Coming off a few weeks of rest because of a tweaked shoulder, freshman left-handed pitcher Adam McCreery pitched four scoreless innings for the ASU baseball team on Tuesday. The Sun Devils (11-4) cruised to a 9–0 win in the first game of their midweek series against Utah Valley (5-9).
“(I felt) a little rusty with command,” McCreery said. “I fell behind a lot of counts that I didn’t want to. I should have thrown more strikes, but I think it will come back with time. Overall, I was pretty happy with my performance.”
ASU posted three runs in the first inning and never looked back on the Wolverines, who looked outmatched at the plate against McCreery and the rest of the Sun Devils’ pitching staff.
After McCreery, junior Alex Blackford tossed a scoreless fifth and sixth, junior Robert Ravago hurled a perfect seventh, junior Matthew Dunbar threw a flawless eighth and senior Joseph Lopez closed out the ninth for the win.
In all, the night provided the Sun Devils’ bullpen a good opportunity to bolster its confidence out on the bump.
“It worked out good because McCreery pitched well early enough that we didn’t have to go to our bullpen early,” coach Tim Esmay said. “These are tough games because we got the (Pac-12) starting on Friday, so we’ve got to make sure guys throw, but not throw a lot.”
Junior shortstop Deven Marrero, who recently returned to action from an ankle injury, got things going for the Sun Devils in the first with a two-run home run. First baseman Abe Ruiz followed that up with a solo dinger of his own to give ASU an early three-run advantage.
“It looks like Deven Marrero might be heating back up again,” Esmay said. “Abe had to make some adjustments at Long Beach State, and he made those and carried them over to today.”
The Sun Devils added runs in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh innings in a contest that wasn’t close from the get-go. However, despite the one-sided affair, Esmay was pleased with the way his team continued to play aggressively after the Wolverines were well out of the game.
“Sunday, we started showing signs to coming back to what we are, and today, as a whole, I thought we had really good at bats,” Esmay said. “When guys were in scoring position, we were finishing off at bats. Hopefully we’ll continue that.”
Fans were also treated to excitement before the game as Corporal Nick Kimmel threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The Marine, who is a triple-amputee and a recipient of a Purple Heart, threw out the pitch as part of the Strikeouts for Troops Foundation.
ASU will close out the series against Utah Valley on Wednesday at Packard Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and freshman Darin Gillies (0-1, 4.35 ERA) will be on the mound for the Sun Devils.
“We played a good baseball game (Tuesday),” Esmay said. “We need to come out and play (Wednesday) with the same type of focus, the same type of intensity and get out there and play good Sun Devil baseball.”
Reach the reporter at kjnewma2@asu.edu
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