(Phoenix, AZ) No. 25 Sun Devil Baseball completed a series sweep over Baylor with an 11-4 win on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, collecting its first Big 12 sweep of the season in the process.
Arizona State (30-14, 14-7 Big 12) moved into a two-way tie for second in the Big 12 standings behind a strong starting pitching performance from Kole Klecker before the offense exploded in the fifth and sixth innings for seven runs, effectively putting the game out of reach for the Bears.
Klecker tossed 6.0 innings of two-run ball, allowing only four hits and walking one. His eight strikeouts were a new season high, and the quality start held off the Baylor offense long enough for the Sun Devil bats to get hot.
Dominic Smaldino logged three hits and three RBIs with a home run and Austen Roellig added his second homer of the year at a critical moment of the game on a two-run shot. Nu’u Contrades, Matt Polk and Beckett Zavorek all had multi-hit games and Landon Hairstonextended his hitting streak to 28 consecutive games.
Jaden Alba came out of the bullpen for the Sun Devils and earned his second save of the season, throwing 3.0 innings and surrendering only two hits.
Inning by inning
First innning
Kole Klecker started the game for the Sun Devils, where he sent all three batters down for a scoreless first.
Landon Hairston led off the bottom of the first for Arizona State with a single, before advancing to second on a single by Nu’u Contrades. Contrades was then thrown out at second after a single by Dean Toigo. Hairston came home on a failed pickoff attempt at first that resulted in an error, and gave the Sun Devils a 1-0 lead. A double play in the next at bat ended the inning.
Second inning
Back on the mound, Klecker gave up a leadoff homerun to tie the game, but retired the next three batters on a strikeout and two groundouts.
The Sun Devils were unable to reach in the second, going down on two groundouts and a flyout.
Third inning
After recording the first two outs of the inning, Klecker let up a single. The runner moved up to third on two wild pitches, but was left stranded after the batter struck out on a dropped third strike.
Brody Briggs was the first to reach in the third for Arizona State after being hit by a pitch. Briggs made his way to third after a single to right center by PJ Moutzouridis, before scoring on a sac fly from Hairston. Moutzouridis was able to reach third on back-to-back wild pitches and eventually came home on a single from Contrades, to make the score 3-2, before the frame ended on a groundout.
Fourth inning
Klecker returned to the game, where he struck out the first batter he faced before giving up a walk. The runner was then thrown out at second after the batter reached on a fielder’s choice. One run was able to score for Baylor after Klecker gave up a double before retiring the frame on a strikeout.
Dominic Smaldino singled for the Sun Devils but was thrown out after he was caught stealing second. Both Matt Polk and Beckett Zavorek reached on consecutive singles. Polk advanced the third on a fly out by Briggs while Zavorek stole second to put both runners in scoring position. Moutzouridis was walked to load the bases, but no runs were scored after a groundout by Hairston concluded the inning.
Fifth inning
Back in the game, Klecker produced a 1-2-3 inning to keep the game at 3-2.
Following a walk by Contrades, Austen Roellig homered to increase the lead to 5-2. Polk then hit a single into left field, and scored on a two-out double from Zavorek. During the next at bat, Zavorek also made his way home after an RBI-single from Briggs, which signaled a pitching change for Baylor. Moutzouridis worked a walk, but Hairston grounded out to end the frame.
Sixth inning
Klecker continued his outing, striking out the first batter. Despite a runner reaching on an error, the Sun Devils were able to pick the runner off for the second out of the inning. A single put a runner on base, but Klecker was able to retire the next batter via strikeout.
Contrades and Toigo took back-to-back walks to lead off the inning, which led to Baylor making a call to the bullpen. Roellig singled into left center to load the bases, and Smaldino drove in two with an RBI-single through the right side to make it 9-2, Sun Devils. Roellig came home on a fielder’s choice from Polk that saw Smaldino called out at second. A wild pitch allowed Polk to reach second before flyouts from Zavorek and Briggs ended the inning.
Seventh inning
Jaden Alba was the first guy out of the bullpen for Arizona State, retiring the first hitter on a groundout. A strikeout came next, followed by a groundout for the three-up, three-down inning.
After a foul out by Moutzouridis, Hairston was hit by a pitch before a new pitcher was brought in for Baylor. Contrades popped out before Toigo took a two-out walk. Roellig fouled out to end the frame.
Eighth inning
Returning to the mound, Alba struck out the side.
A new pitcher was brought in for Baylor, who was greeted by a solo shot from Smaldino. Garrett Michel followed up with a single, but Zavorek grounded into a double play and Briggs grounded out to first for the third out.
Ninth inning
Alba continued his outing, giving up a leadoff single. The next batter nailed a two-run homerun to make the score 11-4. A walk and a single put two runners on for the Bears, and a fielder’s choice got the first out. Alba worked a strikeout in the next at bat, but the runner at first advanced on defensive indifference. A groundout ended the game, giving the Sun Devils an 11-4 victory.
Quotables
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening statement
“Nice to get the sweep obviously and stack up a third win against those guys. They’re a challenging team in a lot of ways and their biggest challenge is their base running and how they play a lot of small ball, and we limited that by not getting guys on base a whole lot, not a lot of free bases, which was outstanding by our pitching staff. (Brody) Briggs, who was a gladiator all weekend, just behind the plate, throwing guys out, backpicking, keeping the ball in front, not giving up free 90s, was outstanding all weekend long behind the plate, and then offense did enough to get it done today. A lot of base hits, a lot of contributors, just an all-around quality win.”
On how it feels to bounce back with a sweep after a midweek loss
“Well, it’s been said many times, we’ve turned the page in the midweek. It is what it is, (can’t go back and redo it, but I’m proud of the way our guys came out and just handled business this weekend. It’s all we can control, and they came out, threw the ball well, a couple of defensive miscues, but for the most part played pretty good defense and swung the bats well enough to get three wins against a pretty good opponent.”
On Klecker’s start
“The kid has been bounced around all year long with the amount of rest that he’s gotten in between starts. He started off as a midweek guy and then bounced him up to Sunday and then Saturday and then back to Sunday, and then we’ve got the Easter weekend and then the BYU weekend where he’s back and forth on days of rest and a lesser guy folds in those moments and doesn’t have that consistent routine. He’s a veteran guy that understands it. He’s been a champ all year long just on dealing with mixing around in different roles. He’s always been a starter, but as far as different rest times in between starts, that’s not easy for a guy to do. I think it’s unfair to say inconsistent. I mean he’s had a couple of rough outings, but the guy’s just been all we could ask for really and given us the quality starts that we need him to when we need him to. He’s just been really good. So, today was no different. Came out, threw the heck out of it today. Gave us a good chance to win. And again, another day where the wind’s screaming out and he keeps the ball in the ballpark for the most part except for one blemish there and I just can’t say enough about his performance again.”
On if he feels like the team is coming together at the perfect time
“I’m glad they’re coming together. We just have to continue playing winning baseball, so it’s nice to get three this weekend, and that’s a good start.”
Up next
The Sun Devils will head to Orlando for their first ever series against UCF. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. AZT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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