PHOENIX – Sun Devil Baseball jumped on Arizona early for four runs across the first two innings and starting right-hander Jordan Aboites held the Wildcats scoreless through four to set the tone for Arizona State’s 7-5 Territorial Cup Series win on Tuesday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Sun Devils (18-12) took a 1-0 lead in the five-game Territorial Cup baseball series and Arizona State currently leads the overall Territorial Cup standings, 7.5-5.5, with seven sports still undecided.
Aboites (2-1) earned the win after he held the Wildcats (20-13) to just two runs on four hits and a pair of walks, and struck out three in 5 1/3 innings. He retired the side in order to open the game, issued back-to-back strikeouts to end the second, and used a pair of double plays to keep Arizona off the board in the third and fourth innings.
A pair of momentum-swinging plays on the mound and at the plate in the sixth inning helped the Devils secure the victory. Right-hander James Ryan inherited two runners in scoring position and two outs in the top of the frame with All-American Bobby Dalbec at the plate and the tying run on deck, and issued a swinging strikeout to end the Wildcats’ rally. Seven minutes later, infielder David Greer hit a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the frame to extend ASU’s lead back to five.
ASU scored in five of the first six innings as six different Sun Devils collected a hit. Shortstop Colby Woodmansee put together a 2-for-3 night with two RBI, Greer reached base three times on two walks and a solo homer, and tied his season-high with three runs scored, and left fielder Tyler Williams added a double, a RBI and a run scored.
Left-hander Eli Lingos (1) took over with two outs in the ninth and the tying run at the plate, and issued a line drive to right field to record a one-out save, the first of his career.
Second baseman Andrew Snow led off the bottom of the first with a single before consecutive walks loaded the bases and prompted a quick pitching change by the Wildcats. ASU capitalized on its situation as center fielder Andrew Shaps dropped a single over the shortstop’s head to score Snow and catcher Brian Serven followed with a sacrifice fly to center field that brought home Greer that gave the Devils a 2-0 lead.
Woodmansee pushed ASU’s advantage to four, 4-0, in the second inning on a two-out, two-run single to left field. Right fielder Gage Canning singled and moved into scoring position on a groundout and a failed pickoff attempt, and Greer reached on a walk and stole second before Woodmansee’s bases-clearing knock.
Williams put the Devils ahead by five in the fourth after he crossed the plate on an errant throw home. He opened the frame with a ground-rule double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from first baseman Chris Beall and scored on a grounder up the middle from Canning.
The two teams exchanged runs in the fifth and sixth innings to keep the Devils’ five-run lead intact, 7-2. Arizona scored both runs without registering a hit, and ASU used a leadoff single by Woodmansee, two walks and a groundout in the fifth, and Greer’s solo shot in the sixth.
Arizona notched three runs in the final two innings, including one in the eighth and two in the ninth, before Ryan and Lingos combined to close out the Devils’ win.
Notes: Woodmansee notched his team-leading 14th multi-hit game and ninth multi-RBI game…Shaps has a hit in 10 of the last 11 games.
Up Next
The Devils host a three-game conference set with Cal April 15-17. First pitch for Friday’s series opener begins at 7 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday starting at 12 p.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively. The first two games of the weekend will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks, while Sunday’s game will be live streamed via thesundevils.com. All three games will be broadcast on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 with Tim Healey and Max Rossiter on the call.
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