(Phoenix, AZ) Sun Devil Baseball rode the long ball on its way to a convincing 12-4 victory and series win over BYU on Friday evening at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Sun Devils homered a season-high six times in the contest with Nu’u Contrades and Kien Vu going yard in the same inning twice on the evening. Jacob Tobias and Kyle Walker also added homers.
Arizona State (27-16. 13-7 Big 12) moved to 7-3 in weekend series this season and 5-2 in Big 12 series, sitting tied for fourth in the league and remaining 2 ½ games back from first place just half a game back from second.
Jack Martinez overcame a shaky start to spin 6.0 innings in a quality start as he gave up just two runs while striking out 10 and walking two to improve to 5.2 on the year. Will Koger and Derek Schaefer each tossed scoreless innings in relief to keep the rout in play.
ASU homered three times in the first inning alone to jump out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back. Tobias and Vu had three RBIs on the contest while Contrades and Matt King each logged three hits.
The Sun Devils will look to pick up a huge series sweeping on Saturday evening with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. AZT. Prior to the game, there will be an on-field ceremony beginning at 6 p.m. as the Sun Devils will unveil Paul Ray Powell’s number on the Wall of Honor in left center field.
TURNING POINT
Arizona State jumped on the Cougars in the first inning after Martinez gave up a leadoff homer and early 1-0 lead. The Sun Devils responded with a five-spot in the bottom of the frame, leaving the park three times. Tobias got things started with a three-run homer that was followed immediately on the next pitch with Contrades leaving the yard to left center. Two batters later, Kien Vu joined the party with a solo shot of his own to boost ASU out the gates.
BIG MOMENT
The Sun Devils looked in trouble of immediately letting BYU back into the game as the Cougars loaded the bases with no outs and just one hit and scored a run on an RBI walk. With the bases still loaded in a 5-2 game and the go-ahead run at the plate with no outs, Martinez settled in with back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout to limit the damage to just the one run. His offense picked him up with two more in the bottom half of the frame to make it 7-2 and the rout was on.
FINAL STRAW
With a 9-2 lead after Martinez rolled through the middle innings, ASU effectively put things away in the bottom of the seventh. Contrades led off the frame with a homer to opposite right center and Vu followed that up two batters later with a two-run shot that he poked just fair inside the opposite left field foul pole to make it 12-2.
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
Jack Martinez was on the mound tonight to get the game started. Things got off to a rough start for Martinez as BYU struck first with a leadoff home run to right field. He responded by retiring the next three batters, which included two strikeouts with BYU taking an early lead 1-0 at the top of the first.
Landon Hairston was able to draw a walk to get on base followed by a single for Matt King. With runners on first and third, Jacob Tobias stepped up to the plate and blasted a three-run homer to right center to give the Sun Devils a 3-1 lead. Nu’u Contrades joined in on the fun by hitting a solo shot to left field to make it back-to-back homers for the Sun Devils. With two outs, Kien Vu didn’t want the party to stop by smacking a solo home run to right field, ending the inning with the Sun Devils leading 5-1.
Second Inning
Martinez returned to the mound, with the bases loaded, he walked the next batter to bring in a run for the Cougars. Martinez responded big time by striking out the next two batters and with the next batter grounding out, reducing ASU’s lead to 5-2.
Jax Ryan was walked to begin the inning, he then stole second which set up an RBI double for Landon Hairston to extend ASU’s lead. Matt King followed up with an RBI single to right field to add on to the lead. After a pitching change, Brandon Compton drew a walk to get the bases loaded. With an opportunity to score, ASU grounded out to end the inning with a commanding 7-2 lead.
Third Inning
Martinez put up a flawless outing in the top of the third, he pitched a 1-2-3 inning which included two strikeouts to bring his total to six strikeouts.
The Sun Devils offense added more to their lead thanks to a solo homerun from Kyle Walker to give them a 8-2 lead to end the inning.
Fourth Inning
Martinez came back out for the top of the fourth and continued his strong outing, forcing another groundout followed by a 4-8-3 double play.
Matt King started the inning with a single to the left side and was then followed by a double to right center from Jacob Tobias. With runners at second and third, Brandon Compton was able to bring King home on a groundout. ASU ended the inning with a 9-2 lead heading into the fifth inning.
Fifth Inning
Martinez was back out on the mound and continued to silence the Cougar bats. He struck out all three batters he faced in the inning to bring his total strikeout count to nine.
The Sun Devils were not able to add more insurance to their lead, with their batters going down the order, keeping the score at 9-2 heading into the sixth.
Sixth Inning
Martinez returned to the mound to begin the top of the sixth. He forced a fly out to centerfield to begin the inning followed by striking out the next batter. By forcing another fly out to end the top of the inning, Martinez extended his scoreless inning streak to four.
ASU was not able to get on base as they ended on a 1-2-3 inning, but headed into the seventh inning with score remaining at 9-2
Seventh Inning
Will Koger stepped onto the mound from the bullpen after an excellent performance from Jack Martinez. After getting a runner on first, the righty reliever responded by retiring the next three batters including striking out the last batter.
After being held scoreless for the last two innings, Nu’u Contrades silenced that streak by hitting his second solo homer of the game on the first pitch he swung at. After Brandon Compton was walked, Kien Vu added some more insurance to the board by also hitting his second home run of the game, this time a two run shot down the left-field line. Kyle Walker singled to center to leave runners at first and third with a chance to add more runs to the lead, but a double play ended the inning with the Sun Devils leading 12-2.
Eighth Inning
Sean Fitzpatrick took over pitching duties to begin the inning and struck out the first batter he faced. After walking a batter, BYU took advantage by hitting a two run home run ASU’s lead to 12-4. Fitzpatrick responded by striking out the next batter to finish the top of the inning.
The Sun Devils were not able to respond despite Jacob Tobias being in scoring position on second base thanks to a balk as the Sun Devils looked to close things up in the ninth with a 12-4 lead.
Ninth Inning
Derek Schaefer took the mound in place of Sean Fitzpatrick’s smooth outing in the eighth. He was able to strike out one and retired the next batter to clinch the series win for the Sun Devils.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening Statement
“I’m pleased with how we swung the bats tonight, that was a good approach. We were able to get some pitches up in the zone and hit some line drives, and got some out of the ballpark, which was nice to see. Kyle Walker had one, [Jacob] Tobias had a big one there, Nu’u [Contrades] had two homers, and [Kien] Vu had a couple of nice swings as well. We were able to live by the long ball tonight, which is something we haven’t done in quite a while, and we’re able to put up some runs. I was pleased with the offensive approach and on the mound, I thought the second inning was really the turning point. I thought after we put up a five spot in the first, you don’t like to go out and load the bases with nobody out following that once you get a big piece of momentum in the bottom half of the previous inning, but that’s the bad news. The good news is Jack [Martinez] was able to navigate his way out of that and only gave up one run. I think that was a big momentum shift and then we were able to come back and win that inning and put up two in the bottom half and that really kind of got us going. But all in all, Jack [Martinez] didn’t have his best stuff tonight, but I’ll take six innings, two runs, and ten strikeouts any day of the week. He battled and was able to get through six innings for us.”
On what allows Jack Martinez to face adversity
“He’s an older guy who’s been there and done that and he’s not going to get phased by a little adversity. I think he trusts his repertoire and trusts his game. He’s been in those situations before and he knows how to work his way out of it.”
On the energy the team gets when they hit home runs
“These are 18 to 22 year old kids who are competing, they get excited when they hit homers and they’re excited for one another. That’s the cool part, they all celebrated with each other and especially in the first inning when we were able to bounce back and get back to back homers. Those guys are grinding and when it comes to fruition and they go deep, it’s something that they celebrate together and it gets the dugout going for sure.”
UP NEXT
ASU faces Long Beach State on Tuesday, April 29th at 6:30 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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