PHOENIX -- Freshman Erik Tolman knocked the first two home runs of his career and Sun Devil Baseball rolled to a 12-5 victory over Seattle U on Tuesday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Role reversal was the name of the game on Tuesday as Tolman – ASU's leading pitcher in ERA – took it out of the park in each of his first two plate appearances of the game while infielder-turned-pitcher Marc Lidd earned his first career win on the mound.
Tolman – who pitched three scoreless innings in relief on Sunday against Oregon State - finished the evening 3-for-4 with four RBIs, scoring three runs and adding a double as the team's designated hitter.
The Seattle bats were active early and it took Lidd's entry into the game to settle things down and let the Sun Devils (28-7) take control. With the game still in the balance, Lidd posted a scoreless fourth and fifth inning, allowing ASU to stretch its lead from 4-3 to a commanding 9-3 advantage.
Lidd allowed just two hits and two runs in his final line, though he wasn't responsible for the hit that allowed the two runs.
Alika Williams added four RBIs for the Sun Devil offense, finishing 2-for-3 with a triple. Hunter Bishop was 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Spencer Torkelson added three runs in the contest.
The Sun Devil rotation stranded 13 Redhawk batters in the effort, striking out 12 in the process. Chaz Montoya, Luke La Flam and Will Levine pitched four scoreless innings of relief to cap things off with the latter punching out the side in the bottom of the ninth to close the game out.
Seattle jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first as the Sun Devils came out sluggish in all facets of the game.
It was Tolman that jump-started the offense with a three-run shot in the bottom of the second – the first home run of his career to give ASU a 3-2 lead.
Seattle quickly came back with a run in the top of the third to bring things even again before Williams put ASU on top for good with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third for a 4-3 advantage.
Tolman added a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth – his second homer of the night – to make it a 5-3 lead. The Sun Devil bats truly came to life in the bottom of the fifth as ASU brought four across behind an RBI single from Bishop, a two-RBI triple from Williams and a sac fly from Aldrete.
Seattle tried to mount one final rally in the sixth, bringing two across on a bases loaded single to get back within four with just one out. Montoya induced an inning ending double play to escape the game – one of three Sun Devil double plays on the day after ASU shook off three errors in the first couple innings to play sound defense the rest of the way.
ASU solidified the lead in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of some Seattle defensive blunders of its own to bring three runs across and take a definitive 12-5 lead that it wouldn't relinquish.
The Sun Devils will hit the road for the first of consecutive Pac-12 road trips this weekend – and second road trip of three in the month of April – to take on the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City. The three-game series will get underway on Thursday at 5 p.m. Each game of the series will be streamed live through the Pac-12 Utah Live Stream and carried over the airwaves. Fans can tune in to 1440 AM for Thursday and Friday's contests while Saturday's game will be back on NBC Sports 1060 AM.
Role reversal was the name of the game on Tuesday as Tolman – ASU's leading pitcher in ERA – took it out of the park in each of his first two plate appearances of the game while infielder-turned-pitcher Marc Lidd earned his first career win on the mound.
Tolman – who pitched three scoreless innings in relief on Sunday against Oregon State - finished the evening 3-for-4 with four RBIs, scoring three runs and adding a double as the team's designated hitter.
The Seattle bats were active early and it took Lidd's entry into the game to settle things down and let the Sun Devils (28-7) take control. With the game still in the balance, Lidd posted a scoreless fourth and fifth inning, allowing ASU to stretch its lead from 4-3 to a commanding 9-3 advantage.
Lidd allowed just two hits and two runs in his final line, though he wasn't responsible for the hit that allowed the two runs.
Alika Williams added four RBIs for the Sun Devil offense, finishing 2-for-3 with a triple. Hunter Bishop was 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Spencer Torkelson added three runs in the contest.
The Sun Devil rotation stranded 13 Redhawk batters in the effort, striking out 12 in the process. Chaz Montoya, Luke La Flam and Will Levine pitched four scoreless innings of relief to cap things off with the latter punching out the side in the bottom of the ninth to close the game out.
Seattle jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first as the Sun Devils came out sluggish in all facets of the game.
It was Tolman that jump-started the offense with a three-run shot in the bottom of the second – the first home run of his career to give ASU a 3-2 lead.
Seattle quickly came back with a run in the top of the third to bring things even again before Williams put ASU on top for good with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third for a 4-3 advantage.
Tolman added a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth – his second homer of the night – to make it a 5-3 lead. The Sun Devil bats truly came to life in the bottom of the fifth as ASU brought four across behind an RBI single from Bishop, a two-RBI triple from Williams and a sac fly from Aldrete.
Seattle tried to mount one final rally in the sixth, bringing two across on a bases loaded single to get back within four with just one out. Montoya induced an inning ending double play to escape the game – one of three Sun Devil double plays on the day after ASU shook off three errors in the first couple innings to play sound defense the rest of the way.
ASU solidified the lead in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of some Seattle defensive blunders of its own to bring three runs across and take a definitive 12-5 lead that it wouldn't relinquish.
The Sun Devils will hit the road for the first of consecutive Pac-12 road trips this weekend – and second road trip of three in the month of April – to take on the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City. The three-game series will get underway on Thursday at 5 p.m. Each game of the series will be streamed live through the Pac-12 Utah Live Stream and carried over the airwaves. Fans can tune in to 1440 AM for Thursday and Friday's contests while Saturday's game will be back on NBC Sports 1060 AM.