ASU weekend recap: Baseball still remains in position for Pac-12 Tournament appearance
Saturday’s game was crafted perfectly for Arizona State baseball.
The Sun Devils honored the 1981 College World Series team before the game to celebrate its 40th anniversary after the initial reunion was postponed due to COVID-19.
The ceremony celebrating the last ASU team to win the national title led to a 6-4 win by ASU over Oregon, but the details behind the win were far too lyrical to be ignored.
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Down 4-3 in the fifth, ASU right fielder Kai Murphy, the son of former ASU coach Pat Murphy, hit the go-ahead RBI single in the sixth. Better yet, closer Brock Peery earned the save. Peery was named after the late ASU coach and 1981 College World Series champion Jim Brock and is the only person to wear No. 33 since Brock.
“Baseball is kind of poetic like that from time to time. Pretty special. I didn’t put the two and two together with Murphy, but I did on 33 closing the game. I thought that was pretty neat. I kind of got a little emotional for a second because it’s just only baseball can do that,” ASU coach Willie Bloomquist said. “There’s divine intervention around us in this game. It’s fitting that it ended that way.”
The extra motivation in Saturday’s game helped ASU avoid a sweep from Oregon after dropping both Friday and Sunday’s contests and stay in the top eight in the Pac-12.
“That (ceremony) definitely fired me up, it was really cool just seeing that video before the game and all the guys tipping their cap. That gave me goosebumps, it was pretty special what they did and they mean a lot to the program,” center fielder Joe Lampe said.
Lampe put himself in the record books after he became the fourth ASU player since 2010 to record a hitting streak of 20 or more games. Following a single in Sunday’s 15-5 loss, Lampe now sits at 21-straight games with a hit.
In the crucial race to clinch a spot in the upcoming Pac-12 Baseball Tournament in Scottsdale, ASU still sits at sixth overall from the weekend. The Sun Devils (13-14) are just ahead of Washington (14-16) with two less conference losses and have a three-game series at Washington State (9-18) starting Thursday for the season finale.
Around campus
ASU thrower Jorinde van Klinken won the Pac-12 Championship in the shot put (18.31m/60-1.00) for the second time in her career Saturday in Eugene, Ore. On Sunday, van Klinken won the discus with 60.87m/199-8.00.
Sprinter Jamar Marshall Jr. won the 110-meter hurdles title and set a new program record in the with 13.39.
ASU men's track and field finished fifth overall at the Pac-12 Championships in Eugene, Ore., while the women finished eighth overall.
Up next
ASU men's golf will compete at Stockton, CA starting May 16 for the NCAA Regional to earn a bid to the upcoming 2022 NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale. The competition will conclude on May 18.
Reach the reporter at jenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com or 602-647-4122. Follow her on Twitter @jennarortiz.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU baseball motivated by 1981 College World Series team in Oregon series
