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Baseball Splits Midweek at Fullerton

by thesundevils.com
Apr 17, 2024

FULLERTON - Sun Devil Baseball notched plenty of hits and struck out plenty of opponent batters but was unable to do either in timely situations, falling 14-4 in seven innings against Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday evening.
 
The Sun Devils recorded 12 hits and struck out 11 Titan batters, but Fullerton got the hits and the outs when it mattered. Fullerton was 8-for-16 with runners in scoring position compared to ASU's 4-for-18 tally and recorded an incredible 11 two-out RBIs to ASU's one. The Sun Devils also walked 11 batters, despite the strikeouts, with eight of those going on to score. 
 
Ryan Campos and Kien Vu each recorded three hits and Harris Williams and Isaiah Jackson each added a pair of knocks as well. The Sun Devils tacked on four doubles in the game as well.
 
Cole Carlon struck out a career-best seven batters in 3.0 innings of work in relief. 
 
TURNING POINT
The Sun Devils fell into an early 6-0 hole in the contest just two innings into things before Cole Carlon settled things in with his career-best seven strikeout day. This allowed the Sun Devils to pick away at the lead, with a solo homer from Harris Williams to leadoff the fifth getting ASU back with 6-4. ASU would then get the next two runners on with free bases before lining out and striking out. Campos got an infield single to load the bases with two outs and bring Vu to the plate, who already had three hits in the game. Vu flew out to center to end the threat, however.
 
BIG MOMENT
ASU simply couldn't get out of its way in the bottom half of the frame, getting two outs with runners on second and third before a seeing-eye single found its way back up the middle to plate both runs and give Fullerton an 8-4 lead. Things would spiral out of control from there as the Titans strung across four more runs with the two outs to take a commanding 12-4 lead.
 
FINAL STRAW
Free bases again undid the Sun Devils in the sixth and seventh and Fullerton took advantage of walks to tack on two more runs to initiate the mercy rule. 
 
NOTABLES 

  • Ryan Campos' first inning single means he has now reached base safely in 117-of-127 career games (92.2 percent) with the Sun Devils and all but one game this season.
  • He added his Pac-12 lead 18th double of the season in the third inning, tied for sixth-most in the nation. 
  • Kien Vu has been electric over the last 14 games since his start against UNLV, leading the team with a .452 average with four homers, four doubles and a team-best 15 RBIs. His .833 slugging percentage is over .200 points higher than the next closest eligible hitter on the team. 
  • This season, ASU has now posted 30 3+ run innings and 18 4+ run innings following its three-run fourth.
  • ASU reached double digit hits for the 23rd time in 38 games this year with 12 today.
  • With the 11 punch out effort, ASU has now struck out double-digit batters in 19 of 38 games this season. 

ON DECK: 
ASU will stay in the Los Angeles area for a three-game Pac-12 series against UCLA starting Friday with first pitch at 6 p.m. AZT. The game will be available via the UCLA live stream and available over local airwaves on KDUS 1060 AM. 

 

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