Last week, ASU coach Pat Murphy's biggest worry about the visiting Northern Illinois Huskies was their veteran pitching staff.
By Sunday afternoon, Murphy was no longer worried, as his Sun Devils scored 15 runs off the Husky starters on their way to a three game sweep.
Freshman pitcher Ike Davis started things off Saturday night, hitting a bases loaded double to right-center off Northern Illinois senior Nick Hall. The drive cleared the bases and gave No. 16 ASU
(5-1) an early 3-0 lead.
"I was just looking for a pitch to hit over the middle, to try and drive it into the outfield to score a run and I was able to find a hole and three were able to come in," Davis said.
The night before, Davis did his damage on the mound, pitching 7 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and one run while striking out eight.
"I mixed pitches well," Davis said. "I was 'effectively wild,' and then towards the end of the game I was able to throw it where I wanted consistently."
After giving up a leadoff hit to Northern Illinois (0-3) third baseman Jesse Seykora in the eighth and allowing catcher Anthony Venetucci to reach on a fielder's choice, Murphy decided to go to his bullpen.
"We wanted to keep him [Davis] under 95 pitches, and I think he threw 94," Murphy said.
However, the Sun Devil bullpen needed three pitchers to get out of the inning, while Northern Illinois scored three runs, bringing the score to 5-3.
Junior right hander Zechry Zinicola finished the final 1 1/3 innings for ASU, closing the door on the Husky comeback to earn his first save of the season.
In Saturday's game, the Sun Devil bullpen allowed five runs to cross the plate in the ninth, and let the tying run reach first base after going into the inning leading by eight.
"I would never put them in [if it was] a close game," Murphy said of his bullpen pitchers. "We put them in with a cushion, 9-1, and they couldn't hold it and that gives me more reason to say they can't pitch at this level."
Murphy also attributed the big inning to some lackadaisical play in the field, as both junior shortstop Joe Persichina and sophomore third baseman Jeff Landry committed errors. Zinicola came in with the bases loaded and stopped the bleeding, earning his second save in as many days.
Senior pitcher Pat Bresnehan once again looked good on Sunday, going six full innings and giving up only two hits and one unearned run.
Junior outfielder Colin Curtis went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs to lift ASU to an 8-3 victory and its first sweep of the season.
Reach the reporter at thomas.j.kelley@asu.edu.
