LAS VEGAS – Sun Devil Baseball overcame a 6-0 deficit on the road to take a late lead before falling on a walk-off single, 13-12, in the bottom of the ninth against UNLV in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
Gage Canning, the defending Pac-12 Player of the Week, was a home run short of the cycle as he went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, a triple and a double to help lead a Sun Devil rally from six runs down into the lead with his RBI single in the top of the eighth to make it 10-9.
Hunter Bishop posted the first three-hit game of his career, going 3-for-5 with a two-run home run while Ryan Lillard, Carter Aldrete and Jeremy McCuin all logged multi-hit games as well.
ASU added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth to take a 12-9 lead but UNLV capitalized on a walk, double, single and a huge throwing error to tie the game at 12-12. After ASU intentionally loading the bases with no outs, the Rebels promptly knocked an RBI single to earn the walk-off victory.
The Sun Devils fell into an early 6-0 hole through the first three innings of the tilt before chipping away at the deficit.
Hunter Bishop got ASU on the board in the top of the fourth with a no-doubt, two-run shot to right field to cut the Rebel lead to 6-2.
The Sun Devils weren't done there, as McCuin led off the top of the fifth with a bunt single and quickly scored on a Canning triple to make it 6-3. Andrew Shaps made it back-to-back triples to plate Canning and Lyle Lin's sacrifice fly made it a 6-5 ballgame.
UNLV responded with three runs of its own in the bottom half of the frame, however, jumping back out to a 9-5 advantage.
ASU had no intentions on going quietly into the night, however, as McCuin crushed a ball of his own for his second home run in five days on a two-run blast to cut the lead back to 9-7.
Lyle Lin scored on an RBI single from Taylor Lane in the top of the seventh to make it a one run game before the Devils took their first lead of the contest behind a Aldrete score on a wild pitch and Canning's RBI single to go up. 10-9.
ASU added two more in the ninth on a bases loaded walk from Aldrete and a Tyler Williams RBI groundout to stake a 12-9 advantage heading into the decisive bottom of the ninth.
NOTES: Lyle Lin has reached base in 21 consecutive games…It is the longest active streak by a Sun Devil and tied for third among all ASU freshmen since 2000 for the longest in a season with RJ Ybarra (2013) and Drew Maggi (2009), trailing only Gage Canning (28, 2016) and Dustin Pedroia (26, 2002) for the longest streak by a freshman since 2000…Lin has reached base in all but on game this season…Gage Canning now has a team-best nine-game hitting streak and is 18-of-39 (.461) in that span with two home runs, three doubles and a triple…The Sun Devils have hit 24 home runs this season between 10 different players, notable as those 10 players had a combined seven Division I collegiate home runs between them coming into 2017…
UP NEXT: The Sun Devils will celebrate a very special weekend at home this week as the team welcomes back the 1967 Sun Devil Baseball National Championship team, as well as head coach Bobby Winkles, on Saturday for the squad's 6:30 contest against CSU Bakersfield. The reunion will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the team that won ASU's second NCAA title after a 53-12 season in which the squad knocked off Houston, 11-2 in the championship game. The team will be recognized before Saturday's contest against CSU Bakersfield with a pre-game ceremony on the field. The three game series against CSUB will begin Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. with the finale getting underway at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. All games will be streamed live via the Pac-12 at pac-12.com/live.
Gage Canning, the defending Pac-12 Player of the Week, was a home run short of the cycle as he went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, a triple and a double to help lead a Sun Devil rally from six runs down into the lead with his RBI single in the top of the eighth to make it 10-9.
Hunter Bishop posted the first three-hit game of his career, going 3-for-5 with a two-run home run while Ryan Lillard, Carter Aldrete and Jeremy McCuin all logged multi-hit games as well.
ASU added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth to take a 12-9 lead but UNLV capitalized on a walk, double, single and a huge throwing error to tie the game at 12-12. After ASU intentionally loading the bases with no outs, the Rebels promptly knocked an RBI single to earn the walk-off victory.
The Sun Devils fell into an early 6-0 hole through the first three innings of the tilt before chipping away at the deficit.
Hunter Bishop got ASU on the board in the top of the fourth with a no-doubt, two-run shot to right field to cut the Rebel lead to 6-2.
The Sun Devils weren't done there, as McCuin led off the top of the fifth with a bunt single and quickly scored on a Canning triple to make it 6-3. Andrew Shaps made it back-to-back triples to plate Canning and Lyle Lin's sacrifice fly made it a 6-5 ballgame.
UNLV responded with three runs of its own in the bottom half of the frame, however, jumping back out to a 9-5 advantage.
ASU had no intentions on going quietly into the night, however, as McCuin crushed a ball of his own for his second home run in five days on a two-run blast to cut the lead back to 9-7.
Lyle Lin scored on an RBI single from Taylor Lane in the top of the seventh to make it a one run game before the Devils took their first lead of the contest behind a Aldrete score on a wild pitch and Canning's RBI single to go up. 10-9.
ASU added two more in the ninth on a bases loaded walk from Aldrete and a Tyler Williams RBI groundout to stake a 12-9 advantage heading into the decisive bottom of the ninth.
NOTES: Lyle Lin has reached base in 21 consecutive games…It is the longest active streak by a Sun Devil and tied for third among all ASU freshmen since 2000 for the longest in a season with RJ Ybarra (2013) and Drew Maggi (2009), trailing only Gage Canning (28, 2016) and Dustin Pedroia (26, 2002) for the longest streak by a freshman since 2000…Lin has reached base in all but on game this season…Gage Canning now has a team-best nine-game hitting streak and is 18-of-39 (.461) in that span with two home runs, three doubles and a triple…The Sun Devils have hit 24 home runs this season between 10 different players, notable as those 10 players had a combined seven Division I collegiate home runs between them coming into 2017…
UP NEXT: The Sun Devils will celebrate a very special weekend at home this week as the team welcomes back the 1967 Sun Devil Baseball National Championship team, as well as head coach Bobby Winkles, on Saturday for the squad's 6:30 contest against CSU Bakersfield. The reunion will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the team that won ASU's second NCAA title after a 53-12 season in which the squad knocked off Houston, 11-2 in the championship game. The team will be recognized before Saturday's contest against CSU Bakersfield with a pre-game ceremony on the field. The three game series against CSUB will begin Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. with the finale getting underway at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. All games will be streamed live via the Pac-12 at pac-12.com/live.