This year's ASU baseball and Phoenix Municipal games have had a different atmosphere in the building. This team's success has compelled fans to come out and witness the new-look Sun Devils, as last night ASU had the largest crowd since the team moved back to Phoenix Municipal Stadium in 2015.
That crowd witnessed an ASU loss, an anticlimactic one given the buildup, but a setback provided an opportunity to make a statement comeback series victory on Saturday against their rivals, once again playing the Arizona Wildcats.
Both of these teams heavily dislike each other, and after a comeback victory yesterday, the Wildcats would love nothing more than to spoil ASU's first week of being ranked by handing them their first Big 12 series loss.
Thanks to junior right-handed pitcher Owen Kramkowski, who came out of a complete game with 8 ⅔ IP and only three earned runs allowed, they left Phoenix Municipal Stadium with just that—a win tonight and a series victory overall—demoralizing both the ASU offense and the ASU fans on consecutive nights. Despite ASU (20-11, 7-4 Big 12) bringing the go ahead run to the plate in a late ninth inning rally, Arizona (22-8, 8-3 Big 12) prevailed 5-3.
Last night's theme was squandered opportunities for the offense. Tonight, there weren't many missed opportunities because there weren't many opportunities in general, with only six baserunners reaching in the first eight innings of the game.
ASU went scoreless for the first six innings of this game, only the third time all season. As of the sixth, there has been a ten-inning scoreless skid dating back to yesterday's loss. Arizona pitching has continued to pose a variety of problems for ASU.
“I think it's with this lineup. You've seen what we're capable of, so I don't think we ever really get down,” Ellison said. “But we just kept following the same trap over and over, and it bit us today.”
So, who would be the pitcher to once again silence ASU? What about a second-year pitcher with a lifetime ERA of 6.75? Kramkowski hasn’t been great to begin the season, his first season as a starter after a few relief appearances last year. The Arizona native's ERA was 6.46 before tonight's game, with 10 earned runs in his previous two outings totaling 8 ⅓ innings.
Kramkowski's recent struggles may have fooled the Sun Devils, as ASU was unable to make hard contact, draw walks, get runners on base, or even lift the ball in the air. Ground balls accounted for 14 of ASU's first 16 balls in play, for a total of 24 balls on the ground. ASU's power-hitting, slugfest lineup couldn't put any lift into the ball tonight, allowing Kramkowski to stroll through this game.
“I think starting off, we were overly aggressive on pitches that we weren't on zones we weren't hunting and kind of bit of some glove today,” hitting coach Jason Ellison said. “(Our original plan was) just getting elevated over the plate, and as you guys saw, we ended up swinging a lot of pitches down there; hitters were getting eaten up by that slider.”
The first five innings of this game only took about an hour of real time, as Kramkowski had just 50 pitches through those five innings, and as a starter, when you’re able to throw ten pitches an inning, close to three a batter, that is the textbook definition of efficiency.
He would finish with 104 pitches as the ninth inning got a little shaky, but Kramkowski's command, pitch mixture, and execution against an incredibly good ASU lineup one through nine left fans and coaches only able to tip their caps.
“He threw strikes. He mixed well. He used all of his pitches,” ASU pitching coach Jeremy Accardo said. “He started guys off with spin and they pitched well, that's what they do. They pitch well, it's just one of those things where we have to show up and just do a slightly better job, right? Like we're too good of a team to kind of lay dormant like that.”
Arizona wasn't the only team with an impressive starter pitching performance tonight; senior right-handed pitcher Jack Martinez was one of ASU's lone bright spots, pitching seven strong innings. Martinez struck out a career-high 12 batters tonight, his final pitch a 97 MPH heater that struck out his third of the inning.
For the most part, this game was a pitchers' battle, with Martinez allowing only two runs, both solo home runs, up until the sixth inning. Martinez had only allowed three hits heading into the sixth inning, but that's when things started to unravel for the power pitcher.
A sharply hit double led off the inning, followed by a walk, and when both reached scoring position, sophomore infielder Mason White tripled off the left field wall, scoring two runs, with Arizona bringing White across on a single for the third run.
In the flash of an eye, the game went from two runs down, two power arms battling it out, to a five-run game, with Kramkowski sitting and smiling, able to cruise with his now-large advantage.
“Our goal is to go out there and throw strikes and give our team a chance to win. You saw that right there,” Accardo said. “We had the winning run at the plate at the end, and as a pitching staff, our motto is to give ourselves a chance to win. The last two days have been tough; one crooked one in the inning kind of sealed the deal. It wasn't always self-inflicted. Sometimes we're making good swings. Sometimes we tip your cap. But we limited free passes. We went right at guys.”
Martinez had five earned runs, but it was still a positive outing nonetheless. A career high in strikeouts, and, like junior left-handed pitcher Ben Jacobs yesterday, he just let one inning get away from him, spoiling what was otherwise an extremely competitive start that kept ASU and their usually high-powered offense in the game from the jump.
Looking at each individual effort from the offense, it's clear why tonight didn't go ASU's way. Junior infielder Kyle Walker struck out twice, which is uncharacteristic for someone who leads ASU in batting average. It was only the fourth time in 17 games that rookie outfielder Landon Hairston went hitless, resulting in an unsuccessful night for ASU's normally positive second hole.
Add that to senior catcher Josiah Cromwick's hitless night in his return to the starting lineup after a lengthy absence, as he struck out to close the game with the tying runner on first. Cromwick leads the team in home runs but hasn't hit one since March 21.
This ASU offense has now reached a new low after being extremely effective for most of the season. Unlike many games last season, the pitching has suddenly carried what had been a sluggish lineup through the first two games of this series against Arizona.
This series against the Wildcats was intended to be ASU's best of the season, and it was undoubtedly one of the most important to show themselves after being recently ranked. Now, the series will be simply another setback in what has been a disappointing weekend, as ASU will need to win at least one game to avoid getting swept and to maintain some dignity while learning from their mistakes and continuing to progress.
“These last two days just haven't gone our way; that's just the game, and it sucks when it's a series like this, but it is what it is,” Accardo said. “It's got to make us better, or we fold. That's just not us, that's not ours, that's not the culture that Willie's built. That's not what we're about. So we're going to show up, and we're going to come ready to go tomorrow.”
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