The Arizona baseball team fell 8-5 Saturday night against ASU. Here are some key stats from the loss.
Tanner O’Tremba collects four hits
Tanner O’Tremba was the star of the night for the Wildcats, collecting two singles, a double and a home run. He fell a triple shy of the cycle.
“[O’Tremba] is the team leader,” Arizona manager Chip Hale said. “He is trying to get everybody fired up and doing it with his bat, doing it with his defense. When you talk about model players whether it is in the classroom or on the field or in the clubhouse, he is a model guy.”
Three-run fifth inning for Arizona
Trailing 6-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, the Wildcats looked to battle their way back into the game.
Garen Caulfield singled and O’Tremba doubled to put two runners in scoring position with one out. Daniel Susac then grounded out, scoring Caulfield which was followed by RBI base hits from Chase Davis and Mac Bingham.
18 ground balls and one fly ball
The game plan for the Sun Devils’ pitchers was very evident: get the ball down in the zone so that the Arizona batters hit into the ground and not in the air. This led to 18 ground balls and just one pop up/fly out in the air which was a foul out to first base.
“[Kyle Luckham] did a really good job of sinking the ball down and in on righties,” Hale said about the ASU starter. “He did a nice job.”
RELATED: Chase Davis hits walk-off home run to lift Arizona baseball over Arizona State
Cameron LaLiberte 10-for-20 on the season
LaLiberte has seen limited opportunities so far this year, but he has taken full advantage of them hitting 10-for-20 at the plate this season.
Hale noted LaLiberte is making it tough to keep him out of the lineup.
6,617 in attendance
The crowd showed up as expected for a rivalry series against ASU. The crowd Saturday night of 6,617 people is the fourth most the Wildcats have had since moving to Hi Corbett Field in 2012.
“The atmosphere is awesome,” O’Tremba said. “We have some great fans at Hi-C. They have really been showing out.”
The rubber match between Arizona and ASU is scheduled for noon MST with Garrett Irvin scheduled to start for the Wildcats.
Follow Ari Koslow on Twitter
