Baseball Comes Up Short to Wildcats at Muni

PHOENIX -  Sun Devil Baseball (26-24, 14-13 Pac-12) dropped the finale of its nine-game homestand, 5-3, against rival Arizona (30-17, 17-7 Pac-12) on Tuesday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. 
 
With the defeat, ASU split the regular season series with the Wildcats, with each school winning two games apiece. ASU took the first two games in Tucson in March. In this one, Arizona jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning thanks to a solo shot and a two-run homer. 
 
The long ball was the difference for the Wildcats, as they hit their third home run of the game in the top of the fourth inning to pull ahead 4-0. The last one ended Sun Devils starting pitcher Wyatt Halvorson's night. The freshman right-hander finished with five strikeouts and three walks over 3.2 innings, allowing four runs and five hits. 
 
Arizona's pitching staff stymied the Sun Devil offense by using nine different pitchers in the game. Despite having to face a new pitcher every inning, ASU had a productive night at the plate, collecting 11 hits compared to Arizona's 10. Ethan Mendoza led the Sun Devils, going 3-for-4 and one RBI. Isaiah Jackson and Ryan Campos each chipped in with two hits.
 
Pinch hitter Eamonn Lance came off the bench and hit a solo home run with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. The Sun Devils also scored a run in the bottom of the eighth. Jacob Tobias hit a one-out single and Mendoza drove him in with a double.
 
Situational hitting proved to be the difference, however, as ASU was unable to swing the bat in the moments when they needed it the most. The Sun Devils hit .167 (1-6) with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base. 
 
TURNING POINT
With one out in the bottom of the second, Mendoza and Jackson collected consecutive hits, a single and double. But ASU failed to capitalize on having two runners in scoring position. Mario Demera hit a grounder back to the pitcher on a check swing and Mendoza was tagged out at home. The next hitter flew out to center to end the inning. In the top of the third, Arizona took a 3-0 lead after a leadoff home run and a two-run home run with no outs. 
 
BIG MOMENT
In the top of the fourth, Arizona hit the team's third long ball of the night to pull ahead 4-0. It was the second straight inning the Wildcats' leadoff man cleared the fences. In the bottom of the fourth, Brandon Compton, Mendoza and Jackson hit three singles to load the bases with one out. Compton scored to make it 4-1 after Demera was hit by a pitch. With the bases still loaded and the tying run on first base, the Sun Devils again missed an opportunity to score in a similar fashion as the second inning. Steven Ondina's check swing sent the ball straight to the mound. The Arizona pitcher threw to home for the second out and the catcher completed the double play by beating Ondina at first.
 
FINAL STRAW
Eamonn Lance led off the final frame as a pinch hitter and mashed a solo home run to inch the Sun Devils closer into a two-run deficit, but it wasn't enough. ASU was unable to produce any more baserunners, falling 5-3 to the Wildcats.
 
QUOTABLES
Arizona State Coach Willie Bloomquist
On his bullpen's fatigue compared to the Wildcats using nine different pitchers:
"I'm not surprised. To their credit they had a good weekend against Stanford and didn't have to use a lot of their bullpen arms. And I think that was probably their way of keeping all their bullpen guys sharp and fresh and using one guy every inning. We, on the other hand, had to use a lot of our arms in excessive amounts this weekend to get through the weekend with Washington." 
 
On missing an opportunity to bolster the team's NCAA Tournament resume: 
"At the end of the day, we may look back and say, 'Yeah, that was a disappointing one.' But to me, they all stink. Anytime you lose, they all leave a mark. I especially hate losing to those guys. But all in all it was a pretty clean game on both sides. We pitched it well, they pitched it well, swung it well at times and played clean defense. But I think at the end of the day, where our situation is, we have to win games, regardless of who we're playing against. This could have been an opportunity to move up RPI wise. But I think if we're already counting RPI, we're in trouble. We're just gonna go out and win games and see where we are at the end of the season and hopefully make some noise in the conference tournament." 
 
Senior catcher Ryan Campos: 
On the importance of having a break before the weekend series against Stanford: 
"Obviously, we would have liked to get this one. But we still have a lot more games to go and they're all pretty important. So we have to keep it one game at a time. We'll probably have tomorrow off and then get ready for Stanford. So, We'll get right back to it." 
 
NOTABLES 

• Ryan Campos' fifth-inning single means he has now reached base safely in 129-of-139 career games (92.8 percent) with the Sun Devils and all but one game this season.
• ASU has reached double digit hits in 33 of 50 games this season, posting 11 today. Today was the 10th time in the last 11 games the team reached the mark. 
• Nick McLain extended his hitting streak to 12 games with his first inning single today, now the longest active streak for the Sun Devils after Kien Vu's 14-game streak ended today.
• With a three-hit day today, Ethan Mendoza continues to be ASU's hottest batter by average over the last 10 games. He is batting .500 in that stretch with a monstrous .925 slugging percentage, recording his first three career homers, two triples and four doubles. His 15 runs are third on the team in that stretch and he has struck out just once. 
• Since becoming a staple in the ASU lineup 25 games ago, Mario Demera has quietly put up all 23 of his RBIs this season in that stretch - the third-highest total on the team in that stretch. 
• Eamonn Lance continued to be absolutely exceptional off the bench, recording a ninth-inning pinch-hit home run tonight. He now has three homers as a punch hitter and a team-best six RBIs as a non-starter while batting .357. Lance now has 13 hits this season, six of which have left the ballpark while also adding two doubles. 

INNING BY INNING 
First Inning
After surrendering a leadoff walk, Halvorson struck out the second batter looking on three pitches. The right hander picked off the Wildcat baserunner for the second out. Despite a base hit, with two outs, the runner was left stranded as Halvorson fanned the next batter for the final out. 
 
McLain managed a two-out infield single after hitting a difficult chopper to short, but was stranded at first.
 
Second Inning
Vu tracked down a shallow fly ball for the first out. Halvorson made the next Arizona batter swing and miss for his third strikeout of the day. With two outs, the Wildcats hit a single to center field. For the second consecutive inning, the runner was left stranded after Halvorson's fourth punch out.
 
After the first Sun Devil was retired, Mendoza smacked a line drive beyond the reach of the Arizona third baseman for a single. Jackson hit a double down the right field line, advancing Mendoza to third. The Wildcats escaped the jam by tagging Mendoza out at home after ASU hit a grounder right back to the pitcher. A flyout to shallow center field ended the inning. 
 
Third Inning
The Wildcats hit a leadoff home run to take a 1-0 advantage. Then, Arizona drew a walk and then knocked a two-run home run to extend their lead to three. Halvorson stopped the bleeding with two quick outs after recording his fifth strikeout and a pop out to second base.
 
The Sun Devils went down the order and were unable to produce action on the basepaths.
 
Fourth Inning
The Arizona leadoff man hit the team's third long ball of the night to give the Wildcats a 4-0 advantage.
 
With one out, the Sun Devils hit three straight singles to load the bases. Compton singled off a fly ball to shallow left field that safely fell between three Wildcat fielders. Mendoza laced a single to right field. Jackson drilled a liner past the Arizona second baseman. Demera was hit by a pitch, driving home Compton and putting the first ASU run on the board. With the bases still loaded and one out, Ondina's check swing drove the ball back to the Arizona pitcher, and the Wildcats turned a double play from a force out at home and first. 
 
Fifth Inning
For the first time since the second inning, Sean Fitzpatrick held the Wildcats scoreless, going down the order registering a strikeout.
 
Campos led off the inning with a single up the middle. With one out, McLain drew a walk to give the Sun Devils runners on first and second. The Wildcats turned a double play to end the frame for the second-straight inning. 
 
Sixth Inning
Right-hander Matt Tieding replaced Fitzpatrick on the mound for the Sun Devils. The Wildcats put runners at the corners after a leadoff single to right and a successful bunt towards second with one out. McLain secured a hard line drive to right field for the second out, but the Arizona runner scored on the sacrifice fly to push the Wildcat's lead to 5-1. 
 
The Sun Devils went down the order with a pair of strikeouts and could not produce anything on the basepaths.
 
Seventh Inning
Tieding put down the Wildcats in order, which was highlighted by Mendoza's jumping catch at second base for the first out. 
 
With two outs and nobody on, Campos singled to right field, his second hit of the night but the Sun Devils were unable to generate any action leaving him stranded. 
 
Eighth Inning 
Lefty pitcher Cole Carlon opened the inning for the Sun Devils. The freshman put down the Wildcats in order, with a strikeout.
 
Tobias managed a single through the gap with one out, then Ethan Mendoza drove in a run off of a double after the Wildcat outfielder attempted a diving catch, putting the Sun Devils within three, being down 5-2 entering the ninth.
 
Ninth Inning
The Wildcats managed to get a runner on third but left him stranded, sending the Sun Devils to the plate with a three run deficit.
 
Eamonn Lance made an appearance as a pinch-hitter and launched a 405-foot home run to inch the Sun Devils within two, 5-3. But ASU was unable to produce any action on the basepaths, falling 5-3.
 
ON DECK: 
The Sun Devils have a three-game tilt against Stanford this weekend in Palo Alto - their final road and Pac-12 series of the regular season. Game one will be Friday at 6:05pm. All three games will be available via the Stanford live stream and over local airwaves on KDUS 1060 AM.