Sophomore pitcher Adam McCreery whips his leg around before throwing a pitch against Gonzaga on March 3. McCreery has struggled to start the season with a 6.57 ERA but bounced back against Gonzaga only allowing one run. (Photo Ashley Kesweder)There’s a pitching dilemma brewing in Tempe.
With the recent successes of freshmen pitchers Brett Lilek and Ryan Kellogg along with the continued consistant performances from normal starters junior Trevor Williams and sophomore Adam McCreery, the ASU baseball team has four viable options to start.
Williams will start Friday night of course, but it gets interesting from there.
McCreery has started in all three of his appearances this season, but his ERA of 6.57 is the second-worst on the team.
But McCreery did pitch well in his most recent start Sunday against Gonzaga, going five innings and allowing only one run.
Kellogg has started the last two times he’s been on the bump, winning both.
The Canadian threw a career-high six innings Saturday against then No. 2 Arkansas and is tied with Williams for the team-high in wins with two.
Lilek beat the Razorbacks Thursday in his first career start, pitching six solid innings. Lilek boasts a 2.08 ERA for the season in 13 innings.
Keeping batters off the bases
The entire pitching staff has been dominant, especially with its extra base hit efficiency.
Of the 65 hits the Sun Devils have given up this season, only 14 of them have gone for extra bases. There were 13 doubles and only one triple.
Through 10 games, the Sun Devil pitchers have still yet to allow a home run.
McCreery has given up the most extra base hits (four), while Lilek has still yet to allow one.
Slipping defense
Defense continues to be a nagging issue for the Sun Devils.
Although they’ve improved, 14 of the 40 runs surrendered by the Sun Devils this season are unearned. That is 35 percent of runs scored against ASU.
In the seven games they’ve won this season, the Sun Devils have only committed 11 errors. In the two games they’ve lost, they committed five errors.
Five of those errors in the Sun Devils wins came one game. So the Sun Devils have only committed six in their other six wins.
Errors especially cost the Sun Devils on Sunday. Junior third baseman Michael Benjamin made two in the eighth inning that led to five unearned runs.
Benjamin and junior second baseman James McDonald lead the Sun Devils with five errors apiece.
Power surge
The power continues to happen from the Sun Devil hitters.
Redshirt sophomore outfielder Trever Allen and junior outfielder Kasey Coffman both hit long home runs Sunday at Surprise Stadium, which is MLB regulation.
Allen leads the Sun Devils with three long balls on the season.
Thirty-two of 98 Sun Devil hits this season (32.7 percent) have gone for extra bases.
Notes
- The tie Sunday against Gonzaga was the first for the Sun Devils since March 4, 2001.
- ASU turned a season high three double plays Sunday.
- Esmay is 60-13-1 all-time in non-conference games.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
