Wildcats Shutout The Devils 8-0

Mike Stockman
Phoenix Area Sports

Rick Monday with team and flag he saved 40 years ago.

PHOENIX, AZ - (April 26, 2016) It was 40 years ago this week when Rick Monday, an Arizona State University alumni and former baseball player, ran out to save an American flag that two people were attempting to burn in the outfield during a Chicago Cubs baseball game. Today, the flag and the hero were celebrated as the greatest play in baseball history.

But even with Monday's motivating speeches on how great our country is, and what the flag stands for, the Devils were unable to keep the rival Arizona Wildcats from taking the game in an 8-0 shutout at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Tuesday evening, April 26.

Wildcats' Louis Boyd gets 2 hits, 1 RBI in win over the Devils.

The Wildcats recorded 16 hits and no errors. All of the Wildcats starting players either scored or had a hit in front of 2,942 fans who watched the display of domination from the visiting rival team. Ryan Aguilar, a senior outfielder from Yorba Linda, California, led the team with three hits, producing one RBI.  Wildcats' pitcher Kevin Ginkel (Lakeside, CA) went the distance for the shutout, allowing only two hits by the Devils.

After the game, Devils Head Coach Tracy Smith stated "We didn't play good defense tonight". He also said "We should be good enough that a one pitch pitcher should not be able handle us for nine innings". "We've got to put this aside...we gotta think about how we can do better this weekend".

Wildcats' Kevin Ginkel throws 91 pitches in 9 innings in shutout.

The Wildcats (27-14) travel to California to take on the USC Trojans in a three game series starting Friday night at 7 p.m PST. Saturday's 7 p.m game will be televised by ESPN. Sunday's game starts at 2 p.m. PST.

The Devils (23-15) host a three game series against New Mexico at Phoenix Municipal Stadium starting Friday, April 29, at 6:30 p..m. Saturday's game will be at 6:30 p.m. The final game on Sunday begins at 12:30 p.m.

Devils Beat the Wildcats In First of Five Territorial Cup Games

Mike Stockman
Phoenix Area Sports

David Greer hit his second home run in less than a week.

PHOENIX, AZ (April 12, 2016) The Arizona State University Sun Devils hosted rival Arizona Wildcats on Tuesday, April 12 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium for the first round of the Territorial Cup Series.

The Devils won the game 7-5 and currently lead the 2016 Territorial Cup Series 7.5 to 5.5. The next game between these teams will be held in Tucson on April 26, 2016.

Tuesday night's game had an attendance of 2,649 fans wearing a mixture of colors in support of their favorite in-state teams. For two teams that have been playing each other since 1907, both are faced with performances this year that is not up to standards. Both teams usually rank in the top-25 with one of them being mentioned as a top-10. This year, both  teams have struggled and are showing inconsistency in areas unusual to their programs.

Top players in the game included the winning pitching performance by Devils' Sr. Jordan Aboites (Long Beach, CA) who now has two wins on the season. Another mention-able performance was David Greer's second home run in less than a week, which gave the Devils a boost in the sixth inning to help put away a competitive Wildcats team who scored two runs in the top of the ninth, putting a scare on all Devils fans in attendance.

Jordan Aboites get the win after pitching 5.1 innings.

The Wildcats go back to Tucson to host the Stanford Cardinal in a three game series that begins Friday, April 15 at 6 p.m. The series will be covered by Pac-12 Network.

The Devils host Cal for a three game series starting Friday April 15, 2016 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Pac-12 coverage is available on Friday and Saturday.

Devils Baseball Loses Two To The Huskies In Weekend Series

Mike Stockman
Phoenix Area Sports

PHOENIX, AZ - The Arizona State University Sun Devils Baseball team hosted Pac-12 rival Washington Huskies for a three game series that began on Friday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, April 8. The Huskies took the series, giving head coach Lindsay Meggs his 800th career win.

Brian Serven leads Pac-12 with 20 runners caught stealing.

Coming into the series, Meggs had 798 career wins. The Huskies extended it to 799 on Friday night defeating the Devils 4-2, out-hitting the Devils 11 hits to 4. Both teams had a pair of errors.

On a good note for the Devils, catcher Brian Serven (Jr, from Palm Desert, CA)  leads the Pac-12 in runners caught stealing with 20. The next closest is 13.

After game one, Devil Head Coach Tracy Smith stated "Right now we're no where near the level of play we need to be and that we expect." He then made it very clear to the rest of the questions asked - "It's the consistency piece that has to develop".

Colby Woodmansee has 25 RBI after this 2 run home run.

In game two, the Devils came out of a home run slump, getting two - 2 run home runs which contributed to the 6-3 victory over the Huskies.

Colby Woodmansee gave the Devils offense a boost in the fifth inning with his 23rd RBI of the year. He later added two more on a home run over the left field fence to give the Devils a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning.  David Greer would add another two run home run in the bottom of the eighth to extend the lead to a final score of 6-3.

David Greer put final touches on win with this 2 run home run.

The weather for game three on Sunday felt like winter here in the valley of the sun with temperatures in the low-60s. A rain delay in the top of the fourth inning put the scoreless game on hold for a couple of hours while fans huddled together under anything providing protection.

After two hours, game resumed with the Huskies getting three runs in the top of the fifth. The Devils' Ryan Lillard hit a double to left field, then scored from third after a wild pitch, making the score 3-1 after seven innings. In the eighth inning, the Devils had a melt-down on defense after the pitching staff walked in a run and allowed two more runs to score to give the Huskies the 6-1 victory.

After the game, Devils' Coach Tracy Smith said "It was truly a struggle offensively today. We weren't threatening, kind of hard to score when you don't get on base." He also brought up comments about consistency stating "As I said before, look for consistency. Right now we don't have it."

The Huskies (16-11,7-5), after giving Coach Meggs his 800th career win, go back to Seattle to host Seattle on Tuesday April 12, at 5:00 pm PST.

The Devils (17-12, 4-8) look to build on consistency when they host rival Arizona Wildcats for one game on Tuesday, April 12, at 7:00 pm.