Sitting in the stands watching both games unfold, I had to wonder…was the six plus hour travel time by bus, playing out-of-state against a top 20 team in Cal State Fullerton, that has gotten the best of ASU over the past few seasons or just the fact that Arizona State needed to change their downward ways. Any which way you look at it, this midweek two game series was inspiring!
You need to look no further than 19 total runs for ASU and 18 for CSF in two games.
Game one was a nail biter as ASU took an early five run lead only to be down by one in the second inning. As the hits and runs kept coming in ample supply for both teams, the Titans finally got the better in the bottom of the ninth to take the first game of the series by a score of 10-9.
Game two, less than 24 hours removed from a four and a half hour heartbreaking loss in the bottom of the 9th, the Sun Devils again started strong only to relinquish the lead by the second inning and having to play catch up for most of the game. CSF standout, Josh Fellhauer hit a shot over the right field fence to expand on the Titans lead. But, the Sun Devils bats continued to chip away at the Titans lead and forced the game into extra innings tied at 8.
The Devils’ Raoul Torrez, who struggled at the plate all game, hit a two run single in the top of the 10th to give ASU the lead and eventually the win for a midweek series split at Goodwin Field, a place that has been everything other than hospitable for ASU in recent years.
The Titans bats – Josh Fellhauer, Erik Komatsu and Christian Colon each were key in getting the Titans a game one victory as well as generating the firepower in game two to keep the Titans in the lead for most of game.
The first place Big West Conference Titans (24-14, 9-3) play host to second place UC Davis (25-13, 6-3) this weekend at Goodwin Field.
Meanwhile, the Sun Devils’ early-season success has been tested as of recently dropping from the top spot in the nation to floating in the top 10. The best of times have come at home, where the Sun Devils have only three losses. The Sun Devils (32-7, 7-5) return home this weekend to host Cal (27-10, 7-5) for second place in the Pac 10, one game back of Stanford.
1 comment
Great midweek series. I’m just waiting for Cal State Fullerton to come out and play at Packard for a change. The last time I remember Fullerton traveling to Tempe was the lost season where the Devils played home games at HoHoKam Park in Mesa as the infield was being rebuilt at Packard. That was the Kenny Rogers series if I remember correctly. You need to know when to fold them old man.
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