On a typical cold and rainy weekend at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman, ASU (10–14, 3-6 Pac-12) pitching woes continued this weekend against Washington State (15-8, 5-4). The Sun Devils led in two of the three games, but were unable to walk away with a win, getting swept in what could be the final time these two teams meet for a series in the regular season.
Game one started out favorably for the Devils, who jumped out to an early 4–0 lead after three innings, but the Cougars found their stride in the fifth inning, scoring six unanswered runs. Freshman pitcher Thomas Burns had been dealing up to that point, striking out seven batters through four innings and allowing just four hits.
The inning started out with a walk before a triple and a sac fly all of a sudden cut ASU’s lead in half. Junior outfielder Casen Taggart hit a two-run shot to tie the game, and then a single right after by redshirt senior Joey Kramer ended Burns’ night. Left-handed sophomore Ben Jacobs came in relief but immediately gave up another two-run homer to senior catcher Jacob Morrow giving WSU the lead 6–4.
The Sun Devils came right back with two runs of their own in the sixth inning off a two-run triple from redshirt sophomore outfielder Nick McLain. The game would stay tied for the next two innings until the bottom of the eighth.
ASU’s ace junior Ryan Schiefer took the mound in the bottom of the eighth, and quickly found himself in a jam with the bases loaded and only one out. A grounder thrown home for the force out kept the bases loaded, but now with two outs. A grounder to the left side of the infield looked like it would end the inning, but the infielder was unable to gather the ball, and everyone reached base safely to give the Cougars a 7–6 lead. The exact same thing happened the next batter, and ASU headed into the top of the ninth down two runs.
A leadoff single followed by a double showed good signs for the offense, but a strikeout followed by an RBI groundout made it a one-run game, with the winning run coming up to the plate. Brandon Compton stepped up to the plate with already two doubles in the game, but a groundout from him ended the game, and the Devils headed into Saturday still searching for their first win of the series.
Senior lefty Connor Markl got the nod for game two on Saturday to start on the mound for the Devils. He pitched what was most likely the best performance from an ASU pitcher this weekend. He pitched six and two–thirds innings and gave up just two runs while striking out six Cougars.
***
Saturday’s game was a defensive battle, with just five total runs in the game in favor of the Cougars, as they won 3–2. An RBI single by McLain in the eighth made the game close all the way to the end, but ASU went down in order in the ninth inning.
The Devils had no shortages of opportunities as there were multiple innings where they had two baserunners with no outs or one out, but just could not execute in crunch–time. Execution has been a key factor in ASU’s record up to this point in its season, with all the chances throughout games.
Heading into Sunday, the Cougars had a chance to sweep the Devils and did capitalize on that opportunity. Freshman righty Wyatt Halvorson led the charge starting the game, but things quickly took a turn for the worse. After the second inning, the Cougars led 4–1.
The nail in the coffin for Halvorson took place in the third inning after a solo shot from redshirt senior infielder Joey Kramer. Coach Bloomquist then strutted out from the dugout and called in redshirt senior Matt Tieding. Tieding gave up three more runs in the span of three innings, and then Bloomquist went incredibly deep into his bullpen.
Over the next two innings, four pitchers came in relief, and they all did their part in keeping the Cougars to just one more run. Junior Ryan Schiefer came in relief as the final pitcher in the bottom of the seventh and finished out the game for them. The Devils were able to get some runs back, but they headed into the ninth down 8–5.
The first two batters in the top of the ninth both reached on throwing errors in the infield, and the Devils had two men on with no one out. A pop fly and a sacrifice fly made it a two-run game, with the tying run up to bat. McLain struck out on three pitches, and the Devils exited Bailey-Brayton Field being swept, extending their losing streak to four games.
ASU will head to Las Vegas for a single game against UNLV (13-10), taking place tomorrow, before heading back home Thursday for their Easter weekend conference series against California (14–6). The Sun Devils are slowly starting to slide down the rankings in a competitive Pac-12 conference and are seeing their window of postseason opportunity rapidly starting to close.
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today and get your daily fix of Sun Devil news!
