Late game homer seals Stanford victory, ASU awaits placement in regionals

It seemed like the Sun Devils (37-17, 16-13 Pac-12) were on their way to a pitcher’s duel victory for the entirety of the game, led by a career outing from sophomore starter Boyd Vander Kooi.

Instead, Stanford (41-11, 22-7 Pac-12), who had outhit the Sun Devils all afternoon, stole the victory in the ninth inning behind a three-run homer by sophomore shortstop Tim Tawa, winning the regular season finale 3-2.

“There wasn’t a person in the stadium, over in the stands, on our team or even on their team that thought they were going to come back in that game,” junior right fielder Carter Aldrete said. “But it comes down to one pitch. At the end of the day, we’re still a team and we’re just going to move forward.”

A two-hit day by the hot-hitting Aldrete went to waste, in addition to the standout performance by Vander Kooi, but Smith and the Sun Devils now turn their focus to the postseason, a milestone that represents the progress of the program over the past three seasons.

“We’re a lot closer,” Vander Kooi said. “We don’t have any people that are complaining in the dugout or anything, you know we got a team that’s super close and we trust everybody.”

“This year it was kind of like alright, from my freshman year and sophomore year take away what you want and be the leader of a new team,” Aldrete said. “I think I’ve done a pretty good job of molding this team- me and the rest of my class- molding this team and this program into what we wanted it to be, on and off the field.”

“I feel like this is the closest team I’ve ever been on, and I think moving forward that’s going to help us more than other teams because we’re so close, and we know what our culture is, and everyone knows their role on this team, everyone knows what the next guy means to them.”

The Sun Devils are likely looking at a two-seed in the tournament, as the field will be announced Monday morning after the regional hosts are revealed Sunday evening. Although ASU has only won one weekend series since the start of April, the team remains optimistic about their chances come June.

“I’m not just doing coach talk here, I feel like we’ve got enough talent- and just some minor adjustments- we got enough to do some damage,” ASU manager Tracy Smith said. “You got to be good, but you got to be lucky too, and today we were unlucky. But I’ll trade all of that to start getting some more bounces next week.”

As for today, Vander Kooi met the challenge of facing off against junior Stanford lefty Erik Miller, projected by many as an early-round pick in this June’s MLB draft.

ASU’s sophomore starter was shaky in the early innings though, allowing a pair of hits and some hard contact in the form of deep flyouts and hard groundouts.

But after Aldrete got the scoring started with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the second- plating junior designated hitter Cole Austin after a one-out double- Vander Kooi appeared to settle in for the remainder of his outing.

“(Vander Kooi) was fantastic today, and you get that performance and he starts doing that at this time, I think that bodes well for us as we get into the postseason,” Smith said. “He’s actually been pretty darn good the last few outings, so that was a huge plus for us.”

He faced the minimum in the third and fourth and was able to last as long as he did thanks to a combined 17 pitches to get through the sixth and the seventh.

It was the fifth inning that presented the greatest challenge, as Vander Kooi allowed consecutive singles to start off the inning prompting Smith to come out and talk with his pitcher.

“Maybe last year, or maybe early in the season, he lets the anxiety grow,” Smith said. “I think it’s just getting himself under control and recognizes the fact that if he continues to execute his pitches he has the real ability to get out of it, and that was one more step in proving that to himself and the team today.”

The conversation proved effective, as Vander Kooi struck out the next three batters to not only escape the inning but set a new career high with 10 strikeouts.

His final line was seven innings pitched, allowing no runs or walks, five hits and striking out 11. Throughout the game, Vander Kooi often used his breaking balls and off-speed pitches in the middle of counts, putting away batters with well-placed fastballs.

Aldrete added another ASU run in the fifth, crushing one to center field for his fourth homer in his last five games, and ninth overall this season.

“What I’ve been focusing on, and I even made it my screen-saver, is kind of just stack my backside,” Aldrete said. “I think earlier in the season I was inconsistent because I was coming forward and the ball was getting on me. Stacking my backside has really helped me see the ball before I make a decision on whether to swing or not.”

The lack of offense around Aldrete would prove to come back and bite ASU, as sophomore shortstop Alika Williams was the only Sun Devil outside Aldrete to get a hit after the second inning, as the team finished with only four hits on the afternoon.

“I’m getting hot at the right time and that’s just what we’re trying to do as a team,” Aldrete said. “So, hopefully, me getting hot at the right time can help spark the team going into postseason.”

Today, it was the Cardinal who were hitting near-home runs, flying out to the warning track several times throughout the afternoon, which turned out to ominously foreshadow how the game and regular season would come to an end for the Sun Devils.

Nevertheless, ASU’s finish 20 games above .500 and in the top half of the Pac-12 standings represents significant growth from the 23-win efforts in each of the previous two seasons.

Now, a Sun Devil squad with no previous postseason experience and only one senior on its roster will look to make its mark in June.

The selection show is set for Monday at 9 a.m. and can be watched nationally on ESPNU.