The Sun Devils took a tough loss against USC during the second game of a three-game baseball series, losing 6-2 against the Trojans as well as their bid to win the Pac-12 championship.
The game started off much in ASU's favor, as junior Colby Woodmansee and freshman Jeremy McCuin enacted diving catches and sophomore Andrew Shaps played a double that brought junior David Greer home for the RBI in the first inning. After junior Brian Serven hit a sac fly to help bring Greer home, ASU made it 2-0 in the third inning.
The Sun Devils did not give up a run until the top of the fourth, during which the Trojans hit a sac fly to cut the lead to 2-1.
After ASU failed to make a play in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Trojans took the lead through a two-run homer from freshman Lars Nootbaar, making it 3-2 for USC.
After two innings without any major plays, USC took hold of the top of the eighth with three runs.
Senior Timmy Robinson got a single to the right side that led sophomore Angelo Armenta to also get an RBI. After miscommunication between Shaps and freshman Gage Canning in centerfield, junior Jeremy Martinez also got a triple, which led to RBIs by Robinson and senior David Oppenheim, making it 6-2 USC.
During a post-game press conference, ASU head coach Tracy Smith said the play could have been executed better.
"Andrew should not have been there," Smith said. "Gage was clearly there. Just a mistake on Andrew's part. We talked about that ... I think that's even a different baseball game, a two-run game. Those pitches are different, so I'm disappointed in that. We made some really critical mistakes with a lot on the line."
And on the line was the Pac-12 championship. ASU had a chance to win the conference if they won out and if University of Washington didn't win out. However, with this loss, either Utah or Washington will win the conference.
However, ASU can still win this series and enter the postseason on a high note when the two teams face off for their final game Sunday, May 29.
Reach the reporter at osoussi@asu.edu or follow @omarksoussi on Twitter.
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