No. 13 Baseball falls behind early, rallies before losing, 11-8

The 13th-ranked Arizona State University baseball team posted seven runs in the latter half of the game but could not complete the comeback in an 11-8 loss to Washington State on March 17 at Packard Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.

Right fielder Trever Allen went 4-for-5 with four RBI and shortstop Drew Stankiewicz added a trio of hits and two RBI to pace the Sun Devils (12-4-1, 1-2), who outscored the Cougars (11-7, 2-1) seven to four over the final four innings

ASU had runners on first and second and the tying run at the plate with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, but first baseman David Graybill grounded into a double play to end the Devils' rally. Third baseman Michael Benjamin extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a single to open the frame, and both Stankiewicz and left fielder Jake Peevyhouse hit RBI singles to cut the lead to three, 11-8. 

Center fielder Kasey Coffman put ASU on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the opening frame as he knocked a lead-off triple to right-center field and crossed the plate on the next play on a sacrifice fly by Benjamin.

The Cougars evened the score at one run apiece in the top of the second inning with an RBI double before adding six runs in the fourth frame to take a six-run advantage, 7-1. WSU loaded the bases with no outs before a trio of mistakes, including an infield error, a hit batter and a wild pitch scored three runs, and a two-run double and a sacrifice fly put three more on the board.

ASU lowered its deficit to three, 7-4, with an RBI single by Allen and a two-run single by Stankiewicz in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Three runs on two singles by WSU pushed the Cougars' lead back to six, 10-4, in the top of the seventh inning, but the Devils countered with a two-run double by Allen in the bottom of the frame to pull within four, 10-6.

WSU added a run in the top of the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly to take a five-run advantage.

Starting left-hander Adam McCreery (1-2) allowed six runs, including four earned, on three hits in three innings to take the loss.

Four relievers combined to pitch the final six innings, including right-hander Mark Lambson, left-handers Brett Lilek and Matt Dunbar, and right-hander Ryan Burr.

WSU starter Scott Simon (1-0) earned his first win of the season after conceding four runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Up Next:

The Sun Devils head to Lubbock, Texas, to face Texas Tech on Tuesday before taking on No. 3 Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore., Friday-Sunday. A live stream of the Devils' game against the Red Raiders will be available through the All-Access player on Texas Tech's website, while all three conference games over the weekend can be heard on The Fan AM 1060 or through the All-Access player on thesundevils.com. Sunday's game against the Beavers will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network beginning at 12 p.m.

Game Notes:

Lambson did not allow an earned run in his three innings of work...Lilek gave up three earned runs on two hits in 1/3 inning...Dunbar allowed his first earned run of the season and gave up two hits in two innings...Burr allowed one hit in 2/3 inning...freshman RJ Ybarra pinch hit in the eighth inning.