Sun Devil Baseball Drops Midweek Non-Conference Tilt at #16 Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. – Free bases and an inability to get out of innings proved to be the undoing for Sun Devil Baseball in a 14-2 midweek non-conference loss to 16th-ranked Arizona down in Tucson on Tuesday evening.
 
ASU (16-8, 5-4 Pac-12) got out to a hot start, staking a 2-0 lead behind savvy base running from Joe Lampe and the first home run of Jack Moss' career, but it would prove to be all Arizona from that point forward.
 
Ten walks, three hit-by-pitches and two errors inevitably proved to be too much to overcome against the nation's top-ranked offense, which also record 13 hits. The Wildcats (19-8) got their first eight hits of the game with two outs and just continued to move runners along the base path, successfully advancing 26 runners on 34 opportunities (.765).
 
Sean McLain extended his hitting streak to 22 consecutive games, one of the few bright spots of the evening and now the fourth-longest hitting streak at ASU since 1998. He was the lone Sun Devil with multiple hits, adding his 13th multi-hit game of the year. 
 
TURNING POINT
With a 2-0 lead in the third, the Sun Devils had a great opportunity at a double play ball on the second batter of the inning. The throw sailed passed Sean McLain's glove and left everyone safe and Arizona would capitalize by plating two runs and tying the game. 
 
The Sun Devils were never the same after the double play, especially on the mound. A leadoff HBP and walk in the fourth, followed by a single and a double put three runs across and a 5-2 Arizona lead that just continued to grow over the course of the game. 
 
NOTABLES

• Sean McLain extended his hitting streak to 22 games with a two-out single in the sixth inning. He becomes just the fourth Sun Devil since 1998 to have a hitting streak of 22 or more games. 

LONGEST HITTING STREAKS SINCE 1998
26 – Riccio Torrez (2010)
24 – Jeremy West (2003)
23 – Andre Ethier (2003)
22 – Sean McLain (2021)
21 – Spencer Torkelson (2019)
21 – Ike Davis (2008)
21 – Colin Curtis (2006)
21 – Brooks Conrad (2000)