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ASU baseball falls to Cal 6-4

The ASU baseball team dropped a tight game with Cal on Friday

Lingos April 22

ASU senior pitcher Eli Lingos (15) pitches the ball to a Utah batter during a 13-8 win at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday, April 22, 2018.


Things didn't go according to plan for ASU after allowing two runs in the ninth inning as a part of a 6-4 loss during their second-to-last game of the season against the California Golden Bears on Friday night. 

After the tough loss, ASU has now scored first in its last 6 games, but have only gone on to win three of those contests.

In the first inning, ASU freshman outfielder Spencer Torkelson scored after a pair of wild pitches thrown by Cal starting pitcher Jared Horn.

However, the Golden Bears came back in style in the third inning by loading the bases on an infield single, an intentional walk and a hit-by-pitch.

Cal sophomore catcher Korey Lee then cleared the bases on an RBI single to shortstop that turned into a throwing error by ASU shortstop Alika Williams, allowing Cal to take a 3-1 lead.

The Sun Devils then took advantage of three wild pitches thrown by Horn in the third inning, which allowed them to add two more runs to tie the ballgame. 

ASU added another run for a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning after freshman infielder Drew Swift reached safely on a fielder's choice that was grounded to Horn. 


With just one game remaining in the season, some of the appreciation for three current ASU players were expressed by Sun Devil head coach Tracy Smith, who said as a coach and someone who has been in the game for a long time, he couldn't help but feel for players like sophomore catcher Lyle Lin, senior pitcher Eli Lingos and junior outfielder Gage Canning, who haven't been able to experience the success of playing in the NCAA postseason at this point in their careers.

With Lingos being a senior, and Lin and Canning possibly preparing for the MLB draft, Sunday's game could be the last time that the three players don the same uniform together.

"That bothers me because I wish that because of everything they have given, that they could have that enjoyment," Smith said. "Because they're not robots ... they hear the comments, they probably read a lot of the comments and that's tough on a young man when you're laying it out there ... Wins and losses don't dictate who you are. Those guys are quality young men whether they had a winning season or not, and they are great representatives of ASU."

ASU will conclude the season on the team's senior day against Cal tomorrow, Saturday, May 26 at 6 p.m. MST.

"The silver lining I guess for me is making sure that these guys understand every single time that they are out there, that they get a little bit more experience," Smith said of his young team. "It's not the way that we wanted it to go, but our goal is to come out here and get a win tomorrow for those seniors."


Reach the reporter at Edith.Noriega@asu.edu or follow @Noriega_Edith on Twitter. 

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