PHOENIX- No. 20 Arizona State (24-10) heavily struggles against the University of Nevada Las Vegas (19-14), after losing 7-5 at Municipal Stadium.
The Sun Devils have been on the road during the last four games. ASU took the series win against their biggest rival, the University of Arizona. Not long after defeating the Wildcats, on Tuesday, April 8, ASU took the win over Grand Canyon University, 12-8.
“We lost, that was not what we had drawn up,” ASU coach Willie Bloomquist said. “But we came out flat again for the second day in a row.”
ASU was able to take the lead early by scoring a run in the 1st. Junior infielder PJ Moutzouridis touched home plate, setting the mood for the next inning.
Both teams went scoreless throughout the second until the Rebels had plans of their own. Junior infielder Marcos Rosales hit a homer smack down left field, sending himself and senior outfielder Reggie Bussey to touch home plate. The Sun Devils trailed (2-1) at the conclusion of the third.
The rebels used this as fuel for the fire for the next inning, after multiple errors from the ASU outfield and infield. Red and white scored three unanswered runs to increase the lead 5-1.
Sophomore utility Landon Hairston is still making history yet again on the field. During the game, he was able to record two hits and two runs.
The main struggle ASU was facing was on the mound. The starting pitcher of the night was freshman right-hander Austin Musso. He allowed three hits and two runs but was switched out with junior right-hander Josh Butler during. From there, things only seemed to get worse on the mound for the Sun Devils. Butler allowed four hits and four runs.
By the bottom of the fifth, the Rebels were up 6-1 against the at-home Sun Devils. Butler was shortly switched out with junior left-hander Brady Louck to close the top of the fifth.
Hairston made a clutch hit to open up the bottom of the fifth, then later secured a run on the scoreboard.
“I thought Austin threw the ball outstanding. He gave up a two-run homer, but they can swing the bats really well, Bloomquist said. They are a very capable offensive team that can put up a lot of runs, and we knew coming into tonight that we were going to have to score some runs to win this game. We just wanted to get Austin on the mound because he is a big part of our future.”
To add to the roster of pitchers in the game, sophomore pitcher Eli Buxton found himself on the mound for the top of the sixth. Buxton was the fourth pitcher ASU used in the ball game so far. He was able to finish the sixth with zero runs and zero hits.
“Buxton threw the ball great, too,” Bloomquist said. “He had five straight punchouts there. He has some electric stuff that we are going to need in those late innings.”
Hairston was able to get some momentum going for the Sun Devils in the bottom of the seventh after he sent a bomb down center field, still in the park. Hairston advanced to third base while an ASU runner touched home base. Soon, after an error from junior catcher Gavin Taylor. Hairston ran from third base to touch home plate. At the conclusion of the bottom of the seventh, the score was 6-4. The Rebels were still in control of the ball game.
After a scoreless top of the eighth inning for UNLV, the Sun Devils found the perfect opportunity to make a comeback. ASU was able to add another run to the score board but still found themselves trailing 6-5.
Bottom of the ninth, ASU couldn’t come in clutch to secure the win after not getting any runs and allowing UNLV another run. The Sun Devils will face a tough upcoming series against Utah later this week.
“It’s a lot of baseball in a short amount of time, but everybody else is doing it too. So grow up and take the diapers off because you know you want to be professional players one day and this is all part of it,” Bloomquist said.
