Sun Devils lose to Pepperdine in opener of baseball regional

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Second-seeded Arizona State suffered a 3-2 loss to No. 3 seed Pepperdine in the opening game of the San Luis Obispo Regional on May 30 at Baggett Stadium in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

The Sun Devils lost starting pitcher Brett Lilek in the first inning when he was injured trying to cover first base on a fielder’s choice. Seth Martinez took over with two outs and recorded a swinging strikeout to end the frame.

Martinez allowed two runs on a pair of walks and two base hits in the second inning, but settled down and retired the next 16 batters he faced, including five consecutive perfect frames. He struck out a career-high seven and did not allow a baserunner until a leadoff single in the eighth inning.

The Sun Devils (33-23) trailed 3-0 going into the bottom of the second inning, but used a solo home run by Trever Allen and a RBI single by Nate Causey to pull within a run through four frames. ASU held Pepperdine scoreless for the final seven innings, and put the go-ahead run on base in eighth and the tying run on base in the ninth but were unable to complete the comeback.

Right-hander Jordan Aboites pitched the final two innings for ASU.

Pepperdine right-hander Corey Miller (9-4) earned the win after he allowed two runs on three hits and four walks in 7 1/3 innings. Right-hander Eric Karch closed out the ninth with a pair of strikeouts to collect his 14th save for the Waves (40-16).

The Sun Devils will play Sacramento State (39-23), a 4-2 loser to Cal Poly, in an elimination game on Saturday at 1 p.m.