Junior Seth Martinez's response to an outing that could've gone awry and the bats exploding led ASU baseball to a 12-4 series-opening win over Eastern Michigan on Friday night.
The Sun Devils were led by two standout performances at the plate. Junior catcher Brian Serven went 3-for-5 with five RBIs, three of which came off a home run to left field. Junior first baseman David Greer finished with three RBIs on a 4-for-5 night at the plate.
Martinez (3-0) had not given up a single earned run and just six hits in two previous starts until senior center fielder Austin Wilson's RBI single to left ended the scoreless streak.
Martinez's shaky start appeared to continue as he gave up eight hits through three innings, including having the bases loaded with no outs. However, he worked out of the jam with two strikeouts and a pop up to keep the game level.
He said his slider was flat in the first few innings, but he eventually fixed the mechanical issue.
"Once I figured that out, I was down zone again and the slider had a little bit more bite to it, so I think that was the biggest difference," Martinez said.
He said it was during that aforementioned bases-loaded jam where the adjustments to his pitches really started to click.
He went six innings and finished with just one earned run on nine hits while striking out seven on 83 total pitches.
"I think he was uncharacteristically (up in the zone) early, but when he had to make pitches in tough situations, he made them," ASU head coach Tracy Smith said. "You hope that other guys are watching and learning on that, but Seth was Seth again, so good for him, and us."
ASU (6-3) added a run in the fourth to take the lead, but followed that with a two-run fifth and a four-run sixth to take an 8-1 lead.
Eastern Michigan (4-6) junior starter Sam Delaplane entered Friday's contest with eight earned runs and seven walks issued in just 8.2 innings pitched. He walked the first two batters he saw, leading to junior David Greer's RBI single for the game's first run.
However, that was the only run ASU would score until the fourth inning. Despite the overall strong start, Delaplane eventually allowed six earned runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.
ASU encountered a bit of trouble when the Eagles scored a run in the seventh inning and added two more in the eighth. The tying run stepped into the batter's box, but junior Eder Erives was able to end the inning with a strikeout.
Senior third baseman Jordan Aboites and sophomore righty Grant Schneider are suspended for a violation of team standards and their standing will be re-evaluated on a week-by-week basis.
That left a spot for freshman utility guy Jeremy McCuin to take advantage of his first start, and he did, getting his first career hit and RBI. He finished 1-for-2 with two RBIs, earning player of the game honors from Smith.
"You never know when your opportunity is going to come, and you have to be ready for your opportunity," Smith said. "The way to be ready is to come to practice every day and work hard as if you're going to play...There's nothing more rewarding than seeing a guy who hasn't played and gets thrown in there and produces the way he did.
McCuin said he encountered some expected nervousness before the game, but eventually the adrenaline kicked in once he shook his teammates' hands and everything was fine.
"I've been waiting for this moment my whole life and finally I got it," he said.
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or on Twitter @justintoscano3.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
