Steven Ondina tallied his third home run of the year, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Nick McLain also utilized the long ball, notching a two-run bomb in the second inning to extend the Sun Devil lead as the sophomore went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a double. Jacob Tobias also added his team-leading 12th home run of the season as he went 2-for-4 with two RBIs as well.
Ten different Sun Devils registered a hit in the contest with Ryan Kroepel also picking up his first career knock, an RBI double in the seventh inning to cap off the offensive show.
ASU got scoreless innings of relief from Wyatt Halvorson, Bradyn Barnes and Hunter Omlidwith Barnes picking up his first collegiate victory.
TURNING POINT
After allowing a run in the top half of the opening inning the Sun Devils responded emphatically with seven runs in the bottom half of the frame. The offensive explosion featured four doubles by Kien Vu, Jacob Tobias, Ethan Mendoza and Mario Demera that produced four runs. The cherry on top for the Maroon & Gold was a three-run bomb by Steven Ondina to give ASU an early 7-1 lead and his third home run of the season.
BIG MOMENT
The Sun Devils were already holding a 12-run lead, but entering the fourth frame, ASU managed to put another five-spot on the Tritons after Kieu Vu unleashed a 480-foot grand slam over the right-centerfield wall after the Sun Devils managed three straight walks to load the bases for the sophomore. Jacob Tobias followed that with a solo shot of his own – ASU’s fifth homer of the day – to give ASU an insurmountable 18-1 advantage.
FINAL STRAW
An Isaiah Jackson single through the hole into left set up freshman pinch-hitter Ryan Kroepel for his first career hit as he laced the first ball he saw for a double off the right-center field wall to score Jackson from first and registered his first career RBI in the process. and RBI, in which he smoked a double to the left-field wall in the gap to extend the Sun Devil lead to 15 at 19-4.
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
The Tritons utilzed a lead-off double to score the games first run off of a sacrifice fly, taking a 1-0 advantage.
The Sun Devils responded with a double of their own from Vu, then a walk from Nick McLain. Both would be scored after Tobias doubled down the left-field line to give ASU a 2-1 lead. Isaiah Jackson was walked to load the bases with only one out in the frame. Demera then doubled to score Mendoza and Tobias, taking a 4-1 advantage. Then with runners on second and third, Ondina torked a fastball to left-center with his third home run of the season to give the Sun Devils a 7-1 lead after the opening inning.
Second Inning
Carlon forced the Triton offense to go down the order, scoring a 1-2-3 inning to bring the Sun Devil offense back into action.
The bats remained hot for the Sun Devils, after a Vu single, McLain unleashed his sixth home run to straight-away centerfield to extend the lead by two, then after Tobias was walked, Ethan Mendoza knocked his first collegiate home run to give the Sun Devils a 11-1 lead through two innings.
Third Inning
Halvorson entered the game for Carlon and forced the Tritons to ground into a double-play after allowing a walk, sending the maroon & gold back to the plate.
McLain remained relentless at the plate with a double down the right-field line. After an error by the first baseman, Tobias was safe at first and scored McLain. Mendoza was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat, then Jackson reached base off another error by the Triton. Tobias scored off of a fielders choice, giving the Sun Devils a 13-1 lead after three innings.
Fourth Inning
Despite allowing two baserunners, Halvorson struck out the final Triton batter to strand two and keep the 12-run for the Sun Devils.
Three straight walks for the Sun Devils loaded the bases to open the inning, which led to a Kien Vu 480-foot grand slam to clear the bases. Then, Tobias got ahold of his 12th home run of the year to give the Sun Devils a commanding 18-1 lead.
Fifth Inning
The Trition responded with three runs in the fifth frame after back-to-back walks, and then aided by a fielding error which put runners in scoring position. They also took advantage of a sacrifice fly, but still were down 18-4
ASU had their first scoreless inning of the game and was able to muster only two singles, but left both Sun Devil runner’s stranded as they held a 14-run lead going into the sixth.
Sixth Inning
Hunter Omlid entered the game for the Sun Devils where he went down the Triton order, involving two strikeouts to keep the Triton off the board.
With two outs, Isaiah Jackson singled through the left gap, setting up Ryan Kroepel who lined his first career hit for a double, that scored Jackson to give the Sun Devils a 19-4 lead.
Seventh Inning
Tyler Meyer entered the game in relief where he struck out two batters and then Jonah Giblin cleaned up the final out of the game, stranding the runner on second to secure the run-rule victory after the Triton spotted four in the inning.
ON DECK
The Sun Devils will remain at Phoenix Municipal Stadium for a three-game tilt against Washington starting Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. AZT. The game will be available to stream on Pac-12 Network
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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