A ninth-inning grand slam from Sacramento State catcher Dawsen Bacho spoiled ASU baseball's season opener on Friday night. The Hornets defeated the Sun Devils 4-2 after mustering just two hits through the first eight innings.
"When it's close like that, anything can happen and unfortunately for us it did tonight," ASU head coach Tracy Smith said. "Outside of that ninth, I was very pleased with what we were doing on the mound."
ASU redshirt freshman pitcher Cooper Benson allowed a single to the second batter of the game, and then no baserunners for the remainder of his six-inning outing.
His mix of speeds with his fastball, change-up and a "couple of times" the curveball proved effective as he sat down eight hitters on strikes. The change-up was a key for him.
"If I fell behind in the count and got back with the change-up, that was big for me today is being able to throw it in the zone pretty much every time," Benson said.
Relievers Brock Peery–who made his NCAA debut–and Graham Osman each tossed a scoreless inning to bridge to redshirt freshman closer Cam Dennie in the ninth. But, Dennie's command was inconsistent, allowing a double, a walk and a hit batsman before conceding the game-winning blast.
"Just didn't execute," Smith said. "We thought the matchup certainly favored us."
ASU's offense was quiet throughout the game, minus a stretch in the fifth inning.
Redshirt senior catcher Sam Ferri picked up his second hit, followed by freshman third baseman Hunter Haas singling up the middle for his first college knock.
Redshirt junior Drew Swift then launched a ball into the gap in left-center field, driving in two runs on a triple.
But, the Sun Devils went hitless for the rest of the game. Their two through six hitters in the lineup finished 0-for-17, and the team mustered just four hits on Friday. Smith said they took too many strikes as opposed to being aggressive against a pitcher who was around the zone all night.
ASU ran out a very different lineup from a year ago. After losing four hitters to the MLB Draft, four of ASU's starters in the order made their team debuts, and Smith used two true freshmen as pinch-hitters in the ninth.
The Sun Devil coaching staff was clear this offseason that the batting order and starters will mix and match early on as they find an identity and solidify roles. But Smith felt that Friday's performance won't be a common occurrence.
"We were a little tentative offensively, we feel pretty confident we'll be better than that," Smith said.
ASU gets a shot to even the series tomorrow at 5:05 MST.
Reach the reporter at alexjweiner@gmail.com and follow @alexjweiner on Twitter.
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