In many ways, Arizona State’s series loss at No. 5 Oregon State last weekend was indicative of its frustrating season. Despite playing one of the nation’s best teams, in one of the toughest road environments in college baseball (OSU entered the weekend 14-2 in home games), the Sun Devils weren’t totally outmatched.
They just played too sloppy to produce a series win.
Reflecting on the weekend while talking with reporters on Wednesday, coach Tracy Smith tried to find positives but still admitted his disappointment that ASU couldn’t take two of three from the Beavers.
“I thought we competed,” he said. “We didn’t execute the greatest, we didn’t pitch the greatest sometimes. I thought offensively we were pretty solid and consistent all weekend but … you’re not satisfied with losing a series, ever. But when you sleep at night, you’re like, ‘We played hard, we just need to get better in these particular areas.’ I thought we did those things from a competitive standpoint.”
ASU’s offense scored 15 total runs in the three games, the most runs OSU has surrendered in a home series since May 2016. But the Sun Devils defense committed six more errors – bringing its season total to 62 – and allowed the Beavers to score five unearned runs. ASU pitchers also surrendered 33 hits.
The series loss dropped ASU to 18-25 overall and 10-11 in Pac-12 play. With nine conference and 12 total games left this season, the Sun Devils are sixth in the league standings (5.5 games back of leaders Stanford and UCLA) and will need to finish 10-2 to avoid a second straight losing season.
ASU was shut down by OSU ace Luke Heimlich in a 6-2 loss on Friday before rallying for a come-from-behind 8-5 win on Saturday. The Sun Devils had a late lead in the Sunday rubber match too before the Beavers scored the game-tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the seventh in a 6-5 win.
In the seventh inning on Sunday, Smith left senior starter Eli Lingos on the mound to try and escape a jam despite a high pitch count (Lingos threw 127 total pitches in the outing). Smith on Wednesday explained that because of Lingos’ light pregame routine and low-stress pitching style, the senior could keep going far past the “arbitrary” 100 pitch limit others are sometimes held to. It was the third time this season Lingos had thrown at least 120 pitches in a start.
At the plate, Gage Canning turned in another good weekend at Oregon State, going 6-for-13 with 3 RBIs in the series. The junior center fielder is hitting a team-high .387 at the plate, good for the 28th best batting average in the country. Canning will be eligible for the MLB Draft this summer, a looming event that can often distract collegiate players. Canning hasn’t seemed to get sidetracked by the potential of professional baseball though. Smith called him one of the best players he’s ever seen at staying concentrated.
“The model of what it is supposed to look like is Gage Canning,” Smith added.
FINALLY HEALTHY, VANDER KOOI HOPING TO PITCH THIS WEEKEND
A promising start to Boyd Vander Kooi’s freshman season has been derailed by a lingering elbow injury that has kept the righty off the mound for over a month now. On Wednesday though, Vander Kooi said he is finally feeling healthy enough to pitch again in ASU’s upcoming weekend home series against Washington, albeit for only an inning or two of work max.
“I’m glad to be back,” Vander Kooi said, who is 3-2 with a 3.25 ERA in five starts this season.
Smith, however, wouldn’t fully commit to pitching Vander Kooi this weekend after his six-week absence. Asked if Vander Kooi would be ready to make his return to the bump, Smith quipped, “I hope so.”
Vander Kooi produced a pair of impressive outings in his first two career starts, going at least seven innings of one-run baseball in a pair of victories against Miami (Ohio) and Saint Mary’s. But the Mesa native missed two starts in early March with the elbow injury. He returned to the mound in mid-March but failed to get through six innings in three straight starts before being removed from the rotation again. On Wednesday, he admitted he hadn’t been 100 percent healthy when he made his first comeback attempt.
“I was still feeling some pain (then),” he said. “I thought I could fight through it.”
At Oregon State last weekend, Vander Kooi was used as a defensive substitution in the final two innings of Saturday’s win, playing first base after the Sun Devils burned through their reserve of first base bench players. Vander Kooi had two putouts at first in the game and could be an option at first in the future if the Sun Devils again run short on substitutes.
Smith called Vander Kooi “a freak defensively,” and Vander Kooi himself added that he loved the experience of playing in the field
Asked if he would ever want to take an at-bat, Vander Kooi (who was a career .401 hitter at Mesa Skyline during his high school career) was unsure. He said he had been blown away by an 86 miles-per-hour fastball in a practice at-bat last week, a confidence-zapping moment for him at the plate.
After talking with reporters though, Vander Kooi proceeded to the batting cage at home plate of Phoenix Municipal Stadium and took a couple hacks.
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TORKELSON HEADING TO TEAM USA
Freshman slugger Spencer Torkelson added another accolade to his spectacular first year at ASU, being named last week to this summer’s USA Baseball Collegiate National team.
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Torkelson is the 39th Sun Devil to ever be named to the national team, which will play three “friendship series” this summer against Chinese Taipei, Japan, and Cuba. As much as anything, Smith thinks the experience can help Torkelson grow as a leader.
“I’ve had a few guys on (that team),” Smith said. “When they come back in the summer after playing world-class competition, they come back at a different level of confidence. So I’m excited to see how that translates for him when he comes back and his personality takes over this team.”
Torkelson also received a belated shout out this week from ASU alum and MLB career home run leader Barry Bonds. Back in late March, Torkelson broke Bonds’ school freshman home run record by smashing his 12th home run of the season at Washington State.
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SUN DEVILS SET TO HOST WASHINGTON
The Sun Devils will host a three-game series against Washington at Phoenix Municipal Stadium this weekend. The Huskies have won three of their last four games and will enter this weekend with a 21-19 (11-7 Pac-12) record. UW is ranked No. 78 in the NCAA’s RPI rankings and has the Pac-12’s fourth-best team ERA (3.53) though its .257 team batting average is fourth-worst in the conference.
ASU is expected to stick with its same weekend rotation of Alec Marsh (3-3, 3.23 ERA) on Friday, Sam Romero (1-1, 6.06 ERA) on Saturday and Lingos (6-4, 3.36 ERA) on Sunday.
The Sun Devils dropped two of three against Washington in a trip to Seattle last season.
