LOS ANGELES – Chaz Montoya was stellar in his first career start and the Sun Devil Baseball bats came alive en route to a 7-0 victory over USC in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
Montoya was phenomenal in the effort, moving to 2-1 on the season as he went a career-best 5.2 innings with six strikeouts and no runs allowed. The freshman lefty overcame an inauspicious start in which he himself had two errors against the very first batter of the game.
His defense backed him up, however, eliminating that leadoff runner on a fantastic play on a fielder's choice from C Sam Ferri to 3B Taylor Lane and it was pretty much smooth sailing for Montoya from there. The southpaw allowed just one runner into scoring position through the remainder of his effort, setting a new career best for strikeouts as well – including striking out the side in just 11 pitches in the fifth inning.
Senior RHP Eder Erives was equally exceptional in relief, going 3.1 innings without allowing a run while striking out a season-best six Trojans with no walks allowed to help the Devils post their first shutout since May of last seasons.
Tyler Williams made a valiant return to the Sun Devil lineup to lead the offense, going 2-for-4 with a career-best three RBIs in the effort as eight different Sun Devils logged a hit in the effort. ASU's five through nine hole hitters combined to go 7-of-20 (.350) with all six of the Devil RBIs on the evening.
The Devils (10-11, 1-4 Pac-12) were 8-of-16 with two outs on the evening while the pitching staff was exceptional in closing out the Trojans (13-8, 3-2 Pac-12), limiting USC to 1-of-12 hitting (.083) with two outs.
The Devils got on the board in the top of the first behind a two-out rally that kicked off with back-to-back singles from Lyle Lin and Carter Aldrete. Tyler Williams made it three straight singles on the next at-bat, plating Lin and giving the Devils an early 1-0 advantage.
ASU added another in the top of the third with Andrew Shaps reaching on a leadoff double and it was Tyler Williams again who was able to push him across on an RBI groundout.
The Sun Devils blew the doors open in the top of the fifth with the team's first crooked-number frame in two weeks. The Devils capitalized on a pair of fielding miscues from the Trojan infield to the tune of five runs, featuring an RBI triple from Gage Canning – his third of the year – as ASU played ring around the base path with runs scoring on five consecutive at bats.
Erives did the rest, spelling Montoya with two outs in the fifth inning and going the distance to earn his first save of the season. The senior allowed a double to the first batter he saw but quickly settled in and did wouldn't another USC runner into scoring position for the remainder of the contest.
NOTES: The Sun Devils scored a run in the first inning for the first time since March 7 (against Fullerton) and carried a first inning lead into the second for the first time in eight games, a streak that saw the Devils outscored 17-0 in the first in that span…Andrew Shaps had his second consecutive multi-hit game and his sixth of the season, good for second on the team…He has a hit in 12 of his last 13 games and has reached base in 15 of his 16 appearances on the season…Lyle Lin posted his team-leading 10th multi-hit game of the season and has now reached base in 20 of 21 games this season…The Sun Devils recorded their first shutout since May of 2016 (UNM, 1-0), ending a streak of 38 straight games without a shutout…It was the first time this season that USC had been shutout…It was ASU's first shutout of USC since a 4-0 victory in 2012...
UP NEXT: The Sun Devils will look to finish the weekend strong in tomorrow's rubber match at 2 p.m. PT. Sunday's contest will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks. Jim Watson and Andy Lopez will be on the call. The Sun Devil Sports Radio Network is scheduled to broadcast the finale on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 and 100.7 HD 2. The game will also be available through the TuneIn app on TheSunDevils.com.
Montoya was phenomenal in the effort, moving to 2-1 on the season as he went a career-best 5.2 innings with six strikeouts and no runs allowed. The freshman lefty overcame an inauspicious start in which he himself had two errors against the very first batter of the game.
His defense backed him up, however, eliminating that leadoff runner on a fantastic play on a fielder's choice from C Sam Ferri to 3B Taylor Lane and it was pretty much smooth sailing for Montoya from there. The southpaw allowed just one runner into scoring position through the remainder of his effort, setting a new career best for strikeouts as well – including striking out the side in just 11 pitches in the fifth inning.
Senior RHP Eder Erives was equally exceptional in relief, going 3.1 innings without allowing a run while striking out a season-best six Trojans with no walks allowed to help the Devils post their first shutout since May of last seasons.
Tyler Williams made a valiant return to the Sun Devil lineup to lead the offense, going 2-for-4 with a career-best three RBIs in the effort as eight different Sun Devils logged a hit in the effort. ASU's five through nine hole hitters combined to go 7-of-20 (.350) with all six of the Devil RBIs on the evening.
The Devils (10-11, 1-4 Pac-12) were 8-of-16 with two outs on the evening while the pitching staff was exceptional in closing out the Trojans (13-8, 3-2 Pac-12), limiting USC to 1-of-12 hitting (.083) with two outs.
The Devils got on the board in the top of the first behind a two-out rally that kicked off with back-to-back singles from Lyle Lin and Carter Aldrete. Tyler Williams made it three straight singles on the next at-bat, plating Lin and giving the Devils an early 1-0 advantage.
ASU added another in the top of the third with Andrew Shaps reaching on a leadoff double and it was Tyler Williams again who was able to push him across on an RBI groundout.
The Sun Devils blew the doors open in the top of the fifth with the team's first crooked-number frame in two weeks. The Devils capitalized on a pair of fielding miscues from the Trojan infield to the tune of five runs, featuring an RBI triple from Gage Canning – his third of the year – as ASU played ring around the base path with runs scoring on five consecutive at bats.
Erives did the rest, spelling Montoya with two outs in the fifth inning and going the distance to earn his first save of the season. The senior allowed a double to the first batter he saw but quickly settled in and did wouldn't another USC runner into scoring position for the remainder of the contest.
NOTES: The Sun Devils scored a run in the first inning for the first time since March 7 (against Fullerton) and carried a first inning lead into the second for the first time in eight games, a streak that saw the Devils outscored 17-0 in the first in that span…Andrew Shaps had his second consecutive multi-hit game and his sixth of the season, good for second on the team…He has a hit in 12 of his last 13 games and has reached base in 15 of his 16 appearances on the season…Lyle Lin posted his team-leading 10th multi-hit game of the season and has now reached base in 20 of 21 games this season…The Sun Devils recorded their first shutout since May of 2016 (UNM, 1-0), ending a streak of 38 straight games without a shutout…It was the first time this season that USC had been shutout…It was ASU's first shutout of USC since a 4-0 victory in 2012...
UP NEXT: The Sun Devils will look to finish the weekend strong in tomorrow's rubber match at 2 p.m. PT. Sunday's contest will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks. Jim Watson and Andy Lopez will be on the call. The Sun Devil Sports Radio Network is scheduled to broadcast the finale on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 and 100.7 HD 2. The game will also be available through the TuneIn app on TheSunDevils.com.