ASU Baseball: Sun Devils Drop Series To TCU

For the first time since 2005 , the Arizona State Baseball team lost a series in the month of February.

The series loss was courtesy of the No. 1 TCU Horned Frogs. The Frogs beat ASU 3-2 Sunday in the rubber match of the weekend series.

The Sun Devils lost the opening game Friday night in a 3-0 shutout. TCU starter Preston Morrison dominated the Sun Devils.  Morrison allowed just three hits and a walk in a complete-game shutout.

The bats would come alive on Saturday and the Sun Devils would hold on to win 7-6 and hand TCU their first loss of the season. Starter Ryan Kellogg would pick up his second win of the season.

Kellogg went 7 2/3 innings while striking out seven and allowing five runs on seven hits, including just one extra-base hit. It was his ninth career win over a top-15 team.

Sunday would be a little different. It was a nail-bitter all throughout with the game tied 2-2 going into the ninth at Phoenix Muni. Fortunately for TCU, things would fall in their favor. A walk and a couple of singles would give TCU the eventual game-winning run in the top of the ninth.

The last time ASU lost a February series was 10 years ago when they were swept by no. 1 Tulane.

Despite the results, ASU should walk away with their heads held high. They played a very good baseball team this weekend. As it was noted last week, TCU scored 32 runs on 39 hits last weekend against Southern Illinois. This weekend, TCU scored 12 runs on 26 hits in the three games combined.

ASU, on the other hand, held their own, which was encouraging to see. The Sun Devils scored nine runs on 18 hits over the weekend. The culprit was the Friday night loss, when Morrison was on fire.

Still, ASU ‘hung with ’em’ as the saying goes. All three games were close. They kept pace for most of the weekend and today, it was anybody’s game. Things just fell TCU’s way.

That’s baseball.

As frustrating as it might be for coach Tracy Smith and the Sun Devils, it was a respectable weekend. It was an entertaining weekend with three very well-played ball games for both sides. That’s all you can ask for as a college baseball fan.

ASU will have to shake this weekend off and get ready to turn the page.

Coming up, the Sun Devils will host the Phoenix Muni classic, a four-day tournament with Cal State Bakersfield, Gonzaga and Purdue. The action begins Thursday, Feb. 26 when the Sun Devils take on Bakersfield.