FORT WORTH, Texas – The Arizona State offense exploded for a season-high 13 hits while Eli Lingos dazzled for six innings as Sun Devil Baseball knocked off No. 1 TCU, 13-9, on Friday night in Forth Worth, Texas.
On the road for the first time this season, the Sun Devil bats came alive in the fifth inning at Lupton Stadium in front of over 5,000 TCU fans as the Devils scored runs in five consecutive innings to close out the game and withstand a furious Horned Frog rally down the stretch.
The Sun Devils (4-1) dropped 13 runs on a TCU program that entered the weekend having allowed nine runs total in four games this season. The Sun Devils themselves had scored just 17 runs on the year entering Friday's tilt. ASU also picked up a win in a stadium where road wins have been at a premium of late as TCU entered the evening with a 87-19 record at home in the past two-plus season.
LHP Eli Lingos (2-0) pitched a gem in his second start of the season, striking out a career-high eight batters in 6.0 IP as he held the TCU offense to just two runs on two hits before letting his team's offense handle the rest.
Tyler Williams lit a fire under his team, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the effort, but it was his solo shot to lead off the fifth inning that started the onslaught of scoring for the Devils, who led by as many as eight runs in the contest before fending off a late TCU rally. Lyle Lin went 3-for-6 with two RBIs while Carter Aldrete logged a game-high three RBIs as well.
It was all TCU early in the effort as the Frogs loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second inning. Lingos was up to task, however, getting a pivotal strikeout and limiting the damage to just a single run on a sacrifice fly to keep the game within striking distance.
TCU RHP Brian Howard looked to be much the part of the pitcher that helped eliminate the Sun Devils from the post season on Friday evening, at one point retiring 11 consecutive batters and not allowing a hit through the first four innings of the contest.
Enter Tyler Williams.
The designated hitter sent the fourth ball he saw to opposite right center field for his second dinger in as many games and tying the contest at 1-1 with ASU's first hit of the day.
The Devils followed that with a single from Jeremy McCuin and an HBP from Hunter Bishop and coming home on a Gage Canning double and Andrew Snow ground out, respectively, to give ASU a 3-1 lead.
ASU added some insurance in the sixth as Myles Denson's pinch-hit RBI walk gave the Devils a 4-1 advantage that was quickly trimmed back to two runs on a TCU homer in the bottom half of the inning.
The Devils weren't done there, however, capitalizing on a number of Frog miscues in the top of the seventh to add two more runs to the advantage and jumping to a 9-2 advantage in the following inning as all nine Sun Devil batters stepped to the plate and added three more runs.
TCU chipped away with three of their own in the bottom half of the eighth, again loading the bases with no outs after bringing one across but RHP James Ryan entered the contest with a pair of ground outs and a strikeout to minimize the damage to just two runs and keep the Devils healthily in front.
The offense responded with four runs in the top of the ninth inning before a two-RBI Aldrete double and two-RBI Lin single to claim a 13-5 advantage. TCU did not go quietly into the night, however, going yard thrice in the bottom of the ninth to keep things interesting before freshman Chaz Montoya entered the contests and quickly put an end to the excitement with consecutive strikeouts to seal the 13-9 victory.
NOTES: Tyler Williams now has four hits on the season, three going for extra bases and three RBIs on those four hits…The 13 runs allowed were the most by TCU since giving up 14 to Kansas State in 2015…ASU's 13 runs were its most in a non-conference game since scoring 15 against Purdue in 2015…It was also the most runs for the Devils against a team ranked in the Top Five since scoring 14 against No. 5 Oregon in 2013…The Devils improved to 6-13 against the No. 1 team in the country since 1995…The Devils last beat a top-ranked team in 2015, also against TCU…Gage Canning is the only Sun Devil with a hit in each game this season..
UP NEXT: The Sun Devils continue the series against No. 1 TCU on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT (3 p.m. PT). A live audio stream of the contest will be available via Blaze Radio online at www.mixlr.com/blazeradioonline.
On the road for the first time this season, the Sun Devil bats came alive in the fifth inning at Lupton Stadium in front of over 5,000 TCU fans as the Devils scored runs in five consecutive innings to close out the game and withstand a furious Horned Frog rally down the stretch.
The Sun Devils (4-1) dropped 13 runs on a TCU program that entered the weekend having allowed nine runs total in four games this season. The Sun Devils themselves had scored just 17 runs on the year entering Friday's tilt. ASU also picked up a win in a stadium where road wins have been at a premium of late as TCU entered the evening with a 87-19 record at home in the past two-plus season.
LHP Eli Lingos (2-0) pitched a gem in his second start of the season, striking out a career-high eight batters in 6.0 IP as he held the TCU offense to just two runs on two hits before letting his team's offense handle the rest.
Tyler Williams lit a fire under his team, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the effort, but it was his solo shot to lead off the fifth inning that started the onslaught of scoring for the Devils, who led by as many as eight runs in the contest before fending off a late TCU rally. Lyle Lin went 3-for-6 with two RBIs while Carter Aldrete logged a game-high three RBIs as well.
It was all TCU early in the effort as the Frogs loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second inning. Lingos was up to task, however, getting a pivotal strikeout and limiting the damage to just a single run on a sacrifice fly to keep the game within striking distance.
TCU RHP Brian Howard looked to be much the part of the pitcher that helped eliminate the Sun Devils from the post season on Friday evening, at one point retiring 11 consecutive batters and not allowing a hit through the first four innings of the contest.
Enter Tyler Williams.
The designated hitter sent the fourth ball he saw to opposite right center field for his second dinger in as many games and tying the contest at 1-1 with ASU's first hit of the day.
The Devils followed that with a single from Jeremy McCuin and an HBP from Hunter Bishop and coming home on a Gage Canning double and Andrew Snow ground out, respectively, to give ASU a 3-1 lead.
ASU added some insurance in the sixth as Myles Denson's pinch-hit RBI walk gave the Devils a 4-1 advantage that was quickly trimmed back to two runs on a TCU homer in the bottom half of the inning.
The Devils weren't done there, however, capitalizing on a number of Frog miscues in the top of the seventh to add two more runs to the advantage and jumping to a 9-2 advantage in the following inning as all nine Sun Devil batters stepped to the plate and added three more runs.
TCU chipped away with three of their own in the bottom half of the eighth, again loading the bases with no outs after bringing one across but RHP James Ryan entered the contest with a pair of ground outs and a strikeout to minimize the damage to just two runs and keep the Devils healthily in front.
The offense responded with four runs in the top of the ninth inning before a two-RBI Aldrete double and two-RBI Lin single to claim a 13-5 advantage. TCU did not go quietly into the night, however, going yard thrice in the bottom of the ninth to keep things interesting before freshman Chaz Montoya entered the contests and quickly put an end to the excitement with consecutive strikeouts to seal the 13-9 victory.
NOTES: Tyler Williams now has four hits on the season, three going for extra bases and three RBIs on those four hits…The 13 runs allowed were the most by TCU since giving up 14 to Kansas State in 2015…ASU's 13 runs were its most in a non-conference game since scoring 15 against Purdue in 2015…It was also the most runs for the Devils against a team ranked in the Top Five since scoring 14 against No. 5 Oregon in 2013…The Devils improved to 6-13 against the No. 1 team in the country since 1995…The Devils last beat a top-ranked team in 2015, also against TCU…Gage Canning is the only Sun Devil with a hit in each game this season..
UP NEXT: The Sun Devils continue the series against No. 1 TCU on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT (3 p.m. PT). A live audio stream of the contest will be available via Blaze Radio online at www.mixlr.com/blazeradioonline.