The Sun Devils had the Beavers right where they wanted them. Bottom of the ninth, Torkelson at the plate with the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on base.

But the sophomore first baseman, already with a solo home run and double in the game, didn’t have one more big hit in him, going down swinging on a Mitchell Verburg fastball allowing Oregon State (25-9, 11-4 Pac-12) to hold on 4-3 over Arizona State (27-7, 10-5) and win the three-game series.

“The thing I would say on the weekend in general is I liked our effort, I liked how hard we played,” manager Tracy Smith said. “What I didn’t like was the execution or lack thereof. I thought we were sloppy at times.”

Oregon State starter, junior righty Grant Gambrell, was in command of the Sun Devil lineup through the first five-plus innings. He struck out multiple batters in all but two innings he pitched, working a fastball-changeup combo effectively throughout his outing.

Gambrell lasted 5.2 innings, allowing five hits, two runs- one earned- walking two and striking out 10 in the winning effort.

“They were making pitches at the right time, (Nate) Yeskie over there is a great pitching coach,” Torkelson said.

On the other side, senior started Sam Romero was pitching a bend but don’t break outing for ASU.

He was one ball from walking home a run in the first and allowed multiple batters to reach in two of the ensuing three innings, all without allowing a run.

Oregon State finally got to him in the fifth though, in what turned into a disastrous inning for the Sun Devils.

A one-out, RBI single by sophomore left fielder Alex McGarry got OSU on the board first, but Romero struck out junior shortstop Andy Armstrong with one out and two on in scoring position, which was a big out at the time.

But manager Tracy Smith elected to pull him after that, as he had already thrown 83 pitches.

Freshman Blake Burzell was brought into the game, only to be pulled after five pitches, all of which were balls, emphasizing Smith’s lack of tolerance for pitchers who can’t throw strikes.

“I think that’s the next step for this group is being who you are, not letting the circumstances dictate,” Smith said. “If you get hit you get hit, but be who you are.”

The swift pitching change to freshman Marc Lidd didn’t help.

Sophomore first baseman Ryan Ober scored on a passed ball then freshman second baseman Jake Dukart hit a two-run single to right field on consecutive pitches, breaking open OSU’s lead to 4-0.

The damage ended there, but the big fifth inning would end up being all the Beavers would need.

ASU’s bats finally woke up in the sixth inning, as Torkelson’s high fly ball that cleared the fence in right center was the first Sun Devil run of the game. It also marked an impressive feat for the sophomore slugger.

“It was a two-strike approach, just hitting a fastball away and then saw the curveball up and just put my best swing on it,” Torkelson said. “(Gambrell) was getting tired so he just left his curveball up.”

The Sun Devils plated another run in the inning, as junior right fielder Carter Aldrete hit a fly ball to deep center that looked like it would end the inning with two outs. Instead, Beavers sophomore center fielder Kyler McMahan lost the ball in the sun, allowing it to drop for a double and scoring junior center fielder Hunter Bishop for the team’s second run.

But after that, the pitching continued to dominate for both sides, and it seemed the scoring had been consolidated into the fifth and sixth innings.

Highlighting this effort was freshman lefty Erik Tolman, who went 1-for-4 as the designated hitter and came on to pitch the final three innings for ASU, not allowing a run on three walks and a hit while striking out three.

“Erik’s a baseball player, and I think that’s the greatest compliment because you saw it,” Smith said. “He steps in there gives you quality at-bats and then shuts them down the last three innings, it’s pretty impressive.”

However, ASU had gotten limited production from the bottom of its order until that last gasp effort in the ninth, which saw sophomore third baseman Gage Workman draw a leadoff walk and score two batters later on a single from junior Lyle Lin- who pinch-hit for sophomore catcher Sam Ferri in the fifth.

Sophomore second baseman Drew Swift fouled out to right field for the inning’s second out, and from there OSU manager Pat Bailey began changing pitchers to get favorable matchups.

First, he brought in sophomore lefty Christian Chamberlain, who ended up walking sophomore left fielder Trevor Hauver and setting up Torkelson with the chance to walk-off.

He then brought in Verburg, who sealed the deal notching his second save of the season and giving the Beavers their sixth win in the last eight games.

“There’s nobody on the planet I would’ve rather had in that batters’ box in that situation,” Smith said. “You know, it didn’t happen today but I would put my money on him again.”

“The fact of the matter is they were cleaner than we were, they did the little things better than we did. So, if we can understand that and get better at that then I think that’s what we’re striving for and (this weekend’s result) flips.”

ASU has now lost six of eight to start the month of April after beginning the season 25-1. The Sun Devils return to action Tuesday for a mid-week game against the University of Seattle (8-25).

First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.