Baseball Stays Alive in Pac-12 Tourney With Win Over #22 Oregon

SCOTTSDALE – Kai Murphy launched the go-ahead two-run blast in the bottom of the sixth and Sun Devil Baseball staved off elimination in the Pac-12 Tournament with a 4-2 win over #22 Oregon on Thursday at Scottsdale Stadium.
 
The Sun Devil pitching staff held the fourth-seeded Ducks to just two runs on six hits, stranding 11 Oregon baserunners and holding them to 1-for-13 hitting with runners in scoring position.
 
Murphy paced the Sun Devil offense with his 3-for-4 day, but no hit was more important than his two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth that put ASU up 3-2 and gave it a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
 
Will Rogers added two hits and two runs and Sean McLain added a multi-hit game as well.
 
Four Sun Devil bullpen pitchers combined to shut out the Ducks down the stretch as Christian Bodlovich, Graham Osman, Blake Pivaroff and Brock Peery combined to toss 4.1 shutout innings with five strikeouts. Tyler Meyer gave ASU a gritty 4.2 innings with just two runs allowed in the start. Peery earned his Pac-12 leading 10th save of the year.
 
With the win, ASU will face the loser of Thursday evening's Stanford/Arizona game tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. AZT in another elimination game. 
TURNING POINT
Trailing 2-1 in the top of the sixth, Oregon got a pair of one-out singles and on the second, the batter tried to take an extra base on the throw from the outfield to third. Hunter Haas made an incredibly head's up play to cut off the throw from Kai Murphy and immediately get it back to Nate Baez at second for the tag. The runner was initially called safe but Willie Bloomquist immediately requested a video review. The play was overturned to give Oregon two outs with a runner on third instead of runners on second and third with one out. Osman did the rest with a backwards K to strand the runner and keep ASU within a run.
BIG MOMENT 
That momentum change in the top of the sixth immediately paid dividends in the bottom half. Will Rogers notched a first-pitch single through the left side to bring up Kai Murphy. Murphy quickly went down 0-2 before drawing a ball. On the fourth pitch, Murphy left no doubt with a monstrous blast into the Charro Lodge in deep right field, the go-ahead two-run blast that put ASU up for good.
FINAL STRAW
Osman faced the minimum in the seventh thank to a double play and then a masterful three-pitch strikeout with three looking strikes. For the second straight day, ASU went to Blake Pivaroff and Brock Peery to close the game out, after each gave-up two-run homers late in the tourney opening loss to top-seeded Stanford yesterday. Both showed off some short-term memory as Pivaroff retired his guys on 13 pitches and Brock Peery closed it out with his Pac-12 leading 10th save of the year, facing the minimum in the ninth.

NOTABLES

• Sean McLain was hit by his 20th pitch of the season, the third-most at ASU since 1998. 
• Christian Bodlovich inherited and stranded two baserunners in the top of the fifth, bringing his count to just 10 runners scoring out of 36 inherited this season and 15-for-58 in his career (25.9 percent).
• ASU reached double-digit hits for the 27th time in the last 33 games and 36th time in 57 games this year. 
• Will Rogers brought his average over .300 on the season with his fourth multi-hit game in a row and his ninth time in the last 12 games. He is 9-for-16 in his last four games. Since being placed back in the starting lineup following his two-hit ninth inning against Santa Clara on April 11, Rogers is batting .392 – second on the team – with a team-leading nine doubles, a triple and five homers for a team-best .743 slugging percentage over the last 24 games. 
• Kai Murphy notched his team-leading 7th three-hit game since April 1 today.
• Brock Peery is the first Sun Devil to reach 10 saves in a season since Eder Erives in 2016. His Pac-12 leading 10 saves are the seventh-most at ASU since 1998. 

INNING-BY-INNING
First Inning
Meyer worked around a pair of one-out walks to strand two without a flyout and groundout. ASU got one out singles from Sean McLain and Ryan Campos but left the duo stranded at second and third for a scoreless inning. 
 
Second Inning
Oregon got a leadoff single, moving him to second on a sac bunt and third on a ground out. Meyer got a swinging strikeout to strand the runner at third for the second-straight inning. Murphy got a two-out single for the Devils but a first-pitch pop-out quickly ended that action.
 
Third inning
Meyer again had some trouble with a one-out HBP and a walk but a looking strikeout and flyout got him out of the inning unscathed. A leadoff single from Lampe and a HBP from McLain had ASU in business early but two quick outs put the Devils in danger of squandering another chance. Conor Davis salvaged something with a jam shot that just cleared the shortstop into left to score Lampe and give ASU a 1-0 lead through three. 
 
Fourth Inning
As has been an issue for the Devils throughout the season, the team couldn't get a stop after score. The free passes finally bit Meyer as his fourth walk of the game was followed by two singles to even the score at 1-1.  A sac fly would give Oregon its first lead of the game. Meyer did strand a pair in scoring position with a swinging strikeout to keep the deficit to just one. Haas got a two-out single for the Devils but a groundout on the next pitch ended that as well. 
 
Fifth Inning
Oregon led off with a single but Meyer should have worked his way out of the inning with a strikeout to stand the runner at second. However, the first base umpire absolutely missed his check swing call and a walk ensued to put runners on the corners with two outs. ASU went to Christian Bodlovich to get out of the game and he did just that, needing just one pitch on a lineout to left field to keep the score at 2-1. McLain led off with a single that was quickly wiped away with a double play. Baez added a two-out single and stole second but a strikeout left him stranded.
 
Sixth Inning
Oregon got two one-out singles but the second saw the Duck try and take an extra bag on the throw from the outfield to third. Haas cut it off and quickly relayed it back to Baez at second for the tag though the runner was initially ruled safe. Willie Bloomquist sent it to the booth for video review and the play was overturned. Osman struck out the final batter to strand the runner at third. ASU came back with a one-out single from Will Rogers and Kai Murphy launched one over the right field wall for his fifth homer of the year and a 3-2 ASU lead. Hunter Haas was hit by a pitch, bringing on a pitching change, but Lampe and McLain flew out to leave the damage at just two runs. 
 
Seventh Inning
A leadoff walk and a quick 2-0 count had Osman in trouble early but the southpaw got a chopper that turned into a double play turn from Baez at second. A looking strikeout kept the game 3-2 in favor of the Devils. Conor Davis drew a two-out walk but that was the extent of the ASU action.

Eighth Inning
After a leadoff walk, Blake Pivaroff got the call from the pen and got a groundout, strikeout, groundout to strand another Oregon runner in scoring position. Will Rogers worked a masterful AB, working the count full and staying alive by fouling a couple pitches off before lining a single through the left side. Kai Murphy showed bunt but quickly pulled back and shot a single through the left side as the infielders converged to field the bunt. ASU got runners to the corners on a fielder's choice with one out and Lampe notched a sac fly to score Rogers and make it 4-2. 

Ninth Inning
There was little in the way of drama as Brock Peery retired the Oregon side in order for his 10th save of the season.