ASU Baseball: Vander Kooi deals, offense explodes against Cal State Fullerton

Boyd Vander Kooi’s night didn’t start great. Against the first Titan batter he faced, Vander Kooi committed an error that later led to Cal State Fullerton (4-9) scoring two runs. That’d be all that was allowed by the Arizona State (9-4) starting pitcher.

Vander Kooi found his groove after the first inning and finished an eight-inning outing allowing just the two unearned runs. He did allow eight hits on Tuesday night but worked through it to earn the 12-2 win.

In a five-game week, Vander Kooi delivered exactly what the Sun Devils needed. The performance also allowed freshman Christina Bodlovich to have a bounce back appearance in a low-stress situation after getting beat up against Nebraska. Bodlovich struck out the side to close out the game.

Part of the reason for the blowout toward the end was the performance from the lineup. Spencer Torkelson, Drew Swift and Nick Cheema all had two-hit nights. Torkelson dropped his sixth home run of the season.

Torkelson was also intentionally walked again in the Sun Devils five-run sixth inning. Gage Workman and Nate Baez started the frame hitting back-to-back doubles. Trevor Hauver, Swift and Cheema also drove in runs during the sixth inning.

This result was the one coach Tracy Smith to see as a response after the 18-10 loss to Nebraska on Sunday.

The Sun Devils will play Cal State Fullerton again on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. Expect lefthander Erik Tolman to start for Arizona State.