Although ASU baseball lost on Sunday to Cal State Bakersfield and failed to complete the sweep, it didn’t seem to be for a lack of aggression.
The Sun Devils were starting at a five-run deficit in the sixth inning, but charged back in the home half of the sixth to tie the game up. But in the next two innings, they allowed one run apiece to go down 8-6, where the score would remain.
#Devils push a runner to second with one out in the final frame, but fall to CSUB in the finale.
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) April 23, 2017
We go on the road to Eugene on Friday! pic.twitter.com/5mOC9USae9
The game ended as freshman designated hitter Hunter Bishop was on second base with one out. A fly ball into right field was caught, but Bishop was near third base and failed to tag up. He was doubled off at second for the final out.
Head coach Tracy Smith seemed displeased with Bishop’s baserunning gaffe.
“It’s a baserunning mistake, absolutely. That’s just not understanding the game,” Smith said. “Just not understanding the game. You’re down two runs, your run means absolutely nothing. To get doubled off in a situation like that is inexcusable.”
Smith went with senior right-hander Eder Erives to start on the mound, who gave up the ballgame’s first run with a solo home run in the second inning. But after that, he faced the minimum in three straight innings before Cal State Bakersfield broke the game open in the sixth frame.
Erives finished the day after five-plus innings pitched, allowing four runs on six hits, a walk and two strikeouts. He threw 83 pitches.
That sixth inning was a bumpy ride for ASU pitching, which combined to allow five runs on six hits and a walk as the Roadrunners sent 10 hitters to the plate. Erives, junior righty Ryan Hingst and freshman righty Sam Ferri — who normally catches — all pitched in that inning. Smith later said that Ferri was a closer in high school.
Through five and a half innings, ASU trailed 6-1.
But when the Sun Devils came to bat in the frame, they had a big inning of their own. They tied things right back up after sending eight hitters to the plate, collecting five runs on four hits and two walks, all capped by a three-run home run from Bishop.
B6 | @HunterBishop9. Scoreboard.
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) April 23, 2017
Forgive us if we've said this before, but Bishop ties it up for the #Devils https://t.co/hMiMUjjrfx
“There’s a lot of green space out there, some finally fell. I think they mixed a walk in there,” Smith said. “Hunter came up with a big hit. But the important thing, when you’re playing this style of baseball like that, you’ve got to shut it down the next inning.”
ASU didn’t quite “shut it down.”
The Roadrunners’ final two runs, which decided the game, were each charged to sophomore southpaw Reagan Todd. He earned the loss.
ASU’s near-comeback victory would have been the second Sunday in a row that it came back from a deficit to complete a sweep. Last week, the Sun Devils earned a much-needed sweep over Pac-12 foe Washington State as Bishop got the game-tying hit.
“I think, from an emotional standpoint, we get down, we fight back, and then we give it up,” Smith said. “It’s been that story all year. I think it becomes a little bit tough and psychological on the offense.”
In a bright spot for the Sun Devils, sophomore outfielder Gage Canning stayed hot on Sunday as he went 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored. He finished the series 10-for-13 after being named Pac-12 player of the week on Monday.
“We still control whether we can reach some of the goals that we’ve defined for ourselves,” Smith said. “But we have to eliminate the silly, little league, ridiculous mistakes that we made today on the bases.”
Reach the reporter at matthew.layman@asu.edu or follow @Mattjlayman on Twitter.
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