Kole Klecker pitched 7.0 innings and Landon Harston homered in the victory as Arizona State took the series.
(Phoenix, AZ) No. 20 Sun Devil Baseball secured another series victory with a 5-2 win over Utah on the back of a stellar starting pitching performance from Kole Klecker and Landon Hairston’s national-leading 23rd home run.
After the high-highs and low-lows of Saturday night’s walk-off victory, Arizona State (26-11, 9-6 Big 12) kept things relatively calm on Sunday, holding the Utes to only two runs, both of which were scored in the first two innings, and only three hits over the final seven frames.
Kole Klecker threw seven innings of two-run baseball, the longest outing any Sun Devil starting pitcher has had this season. Striking out four, he only surrendered one walk and kept the bases clean, save for a handful of scattered hits.
On the offensive side, the Sun Devils jumped out to an early 2-1 lead in the first after Dean Toigo and Nu’u Contrades each launched two-out solo home runs. Landon Hairston followed up with a two-run shot of his own in the fifth, and Arizona State tacked on another insurance run in the sixth, as Hairston drove in PJ Moutzouridis with an RBI-double.
Jaden Alba took over pitching in the eighth and shut down Utah’s offense, allowing only one baserunner through the final two frames.
The Sun Devil infield also did their part, as the duo of Austen Roellig and Dominic Longo, each playing in a different position than they have most of the season, combined for nine assists. Longo, making his second start of the season at third base, had five assists, including a few tough throws across the diamond to beat out the runner. Roellig, starting at second for the first time, had four assists of his own.
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Notables
ASU has scored multiple runs in 72 of its 120 half-innings with runs this season. ASU has 42 innings with at least three runs scored, 26 with at least four and 21 with at least five.
Landon Hairston has 58 extra base hits over his last 64 games after recording his 23rd homer of the season and 17th RBI. In his first 27 games as a Sun Devil, he had just one.
The game was Hairston’s 13th-straight with an extra-base hit.
Hairston extended his hitting streak to 20-consecutive games.
Hairston is alone with the national lead with his 23 homers after surpassing Cincinnati’s Quinton Coats (21).
He is now tied for fourth in ASU single season alongside Spencer Torkelson (2019), Jeff Larish (2005), Barry Bonds (1985) and Oddibe McDowell (1984). He needs two to move into a tie for second with Torkelson (2018) and Bob Horner (1978). He is well on pace to surpass Mitch Jones’ single-season school record of 27 from 2000.
Hairston now has 65 RBIs – all coming as the leadoff batter in the Sun Devil lineup in 37 games. For perspective, that total would have tied him for first in the nation for the SEASON among leadoff batters a year ago with Murray State’s Jonathan Hogart, who recorded 65 total over 61 games.
Since at least 2019, the Division I high for leadoff RBIs for a season was Christian Moore’s 71 over 65 games in 2024.
Hairston is second in the nation behind Louisville’ Tague Davis in RBIs (66). It is the 15th time Hairston has had multiple RBIs in a game. He now has five or more RBIs in four contests.
ASU recorded double digit hits for the 25th time this season.
Nu’u Contrades’ home run in the first inning was the 25th of his career and he recorded his 13th multi-hit effort of the season.
The victory marked ASU’s third rubber match win of the Big 12 campaign (vs. TCU, vs. Arizona), a trend continued from last season when ASU won four of its seven Big 12 series in the rubber match.
Inning by inning
First inning
Kole Klecker got things started on the mound for the Sun Devils, giving up a run but leaving a runner stranded on third.
Dean Toigo got the Sun Devils on the board with a two-out solo home run, tying the game at one. Nu’u Contrades followed up with a solo home run of his own to give the Sun Devils the lead, 2-1.
Second inning
Klecker returned to the mound, giving up back-to-back singles before getting a lineout. A groundout brought in a run for Utah, but Klecker was able to limit the damage with a flyout to end the frame, tied 2-2.
The Sun Devils went down in order to end the frame.
Third inning
Klecker worked around a leadoff single to pitch a scoreless frame, getting help from his defense, who turned a double play and got a tough groundout to end the inning.
After reaching on a hit by pitch to open the inning, PJ Moutzouridis advanced to second a groundout from Landon Hairston, and moved to third on a flyout from Austen Roellig. He was then left stranded as a groundout closed out the frame.
Fourth inning
Klecker went back to work and threw a 1-2-3 inning to keep it tied at two.
After Contrades opened the bottom half with a single, a two-out double by Dominc Longo put both runners in scoring position. Briggs popped out to second, leaving both runners on.
Fifth inning
Klecker returned to the mound, giving up a walk to start the frame but pitched around it with a strikeout and two groundouts to leave the runner stranded at third.
Moutzouridis led off the inning with another hit by pitch, resulting in the Utes going to their pen. Hairston hit a two-run home run to break the tie and put the Sun Devils in front, 4-2. After Austen Roellig singled, he was called out on Toigo’s fielder’s choice. Polk singled Toigo over to second, but both were left on as Smaldino grounded out.
Sixth inning
After a foul out and a groundout, Utah picked up a baserunner on a hit by pitch. However, Klecker was able to escape the jam by inducing a groundout to third on a beautiful play from Longo.
Moutzouridis got aboard with a two-out single, and a double for Hairston brought him home. The Utes made a pitching change, and Roellig flew out to end the frame.
Seventh inning
Klecker retired the batters in order to start the seventh.
Dean Toigo led off with a hit by pitch, but Contrades fouled out and Polk grounded into a double play to end the scoreless inning, still ahead 5-2.
Eighth inning
The Sun Devils went to Jaden Alba to pitch in relief, and he sent the Utah hitters down in order.
Smaldino led off with a single through the left side, then stole second base. Longo struck out, then Briggs reached on a hit by pitch. After Moutzouridis flyed out, Hairston was intentionally walked to load the bases for Roellig. However, the runners were left on base after he flew out to center.
Ninth inning
Alba returned for the ninth, retiring the first two batters on a strikeout and a flyout before allowing an infield single. A lineout to Longo secured the 5-2 victory for the Sun Devils.
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Quotables
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening statement
“After the way this weekend has gone, to come out with a series win is huge. Can’t say enough about Kole Klecker. And thank you to Jaden Alba for keeping my blood pressure in check today and making the ninth inning uneventful for the most part. So those two guys threw the heck out of the ball today. Can’t say enough about the job that they did, just huge, tremendous. Love having a veteran guy on Sunday that knows what he’s doing and is able to keep his composure and keep his cool and not let the moments get too big. He just threw the ball outstanding. On the first play of the game, we booted a ball there. And he didn’t let it affect him. He buckled down and was able to get out of there with only one run given up where it looked like it could have been some trouble there early. But both those guys threw the ball outstanding. Offensively, we did enough. It wasn’t a bang up performance on our part, by any means, but we did enough. Hairston with another good day at the plate. Can’t say enough about the bottom of the lineup. PJ (Moutzouridis) getting on base three times for him. Some things that may go unnoticed, that the defensive play of Dominic Longo at third base today was huge. Just did a great job over there at the hot corner, and we got enough offense to get it done. Again, it wasn’t overly impressive, but we did enough to get it done.”
On Dominic Longo’s versatility playing center field and third base
“When we got a couple guys dinged up the way we do right now, we’re gonna need that flexibility. And that’s just something that he’s able to do, and does a really good job at. He hasn’t really taken a lot of reps there (at third base), because we haven’t really had much practice time lately. We’ve just been playing games, but for him to move from the outfield to the infield, I know firsthand how difficult that is, especially from center field to the hot corner, where the reaction is so much quicker. And for him to come out and play the way he did today, defensively, that’s why I said I didn’t want that to go unnoticed. He did a tremendous job over there defensively, and came up with a big hit. On most days, it would have been an RBI double, but Nu’u (Contrades) is not running great right now, but it’s a big hit there. And I think the offense is coming from him. We need it to, but he’s working diligently at it, and we got to get him a little more aggressive. The ball’s up in the zone, and I think hopefully the swing will start coming back around.”
On the way the team has handled the recent stretch of games
“Okay, not bad. Again, this is a learning experience. We knew that the stretch was going to be a grind. We knew we were going to get battle tested on the pitching front, just from a workload standpoint, and guys were gonna have to step up and figure out who we are. It’s not an excuse for some of the pitfalls we’ve had, but we knew this was going to be a grind of a stretch, and not many teams schedule this many games in this short of days. But there’s two ways to look at it: a lot of teams don’t even schedule a full 56. We think that that’s important for a number of reasons. A, to get our guys experience. B, gives us an opportunity to hopefully get more wins, which becomes helpful and at the end of the year. But we knew this was going to be a grind of a stretch, and once we get through tomorrow, then it kind of gets more regular for us, so we’ll hopefully get back into sequencing a little bit better.”
On seeing Landon Hairston’s remarkable season
“It’s obviously great to sit back and watch him do his thing. I don’t sit back and try to take claim for what he’s doing. I’m just trying to make sure he stays on the railroad tracks and keeps going the way he’s going. And I’m not going to over coach him. There’s small little reminders every now and again that we have to do. But for the most part, that kid knows what he’s doing. It’s just fun to sit back and watch him do his thing. It’s, again, very impressive. And for those who haven’t seen him play, you need to. It’s fun to watch him.”
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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