Tracy Smith rolled straight into the clubhouse. He had to know. It wouldn’t do anything but that didn’t matter. Sometimes there’s a curiosity fueled by anger where the answer, either way, doesn’t bring any sense of relief.

That was Smith as he stared at a small phone showing an ultra-slowed-down version of an eighth-inning check swing against No. 4 Oregon State (23-8-1, 9-4 Pac-12). It was obvious. Blatant even. But isn’t everything when it’s slowed down to 100 frames per second? No matter. The replay seemed to show Joe Casey’s bat twisting around the plate as the pitch zipped out of the zone.

“I’ve seen the video since and I’m a little disappointed because it wasn’t even close,” Smith said. “I thought (reliever Brady Corrigan) made the pitch when he needed to. He didn’t get the call on a very clearly non-check swing.”

A strike sends Casey packing. It ends the inning. It keeps the bases loaded for Oregon State as arguably the best hitter in the country, Adley Rutschman, stands helpless in the on-deck circle. Instead, there were no fireworks, only a few dozen boos raining down on third-base umpire William VanRaaphorst as he motioned his arms out and said Casey didn’t go around.

Three scorching foul balls later, on what would be the 10th pitch of the at-bat, Casey shot a single under the glove of a diving Spencer Torkelson. Two Beavers touched home, breaking a 4-4 tie. They would need no more to even the series, beating the 13th-ranked Sun Devils (27-6, 10-4 Pac-12) 6-4 Saturday night.

“Tough call,” Corrigan admitted. “But stuff like that happens. Just have to make the next pitch. I didn’t, ended up costing us.”

Smith added: “I thought our guys played hard. We’re just not the benefactors of a call and some timely hits. We lost.”

They did. The reasons for which vary on who you ask. At that moment, behind a black dais, Smith thought, had that check-swing call gone the other way, the Devils would have been in the driver’s seat to win that game.

Third-base coach Ben Greenspan and Myles Denson may blame something else.

In the bottom half of the eighth, with Oregon State up a pair, ASU was in business. Granted it was quite a lot Friday yet only mustered four runs -- that’ll happen when 14 runners get stranded. But Smith opted to pinch hit Lyle Lin for catcher Sam Ferri. With just one out and two runners in scoring position, the Sun Devil skipper bet on experience.

It failed him … twice.

First, Lin sliced a pop fly foul just in range for Oregon State right fielder Tyler Malone to settle under it. Momentum churning him forward and standing nearly halfway between the wall and infield dirt, Malone came up firing to home. A one-hop dime to Rutschman.

Denson, stationed on third, tagged up. But it was weird. There was no set sprint. No bolt down the line with little regard for the ball. The ASU designated hitter took a few strides, then stutter-stepped as the laser came in, only to keep running towards home.

When Rutschman grabbed in, still with Denson a solid 20 feet away from the plate, the Sun Devil retreated back to third. By that point, Gage Workman came over from second and was already standing there. Denson was a dead man walking. Double play. Inning over. Rally over. Game over.

Asked after the game if Greenspan sent Denson down the line despite the quick throw or if the junior went on his own, Smith hesitated to divulge.

“I’d say a little bit of both,” he said. Maybe a little bit of confusion but that should not have happened. Should not happen.

“Not to say that those runs would have scored but you always want to give yourself the best opportunity to see if they would have. That stuff can’t happen in that situation.”

The night’s controversies overshadowed perhaps its grandest spectacle. Backed by power opponents can't pitch around, the top of ASU’s lineup has been its crown jewel through 33 games.

The trio of Trevor Hauver, Spencer Torkelson and Hunter Bishop boast a .358, .374 and .395 average, respectively, with a combined 152 hits, 117 RBI and 36 long balls. In short, they spark a large part of the Devils’ offense.

On Saturday, they threw it on their back. Down 4-1 in the sixth, ASU’s 1-2-3 hitters were leading off the inning. Each quickly made their way back to the dugout. When Bishop set his helmet back in its cubby, though, the score was tied.

Hauver, Torkelson and Bishop blasted back-to-back-to-back dingers, each cranking it further than the last.

“It was nuts,” Torkelson said. “It was fun.”

Smith agreed. He just wished some of the Devils’ hits came in bigger spots. But, at this point, he’ll take his chances with an offense that doesn’t seem to stop hitting balls to the warning track and consistently makes contact.

Eventually, enough of that will equate to wins. Blown check-swing calls be damned.

“I can’t sit here and say we had a bad approach. I thought our guys, we hit balls hard all night. We lined out several times,” Smith said. “That’s all you can ask for. You keep doing that, time and time again, those things fall.”