and ninth to seal the game and the series win.
ASU returns to action this week with Tuesday and Wednesday matchups against Cal State Fullerton at Packard Stadium. Both games are scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Reach the reporter at kjnewma2@asu.edu
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