The early parts of Seth Martinez's outing in a 6-3 win over Tennessee Tech Friday night gave ASU baseball a reason to reaffirm its confidence in the right-handed sophomore starter.
Martinez retired the Golden Eagles (19-20, 11-10 Ohio Valley Conference) in order in three of his five innings pitched, and his six strikeouts came up one shy of a career high.
With the resurgence of junior left-hander Brett Lilek in recent weeks, there have been murmurs of a Friday-Sunday swap for the Sun Devils (27-11, 13-5 Pac-12) because of Martinez's inability to go deep into games in his starts.
It's not inconceivable that head coach Tracy Smith would make such a move, but his performance didn't suggest a need for a change.
Of the three runs allowed in Martinez's outing, two were unearned, coming after redshirt freshman first baseman Ryan Flick doubled to lead off the fifth, and junior second baseman Jake Farr reached on an error by sophomore shortstop Colby Woodmansee.
The suggestion that Martinez hasn't quite shifted into his highest competitive gear has crossed Smith's mind.
"I'm sitting there, and I'm kind of frustrated as I'm watching it," Smith said. "I'm looking at it maybe a little bit differently, with execution of certain pitches."
However, Smith acknowledged that Martinez was at his best in situations where he was able to control the pace of the game on the mound.
"That's kind of his M.O.," Smith said. "When he's working quickly, things are going well, guys enjoy playing behind him. That's his tempo."
Woodmansee's error was just his seventh this season, but he'd already done his part to negate the blunder by driving in his 29th and 30th RBIs with a pair of singles in the first and second innings.
The Sun Devils had a 5-0 lead through four innings, but perhaps the prospect of such a cushion is more a burden than a comfort at this point – ASU's success in close games has been well documented.
Tennessee Tech strung together three singles in the fifth to draw within two, trailing 5-3 after sophomore right fielder Anthony El Chibani, senior shortstop Dylan Bosheers and senior center fielder David Allen each drove in a run.
In relief, sophomore right-hander Eder Erives threw a career-high 3.2 innings and struck out four of the 14 batters he faced, ceding the save to junior right-hander Eric Melbostad in the ninth.
"That's what we're looking for," Smith said. "You know what you're getting, and that's the key. If continues to do what he's done, that's good to know as we head into more conference weekends."
Erives has been a key piece of ASU's bullpen in 2015, but hasn't had much of an opportunity to make an impact beyond an inning or two prior to tonight.
"Now that I've changed my mentality, and how to approach hitters, it's helped a lot," Erives said. "I was comfortable with (the new coaching staff), and I just needed to find myself."
Additionally, junior Jordan Aboites was substituted in defensively at third base, and freshmen Andrew Shaps and Coltin Gerhart appeared in right field.
"I like to keep guys interested," Smith said. "These guys are coming to practice every day, so you try to get guys in there and reward them competitively with playing time."
Despite loading the bases after entering with two outs, Melbostad induced a comebacker to the mound for the final out to record his third save of the season.
"We wanted to get some guys some work," Smith said. "I looked at it as an opportunity to get some dirt on some other guys' spikes."
ASU will go for its seventh straight series win with junior left-hander Ryan Kellogg (7-1, 3.63 ERA) facing sophomore right-hander Evan Fraliex (4-2, 5.50 ERA) at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Phoenix Muni.
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepressport on Twitter.
