EUGENE, Ore. – The No. 10 Sun Devil Baseball wasn't affected by a little rain and a change of scenery, going yard three times in an 12-2 rout of the Oregon Ducks on Friday evening at PK Park in Eugene, Ore.
Hunter Bishop went yard twice for the second consecutive game, extending his NCAA-leading home run tally to 14 runs, while Spencer Torkelson added his fourth bomb of the season and Alec Marsh shoved it from the mound to move ASU to 21-0 on the season and 4-0 in Pac-12 games this season.
The 21-0 start matches the second-longest streak to open a season in ASU history, matching the start of the 1961 team. Only ASU's school and Pac-12 record 24-0 start in the 2010 season remains better than the current Sun Devil start.
Carter Aldrete went 3-for-5 on the day while ASU saw five players post multi-hit efforts in Bishop (2-for-4), Alika Williams (2-for-4), Lyle Lin (2-for-5) and Sam Ferri (2-for-4). Torkelson, Bishop, Lin and Ferri each had two RBIs in the contest.
Marsh struggled with control at times but deftly worked around jams as he went 6.2 innings with no runs allowed and four strikeouts. Marsh walked five and plunked two batters but let his defense make some plays for him and stranded six batters in the process.
With the effort, Marsh is now 6-0 on the season and has allowed just three earned runs all season for a paltry 0.65 ERA. It was the 10thquality start in the last 14 starts for Marsh dating back to last season and the 24thtime in his last 25 appearances that Marsh has allowed three or fewer runs in a game – dating back to his freshman season.
The bottom of the order got things going for ASU, with Drew Swift knocking a two-out RBI single in the top of the second to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
After facing seven consecutive balls in his first two plate appearances, Hunter Bishop took the first hittable pitch he saw all day and planted it firmly behind the right field dugout for a solo shot in the top of the third to make it 2-0 in favor of the Devils. Carter Aldrete followed that with an RBI double two batters later to plate Alika Williams and give ASU a 3-0 lead.
The bats continued to stay hot in the fourth as Torkelson took the Oregon starter for a ride and a two-run shot to deep right center that was immediately followed by an opposite field dinger from Bishop as ASU took control with a 6-0 lead.
The Devils added some insurance in the seventh on Sam Ferri's two-RBI double and a commanding 8-0 advantage.
ASU wasn't done there either, pouring on four more runs in the top of the eighth for a 12-0 advantage.
Oregon salvaged some modicum of respect by bunting home a run in the bottom of the ninth with the ASU infield playing back after allowing the Ducks to take free bases with a 12-0 lead with two outs. That ended a streak of 38 consecutive scoreless innings in series/Friday night openers dating back to Feb. 23 against UC Davis.
The Sun Devils return to the diamond tomorrow looking for the series victory with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. PT. The game will be available online through the Pac-12 Network Oregon live stream.
Hunter Bishop went yard twice for the second consecutive game, extending his NCAA-leading home run tally to 14 runs, while Spencer Torkelson added his fourth bomb of the season and Alec Marsh shoved it from the mound to move ASU to 21-0 on the season and 4-0 in Pac-12 games this season.
The 21-0 start matches the second-longest streak to open a season in ASU history, matching the start of the 1961 team. Only ASU's school and Pac-12 record 24-0 start in the 2010 season remains better than the current Sun Devil start.
Carter Aldrete went 3-for-5 on the day while ASU saw five players post multi-hit efforts in Bishop (2-for-4), Alika Williams (2-for-4), Lyle Lin (2-for-5) and Sam Ferri (2-for-4). Torkelson, Bishop, Lin and Ferri each had two RBIs in the contest.
Marsh struggled with control at times but deftly worked around jams as he went 6.2 innings with no runs allowed and four strikeouts. Marsh walked five and plunked two batters but let his defense make some plays for him and stranded six batters in the process.
With the effort, Marsh is now 6-0 on the season and has allowed just three earned runs all season for a paltry 0.65 ERA. It was the 10thquality start in the last 14 starts for Marsh dating back to last season and the 24thtime in his last 25 appearances that Marsh has allowed three or fewer runs in a game – dating back to his freshman season.
The bottom of the order got things going for ASU, with Drew Swift knocking a two-out RBI single in the top of the second to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
After facing seven consecutive balls in his first two plate appearances, Hunter Bishop took the first hittable pitch he saw all day and planted it firmly behind the right field dugout for a solo shot in the top of the third to make it 2-0 in favor of the Devils. Carter Aldrete followed that with an RBI double two batters later to plate Alika Williams and give ASU a 3-0 lead.
The bats continued to stay hot in the fourth as Torkelson took the Oregon starter for a ride and a two-run shot to deep right center that was immediately followed by an opposite field dinger from Bishop as ASU took control with a 6-0 lead.
The Devils added some insurance in the seventh on Sam Ferri's two-RBI double and a commanding 8-0 advantage.
ASU wasn't done there either, pouring on four more runs in the top of the eighth for a 12-0 advantage.
Oregon salvaged some modicum of respect by bunting home a run in the bottom of the ninth with the ASU infield playing back after allowing the Ducks to take free bases with a 12-0 lead with two outs. That ended a streak of 38 consecutive scoreless innings in series/Friday night openers dating back to Feb. 23 against UC Davis.
The Sun Devils return to the diamond tomorrow looking for the series victory with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. PT. The game will be available online through the Pac-12 Network Oregon live stream.