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PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball fell behind early and was unable to mount a comeback as the team was defeated by USC in the regular season finale on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Trojans jumped out to a quick five-run lead in the first inning and things snowballed from there en route to a 31-9 defeat. With the loss, The Sun Devils (34-21, 16-14) finished in a tie for third in the Pac-12 conference behind champion Utah and second-place Washington.
The Sun Devils did manage to reach nine runs in the effort for the third time in the last six games after reaching nine just twice in the previous 13 games prior to the recent stretch. Andrew Shaps and Colby Woodmansee both homered for the Sun Devils while Sebastian Zawada and RJ Ybarra each logged multi-hit games.
ASU celebrated Senior Day on Sunday, honoring the team's four seniors (Jordan Aboites, Christopher Beall, Eric Melbostad and RJ Ybarra) prior to the game. All four players saw action in the final home game of their careers in the Valley of the Sun.
The Trojans (28-28, 15-15) jumped on left-handed starter Eli Lingos (3-5) for four runs through their first six batters of the game, and held a 5-0 lead after the first inning.
USC opened the frame with four consecutive singles while scoring a run, and that would do it for Lingos. Right-hander Chris Isbell took over with no outs and conceded one unearned run off two singles and was then replaced by left-hander Reagan Todd, who induced an inning-ending double play.
Shaps put Arizona State on the board with a solo homer to right field in the first inning to cut the lead back to four but ASU would get no closer than that.
ASU again used three pitchers in the second inning: Todd, along with right-handers Eric Melbostad and James Ryan. The three combined to surrender seven runs off four hits and five walks as the Trojans jumped out to a 12-1 lead and never looked back.
Right-handed reliever Fitz Stadler took over to start the sixth and struck out two across three innings of work, including holding USC to its first scoreless inning in the seventh. Stadler highlighted a pitching staff that saw nine Devils take the mound, including eight underclassmen.
Colby Woodmansee’s eighth home run of the season plated third baseman Jeremy McCuin and center fielder Daniel Williams, who pinch ran and walked, respectively, in the bottom of the fifth.
The Devils tacked on four more in the eighth using a single and two doubles to take advantage of three walks.
Up Next - The Sun Devils will now await their postseason fate, which will be announced tomorrow (May 30) at 9 a.m. PT on ESPN2.
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