Zak Miller is quickly becoming UNLV’s worst enemy.
The redshirt junior pitched 5.2 innings Wednesday night as the No. 9 ASU baseball team knocked off the Rebels 5-2 for the second time this season.
Miller gave up only two runs and struck out a career-high seven batters to pick up his third win of the season.
“It was one of those days where I think everything was just going your way,” Miller said.
Miller cruised for four innings, allowing only two hits, but he ran into trouble in the fifth.
Sophomore third baseman T.J. White singled home the first run of the game for the Rebels (27-13, 11-7 Mountain West) after Miller walked the leadoff batter and gave up a one-out single.
It looked like Miller was going to escape with only one run allowed, but junior third baseman Michael Benjamin's two-out error brought home another run for the Rebels.
ASU coach Tim Esmay put Miller back out for the sixth, marking his longest outing of the season.
Miller wasn’t able to finish the inning, however. He admitted he was slightly gassed heading back out to the mound.
“Going into the sixth, I was a little bit tired,” Miller said. “I was a little bit fatigued.”
Miller gave up two hits before being pulled and was saved of allowing a third run after redshirt sophomore outfielder Trever Allen and junior second baseman James McDonald combined to throw a Rebels runner out at the plate.
Esmay said the play was a "game changer," and Allen said the play was designed and perfectly executed.
“We have a play that we did called the quick cut,” Allen said. “I threw it to James, and he made a perfect throw.”
Regardless, Esmay said Miller’s performance was exactly what the Sun Devils (25-12-1, 8-7 Pac-23) needed after Sunday’s loss to Valparaiso.
“I told him after the game, ‘You have to realize how important you are right now with these midweek starts,’” Esmay said. “Beating a team like UNLV is a quality win for us.”
The Sun Devil hitters provided early run support for Miller as well, scoring runs in each of the first four innings.
“We’ve been getting some pretty solid early inning production in most of the games we’ve been playing in,” Allen said. “It makes it easier, especially on the pitcher, when we can score a few runs and continue it on throughout the game.”
Allen led the way offensively, going 3-4 with a pair of RBIs.
The Sun Devils now travel to Salt Lake City for a three game series against Pac-12 foe Utah beginning Friday.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
