Ray Anderson silences fans, Tracy Smith gets ejected and ASU wins tight one

There were three fans sitting in the third row of the second deck behind the Phoenix Muni backstop. Maybe it was some adult beverages, maybe it was some friendly wagers. But, if nothing else, they were loud.

Whatever the case, these guys were really, really into the ASU, Fresno State game Friday night.

They screamed and hollered with raspy voices that probably could have been heard from the Zoo. They yelled at the Bulldogs’ pitcher, at the umpire, at the ball, at times in a baseball game when no one wants to hear anything but a few claps and a cheer.

It was nothing too profane, but there wasn’t a spectator in the crowd who wasn’t annoyed. With no chagrin, they did this for more than four innings.

In the top of the fifth, a man in a black coat strolled over from his seat along the first-base line. He put both his arms in front of him and, with an angered look on his face, leaned against a railing five feet in front of the trio.

And for the next three minutes, Arizona State Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson gave three fans in (probably) their late 20s a very stern talking to. In a quiet ballpark, every eye in the vicinity turned to ASU’s AD literally and figuratively shutting up obnoxious fans.

“You're making everyone else uncomfortable,” Anderson said before asking, somewhat rhetorically, if they were ASU fans. “It’s called sportsmanship.”

Anderson ended his hard-nosed lecture as a stadium staffer and two police officers approached. He told them not to kick out the three abhorrent fans, but to simply keep an eye on them.

To the contingent in the adjacent sections, Anderson may never garner such a high approval rating. They began clapping, showering their school’s athletic director with applause as he strutted back to his seat.

“Thank you, Ray” one lady shouted.

For the next two hours, the three fans didn’t make so much as a peep.

Over the last three years, seemingly every appearance Anderson made at Phoenix Muni sparked some speculation about head coach Tracy Smith’s job status. Through two disastrous -- and one sub-par -- seasons, Anderson stuck with Smith and defended a once trophy-rich program through its lean years.

For the better, Anderson hasn’t needed to defend a whole lot around the ASU baseball program this season. It's ranked in the Top 10. It’s new pitching coach hire, Jason Kelly has churned out a deep and effective staff so far. And, once again, Tempe is home to arguably the country’s best player in Spencer Torkelson.

He just wants people to enjoy that. And if that means he needs to act like a quasi-high-school principal and scold some out-of-line fans, so be it.

Eventually, order was restored. The 2,491 fans -- including Anderson and the trio just in front of the press box -- peacefully enjoyed a hell of a baseball game.

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Starter Cooper Benson, a freshman left-hander, pitched with the lead all night -- surrendering just two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings while fanning nine. ASU would eventually squander a 3-0 lead before right fielder Hunter Jump laced an RBI-single into center to break a tie in the eighth.

All the while, Smith and assistant David Greer watched from Smith’s office after the duo was ejected in the seventh, tossed after arguing against the umpires calling Gage Workman out on a pickoff to first.

“We got to converse in the office,” Smith joked of he and Greer’s situation. “It was good to see our guys respond.”

Added Jump on the ejections: “If anything, it just gets us going more. It puts a fire under us.”

In the ninth, closer R.J. Dabovich successfully escaped a jam that has caused ASU much pain and heartbreak over Smith’s tenure in Tempe. Alika Williams committed a throwing error that put the inning’s first batter aboard. With runners on first and second, Fresno State pinch hitter Ryan Higgins just sliced a 325-foot fly ball that would have, at least, tied the game.

Using his four-pitch repertoire that includes a 100 mph fastball, Dabovich responded by punching out Higgins. Four pitches later, he whipped a nasty slider that Bulldog right fielder Nate Thimjon whiffed on.

Just like that, Dabovich took out all the unnecessary drama. He didn’t make it easy, but ASU fans have grown to expect heightened heart rates in the final frame. On Friday, Dabovich left out the agony that often followed.

“Whatever happens to us, good or bad, I think we just keep a level head. It’s a sign of maturity,” Dabovich said. “We have a good core group of players … and I feel like all of that together keeps us level headed no matter what adversity we face. We just get through it.”

If you want a sign of a changed program, of one that Anderson no longer needs to defend, it was on display Friday night.

“We didn’t panic,” Smith said. “I’d say a year or two ago, we’d probably panic there and let it snowball. But our guys are mature and they closed that one out.”