ARLINGTON, Texas–Arizona State (8-3) dropped its third straight game to a ranked opponent, losing a close one to No. 20 Tennessee (7-3), 5-3.
2nd inning derails ASU
Junior right-hander Colin Linder struggled in the second inning as five hits, three walks and a hit by pitch resulted in four runs crossing the plate. Linder rebounded nicely, however, and gave the Sun Devils two more scoreless innings before handing it over to the bullpen.
Even with the three walks, Linder kept his pitch count down as he was only at 64, which was around 20 pitches less than he had been in his last two starts after four innings.
“He was attacking, trying to work ahead, and they were ready,” ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “He was able to bounce back and get a couple zeros after that [second inning] and not exhaust the bullpen completely.”
Junior right-hander Alex Overbay saw a majority of the bullpen’s workload and was phenomenal. He finished with three scoreless innings and six strikeouts, allowing three total base runners.
“[Overbay] did an outstanding job,” Bloomquist said.
His season ERA now sits at 1.00.
Offense struggles for big hit
ASU simply could not get the big hit they needed offensively. They went two for nine with runners in scoring position and one for nine with two outs.
“We just couldn’t cash in when the moment presented itself,” Bloomquist said. “We were able to put base runners in position to score and win that game…we just didn’t step up.”
Fifth-year outfielder Dean Toigo and sophomore outfielder Landon Hairston were the only ASU hitters with two hits.
Hairston nearly single-handedly manufactured a run in the seventh, walking, stealing, then advancing to third on an error before scoring on a sac-fly. Toigo also recorded an RBI and a run in the fourth.
ASU will end its SEC gauntlet of games Sunday against No. 23 Texas A&M. Despite the now-three-game losing skid, Bloomquist doesn’t want to put any extra pressure on his guys.
“We want to win every game,” Bloomquist said. “This is no different; being that we dropped these first two games, we approach tomorrow with the intent to win the game. We’re not going to put any unnecessary added pressure to have to do anything. We go out and play baseball.”
Bloomquist confirmed that junior right-hander Jaden Alba would be making the start for the Sun Devils. Alba has pitched twice out of the bullpen this year and has yet to allow a run through seven innings of work.
