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On 80’s night Saturday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, there was no greater irony than when Cal left-fielder Trevor Tishenkel launched a homer off the ‘81 World Champions sign in right-center.
The “Tequila Sunrise” mojo lost its effect as it sunsetted at Muni when ASU (12-16, 4-4 Pac-12) lost 14-7 to Cal (12-14, 5-6). Jared Glenn started on the mound after Willie Bloomquist announced Friday night that the intended starter, Tyler Meyer, would be a scratch.
Glenn walked his first two batters, and both came around to score. In the second, a leadoff double scored after an RBI single, extending the Cal lead to 3-0.
He finished Saturday’s appearance with a season ERA of 9.49.
Will Levine took over in the second with two of Glenn’s runners on, and escaped the inning without allowing another run. ASU responded with a Kai Murphy (3-for-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) RBI double that scored Ryan Campos to put the Devils on the board.
M2 | Massive early moment here for @Will_Levine4.
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) April 3, 2022
Cal leads off with a double, HBP and RBI single and Levine has to come in way earlier than normal to stop the bleeding.
Inherits a pair and bookends a F7 with a pair of strikeouts to keep this from getting out of control. pic.twitter.com/NDX3Rm1JIA
Levine then suffered the aforementioned Tishenkel two-run shot in the third.
Conor Davis (1-for-3, K) singled to lead off the fourth, worked his way to second, then scored on a Nate Baez (1-for-3, 1 RBI) RBI single for the Sun Devils’ second run of the game.
Blake Pivaroff relieved Levine for the fifth. Pivaroff looked to be working himself out of a jam when he surrendered a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer on a full count to extend the Cal lead to 7-2.
Luke La Flam and Andrew Lucas worked nicely in relief, joining for three innings of scoreless bullpen help.
Cal didn’t let up, and added seven more insurance runs off sophomore righties Josh Hansell and Dom Cacchione in the ninth to extend the lead to 14-2. At one point, Hansell and Cacchione walked four straight batters.
Joe Lampe and Ethan Long combined for an 0-for-8 showing, with Long recording three strikeouts. Baez, Davis and Murphy were the only Devils with hits before the ninth inning.
The Sun Devils did not go down without a fight in the bottom half.
Ivan Brethowr and Sean McLain both singled to open up the ninth, and Ryan Campos scored Brothowr on an RBI single to make it 14-3. Murphy followed that up with a three-run bomb to improve on his impressive night. Final score, 14-7 after Cal booted a ball with two outs to score another ASU run.
The rubber match is scheduled for 12:30 pm Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.