ASU baseball couldn't overcome its pitching problems on Tuesday night in a 10-4 loss to No. 7 Cal State Fullerton at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
After Sun Devils' junior starting pitcher Ryan Hingst was pulled in the fourth inning, the bullpen struggled to contain the Titans' (6-4) hitters.
In total, ASU pitchers gave up 11 hits and eight walks. Conversely, the Sun Devils (6-6) struck out only seven batters.
Head coach Tracy Smith said it was miscues by the Sun Devils that decided the game.
"We jumpstarted their innings with walks, we jumpstarted their innings with errors, we don't catch popups," Smith said. "Same thing tonight, if we just throw strikes and make them beat us, I would have to say the result is probably different.
"We have to eliminate the walks, because if you don't eliminate the walks it makes it very, very difficult to win at this level."
Hingst began the game well, tossing three scoreless innings to start things off. But he was pulled in the fourth -— a plan the ASU coaching staff had going into the game.
"We said today, 'If you can give us one give us one, if you can give us two give us two, three whatever,' just give us what you've got," Smith said. "Just don't treat it as a starter mentality because you're going to be back in the bullpen. I thought for the most part he did his job."
Smith also said he relied on the bullpen for most of the game because he felt the Sun Devils don't have a clear midweek starter.
But while ASU's pitching struggled late in the game, its offense jumped out to a solid start.
RBI singles from freshman catcher Lyle Lin and freshman second baseman Carter Aldrete put the Sun Devils up 2-0 in the first inning.
ASU followed up in the fourth with freshman outfielder Myles Denson hitting an RBI single and junior outfielder Andrew Shaps belting an RBI double to put ASU up 4-1.
B4 | #AnotherOne#Devils up 4-1 courtesy of @ashaps08.@Pac12Networkhttps://t.co/uV6QHHJvhQ
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) March 8, 2017
But it wouldn't be enough as the Titans rattled off nine straight runs to earn the win.
With three straight losses, Coach Smith said he still has confidence in the team even if the results are not up to par.
"We're not a bad baseball team," Smith said. "We're playing bad baseball."
The Sun Devils will stay at Phoenix Municipal Stadium for their final game against Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at mpharri7@asu.edu or follow @Harris_Mark7 on Twitter.
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