ASU baseball (27-6) put on a show with back-to-back-to-back home runs in the sixth to tie the game 4-4, but after a checked swing call in the eighth the Oregon State Beavers (24-8-1) added the pair of game winning runs on a single.
"I've seen the video (replay) since and I'm a little disappointed because it wasn't close," coach Tracy Smith said. "But even in that you got to play through that stuff."
Despite the loss, starting right-hander Boyd Vander Kooi pitched through 6.2 innings, the second most he's seen this season. He allowed four runs on eight hits and five walks. The reliever for the night, sophomore Brady Corrigan, took the loss through 1.2 innings allowing two runs on four hits while also striking out four batters.
"Honestly I just go pitch-by-pitch," Vander Kooi said. "He (Joe Casey) fouled off probably four or five fastballs in a row, kept challenging him with the heater and turned on one ... it's baseball."
Similar to the Beavers' sluggish Friday night start, on Saturday the Sun Devils struggled at the plate with only two hits through five innings, and four of those innings were dead end 1-2-3 at bats.
Nonetheless, just like the Sun Devils have been doing all season, the top of the order sophomores Trevor Hauver and Spencer Torkelson each went yard with back-to-back home runs with Hauver.
"We weren't worried about scoring in that game because that guy (Bryce Fehmel) had hittable stuff and he was around the strike zone the whole game," Torkelson said. "So we knew we were going to get to him, it was just a matter of time."
A crucial Sun Devils' pitching change in the seventh would keep the Beavers at bay with two outs, runners on first and second.
Corrigan would not only get out of that jam but keep the Beavers from extending their lead in the ninth, leaving a runner stranded on third.
ASU will still have a chance to win the series Sunday, April 14 at 12:30 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at Edith.Noriega@asu.edu or follow @Noriega_Edith on Twitter.
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