(Phoenix, AZ) No. 22 Sun Devil Baseball found itself in an early seven-run hole and was unable to club its way out of it in a 13-7 loss to No. 17 West Virginia on Saturday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, evening the series and setting up a rubber match on national television on Sunday evening.
A six-run West Virginia (18-5, 6-2 Big 12) second inning would prove an early gut punch as the Sun Devils (20-7, 5-3 Big 12) were unable to put together the big innings that carried the team on Friday evening.
Landon Hairston had another exceptional night, logging a double and a two-run homer to pace the Sun Devil offense. Dean Toigo had two hits as well and Matt Polk added a pinch hit three-run homer in the ninth inning.
Jaden Alba had his best outing of the year in relief, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings of relief and allowing the Sun Devils their opportunities to close the gap after WVU jumped out to an 8-1 lead through three innings.
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Notables
ASU has scored multiple runs in 54 of its 92 half-innings with runs this season. ASU has 33 innings with at least three runs scored, 22 with at least four and 17 with at least five.
Landon Hairston has 42 extra base hits over his last 54 games with his double and homer tonight. In his first 27 games as a Sun Devil, he had just one.
The Sun Devils recorded double-digit hits for the 19th time this season and 12th time in the last 15 games.
Over Hairston’s last ten games (since going 0-for-4 in Game one against TCU), he is batting .571 (24-of-42) with 20 RBIs, eight homers and 19 runs scored.
Hairston’s OPS in conference games is an absurd 1.684 this season.
Sam Myers and Matt Polk added pinch hit knocks in the ninth inning, Polk’s registering as a three-run homer. On the season, ASU pinch hitters are 10-for-31 (.323) – the 31st-highest average among teams with at least 20 pinch hits on the season.
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Inning by inning
First inning
Overbay got things started on the mound, giving up back-to-back leadoff singles before recording a flyout. Another single scored a run for the Mountaineers, but Overbay was able to end the threat with a double play.
Landon Hairston led off the game with a double to left center, advancing to third on a wild pitch, and scoring on an error to tie the game at one. PJ Moutzouridis reached on a hit by pitch, but was thrown out at second trying to steal. Nu’u Contrades got aboard with a two-out single, but was left stranded as a flyout ended the frame.
Second inning
Overbay went back out for his second inning of work, giving up two quick singles to put runners on base. A sacrifice bunt moved the Mountaineer runners into scoring position. A two-run triple and a wild pitch put WVU ahead 4-1. Following a pop out, a hit by pitch put runners back at first and second. A double and a throwing error to third base allowed two runners to score, the batter advanced to third on the play. A single to right-center field stretched the score to 7-1 before closing out the frame on a strikeout.
The Sun Devils were unable to get anything going on the basepaths.
Third inning
After a quick groundout opened the frame, Overbay surrendered a double down the left field line. A walk and stolen base put runners on the corners. Jaden Alba was called in from the bullpen, and a double steal allowed another run to score, making it 8-1. Alba got a groundout, and after issuing a walk, picked up a flyout.
Beckett Zavorek led off the inning with a single to center. After Hairston flew out to center, Moutzouridis grounded into a double play.
Fourth inning
Alba worked the first 1-2-3 inning of the game for the Sun Devils, picking up a strikeout in the process.
The Devils got a two-out baserunner on a single through the left side from Dean Toigo, but he was called out on a fielder’s choice to end the frame.
Fifth inning
Alba was able to pitch another three-up, three-down inning, getting a groundout, strikeout, and flyout.
Longo got on base with a hit by pitch, and after two quick outs, Hairston crushed a home run to deep right to cut West Virginia’s lead to 8-3.
Sixth inning
After getting two outs via a lineout and a flyout, Alba allowed a two-out baserunner on a walk, but was able to close out the scoreless frame with another flyout.
Contrades reached on a one-out error, but a lineout and fielder’s choice groundout closed out the inning.
Seventh inning
Brady Louck was the next man up for the Sun Devils, tossing a 1-2-3 frame complete with two strikeouts.
Arizona State couldn’t get anything going in the seventh, going down in order.
Eighth inning
Louck surrendered a lead-off single before being replaced by Josh Butler. He was able to get two outs via strikeout and groundout before giving up a two-run home run to right, making it a 10-3 game. The next batter doubled, and a single drove in another run for West Virginia, 11-3. A groundout got the third out.
The Sun Devils were able to put together a single, hit by pitch, and double to get a run back, but left two stranded with the score at 11-4.
Ninth inning
Nick Anello got the call out of the bullpen, and after getting a groundout to open the frame, gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases. The Mountaineers tacked on two more runs with an RBI-groundout and an RBI-single, making it 13-4. A groundout closed the frame and sent the game to the bottom of the ninth.
Pinch hitter Sam Myers led off with a single, and Niclai followed with a single of his own. Matt Polk came in to pinch hit, and crushed a three-run home run to left field, cutting the deficit to 13-7. Hairston and Moutzouridis both struck out, leaving the Sun Devils down to their final out.
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Quotables
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening Statement
“Got behind big early. The bullpen did a good job keeping us in there, we tried to scratch a few runs there across to make it interesting late. It turns out the runs we gave up in the eighth and ninth ended up being pretty big, but we battled back, but it just wasn’t enough. We just were behind a big eight ball there early on, and couldn’t scratch our way back into it, but our guys battled and we just got to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.”
On facing a top pitcher
“We’re going to have to beat good arms as we move forward and have a good game plan. I thought we had a really good game plan against that kid (West Virginia’s starting pitcher). And he’s got a really good arm, and throws from a tough angle, and is tall. He throws hard, has a couple different breaking pitches that he throws in there, and has an idea what he’s doing, pounds the zone. So he’s obviously good. We had a good approach, I thought, going into him and again, squared a lot of balls up that were right at guys. Hit some balls hard deep that didn’t get out of the ballpark. So I wasn’t too disappointed with our offensive approach against him. I thought we did just fine. We didn’t put up a lot of runs, but we had a pretty good offensive approach against him.”
On Matt Polk coming off the bench and hitting a home run
“Polk is the guy that’s capable. He’s been at a good program before us at Vanderbilt, knows how to play the game. It’s kind of gotten a little bit out of what he does best, and we’ve been really trying to work getting him back in the middle of the field. He’s been working hard at it the last few days, especially, and there was an opportunity there. I just wanted to get him an at- bat and see how that translated into a game. Obviously, it translated great with the three-run homer there in the ninth. But we’re going to need some more offense right now from a couple of spots that are just kind of stagnant offensively, we’re going to have to shake some things up and try to figure out a way to get some more offense.”
On the message to the team heading into the series finale tomorrow
“Win a series tomorrow. Flush it, shower well and be ready to go tomorrow.”
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Brooklyn Cohen and Luke Padgett, Sun Devil Athletics media relations interns
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