Sun Devil Baseball Drops Series Finale to BYU

PHOENIX - In the finale of a three-game series against the BYU Cougars, Sun Devil Baseball got out to a rocky start and was never able to right the ship in 19-3 loss at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. 
 
The Cougars (5-2) jumped to a quick 4-0 lead right out the games and didn't look back. The Sun Devils (3-4) had chances to score but couldn't capitalize as the Sun Devils left 11 runners on base.
 
Relief pitchers Boyd Vander Kooi and Andrew Lucas shined as the duo tossed four straight scoreless frames in the middle of the game to stem the bleeding after BYU opened up a 9-0 lead through three innings. 
 
Connor Davis drove in the Sun Devils' first run in the third inning off of a single to right field. Sean McLain went 2-for-3 with a double.  The Sun Devils would add two more runs in the bottom of the ninth off of a sac fly by Cam Magee and a bases-loaded walk by Michael Brueser - the first RBIs of their careers.
 
Notables:

• Boyd Vander Kooi made his second appearance of the season after coming off of Tommy-John surgery. Vander Kooi threw two perfect innings and struck out two. Vander Kooi kept BYU on its toes by working fast as he only threw 18 pitches, 13 of them being strikes.
• His appearance clocked in at about 11 total minutes of real time, aided by the Sun Devils going down on four total pitches in the bottom of the fourth. 
• The Sun Devil pitchers actually had a solid day with two outs, holding BYU to just 1-for-9 hitting - but unfortunately getting to that second out proved to be an issue all afternoon.
• ASU got 5-of-9 leadoff batters on and are not .410 on the season in getting the leadoff batter on base, exacerbating the issue of ASU batting just .248 with runners on the base path and .234 with runners in scoring position this year while advancing runners less than 50 percent of the time (.466).
• Cam Magee recorded his first RBI of his Sun Devil career off of a sac fly that was a couple of feet away from being a grand slam
• Michael Brueser made his 2022 Sun Devil debut in the bottom of the ninth inning and recorded his first RBI off of a walk with two outs and bases loaded.
• Sun Devil legend Jason Kipnis threw out the first pitch.

Inning-by-inning
 
First Inning
The Cougars came out swinging and built a 4-0 lead on a single and double by BYU's Sepede and Leatham. 
 
The Sun Devils went down in order after leadoff hitter Joe Lampe drew a walk to start the day at the plate.
 
Second Inning
Jacob Walker came in for starter Josh Hansell and BYU tacked on a second-consecutive four-spot to make it 8-0.
 
Nate Diaz's one-out single up the middle got the Sun Devils a runner on base but they weren't able to capitalize as the next two batters grounded out.
 
Third Inning
Junior pitcher Luke La Flam made his first appearance since 202 and came in for relief for Walker, surrendering one run before being pulled for southpaw Danny Marshall. With runners on second and third, Marshall got BYU to ground out stranding the runners.
 
Balholm started the inning off with a hit by pitch, giving the Sun Devils a runner on base.  With runners on first and third, the Sun Devils got on the board with a two-out single by Connor Davis, making the score 9-1.
 
Fourth Inning
Vander Kooi made his second appearance of the season as he came in for the fourth inning and pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out one.
 
The Sun Devils went down again in a quick fashion.
 
Fifth Inning
Vander Kooi pitched another quick inning, only throwing six pitches and striking out one. 
 
After two quick outs, Sean McLain roped a double to left-center putting a runner in scoring position. Ethan Long followed with a ball crushed to left field but BYU's Leatham made a diving catch to end the inning.
 
Sixth Inning
Vander Kooi's day was done after two innings and was relieved by Andrew Lucas who worked around a leadoff single to keep the score 9-1.
 
The Sun Devil batters struck out twice after a Diaz hit by pitch.
 
Seventh Inning
Lucas pitched another scoreless frame, making it four scoreless frames for the Sun Devils.
 
The Sun Devils got runners on base but wasn't able to capitalize and left two stranded. BYU made two impressive plays to keep the Sun Devils from scoring.
 
Eighth Inning
After walking back-to-back batters to open the eighth, Dom Cacchione replaced Lucas and had to dig deep. BYU added 6 runs, pushing their lead to 15-1.
 
Ninth Inning
BYU added four more runs making the score 19-1.
 
The Sun Devils made some late-game noise by loading the bases with one out.  Cam Magee almost took one deep game about five feet short of ASU's third grand slam of the season but it brought in one for the Sun Devils, making it 19-2. Brueser would walk in another run with the bases loaded to lead to the final tally. 
 
Up Next:
The Sun Devils are back in action with the start of a two-game series against #3 Oklahoma State on Tuesday, March 1st at 5 P.M. on the Pac-12 Network.