Baseball sweeps New Mexico in season opener
It took two days and numerous rain delays, but Arizona State completed the series sweep of the New Mexico Lobos by sweeping a doubleheader on Sunday. ASU took the first game 8-1 then completed the sweep with a 7-5 win in the second game. The Devils are 3-0 to start the 2011 campaign.
Making his first career start, Barrett struggled in the first inning, walking a man, allowing a hit and balking in a run to give the Lobos a 1-0 lead. The lead was short-lived however, as the Devils would strike for three in the bottom of the second. After Zach Wilson led off the inning with a double and Deven Marrero followed with a single. Wilson would score on a double by Austin Barnes, then Xorge Carrillo would bring home Marrero and Barnes with a double to right center.
Arizona State would add two more in the third, thanks to some trickery. With Zack MacPhee on third and Wilson on first, Wilson broke for second. New Mexico catcher Mitchell Garver tried to throw him out at second, allowing MacPhee to swipe home. Wilson would end up safe at second when the throw was cut off for the double steal. Wilson would come home on a Marrero single that made it 5-1.
Following the third inning, the game went into a rain delay that would last until Sunday afternoon. When it finally picked back up, Riccio Torrez picked up where he left off. In the bottom of the fifth he blasted a ball down the right field line that kicked around in the corner, allowing him to come all the way around for an inside the park home run, his third of the season.
The Devils would add more in the sixth, scoring two more to make it 8-1. Carrillo would score on a grounder by Johnny Ruettiger, then Matt Newman would score on a sacrifice fly by Zack MacPhee.
Kyle Ottoson made his Sun Devil debut on the mound, taking over for Barrett when the game restarted. He threw all six innings, allowing only three hits and striking out eight to pick up his first career victory.
The second game of the today saw Kramer Champlin make his ASU debut, starting on the hill for the Devils. He would give up a run in the first, but ASU would get it right back, scoring three times. Torrez would double home MacPhee, then would score himself on Zach Wilson's sac fly. A throwing error on Deven Marrero's steal of third made it 3-1 when Marrero came home on the bad throw.
New Mexico would add a run in the third, but once again ASU answered, scoring twice to make it 5-2. After Andrew Aplin led off the inning with a single, Austin Barnes tripled to right to score him. Barnes came home on a Joey DeMichele RBI single later in the inning.
The teams traded zeros until the eighth, when New Mexico pushed two across against Trevor Williams, Josh Moody and Joseph Lopez. But once again the resilient Devils responded, pushing the lead back to three in the bottom of the inning.
Newman tripled to right center with one gone, then DeMichele brought him home with a triple of his own. DeMichele would score on a MacPhee RBI single. The Lobos would get one back in the ninth, but Lopez finished them off to pick up his first career save.
Champlin went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits with three strike outs to pick up his first career win. Lopez earned the save with his 1.2 innings of work and two strike outs.
The Devils return to action on Friday night when they host the Delaware Blue Hens in the first game of a four-game series at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.