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LOS ANGELES - The Arizona State University baseball team defeated No. 15 UCLA, 8-5, on Saturday at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles to tally its third road win against a top-15 Pac-12 opponent in the past five games.
Sophomore starting left-hander Ryan Kellogg worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the second inning and the Sun Devils (14-11, 4-4) never surrendered their lead after putting together a five-run fourth inning en route to their fifth win of the season against a ranked team.
Junior left fielder Jake Peevyhouse scored two runs and drove in a pair, and became the first Sun Devil since Joey DeMichele on March 12, 2011 against Auburn to tally three doubles. Junior right fielder Trever Allen went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and freshman catcher Brian Serven notched his eighth multi-hit game of the season.
Kellogg (3-2) allowed five runs on 10 hits and struck out three in 5 1/3 innings to earn his second straight road win over a top-15 team. He has not issued a walk in the past 14 1/3 innings and has not walked a batter in 10 of his 27 career starts.
Sophomore right-handers Jordan Aboites and Ryan Burr combined to allow three baserunners over the final 3 2/3 innings. Aboites took over with one out and one runner on base in the bottom of the sixth, and allowed a run-scoring double to the first batter he faced before retiring seven of the next nine Bruins across 2 1/3 innings. Burr (6) notched his sixth save of the season and now has 18 in his career, fifth most in school history. He allowed one hit in 1 1/3 innings and struck out Bruins second baseman Kevin Williams to end the game.
The Devils batted around in the five-run fourth inning that included a pair of two-run doubles from sophomore third baseman Dalton DiNatale and Peevyhouse, and an RBI single by freshman shortstop Colby Woodmansee. ASU loaded the bases for Peevyhouse, who drove in the first two runs of the game with a double to left-center field, and DiNatale cleared the bases two batters later with a double to right-center field before coming home on Woodmansee’s second RBI of the weekend.
The Bruins (16-9, 6-2) scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth behind five hits, including a leadoff home run by left fielder Ty Moore. Consecutive singles put runners at the corners followed by a balk by Kellogg that plated the Bruins’ second run of the inning, and a sacrifice fly by third baseman Chris Keck and an RBI double by center fielder Brian Carroll pulled them within one.
The two teams traded runs in the sixth inning with a two-out RBI single by sophomore center fielder Johnny Sewald in the top half and an RBI double by Carroll in the bottom to keep ASU’s lead at one, 6-5.
Allen hit his team-leading third home run of the season to lead off the ninth inning and Serven added an RBI single following Peevyhouse’s third double of the game to give the Devils a three-run cushion, 8-5.
UCLA starting left-hander Grant Watson (4-2) was chased with two outs in the top of the sixth and took the loss after he conceded six runs on eight hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings.
Notes
The Devils moved to 115-68 all-time against UCLA…coach Esmay moved to 48-39 against ranked teams…coach Esmay now has 395 career wins, including 182 at ASU…DiNatale now has seven multi-RBI games this season, four more than the next closest teammate.
Up Next
The Sun Devils close out their three-game series against 15th-ranked UCLA on March 30 at 1 p.m. PT at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles.
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