LINCOLN, NEB. – Nearly 5,500 raucous fans were abuzz with excitement for the first pitch of the Nebraska Baseball team's 500th game at Haymarket Park on Friday night, welcoming back nearly 100 alumni players in an exciting pre-game ceremony.
It took one swing of the bat to silence them.
Trevor Hauver's leadoff home run set the tone for a mammoth day for the Sun Devil Baseball offense, as the team exploded for four home runs and 21 hits in a 15-6 rout of the Huskers at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Neb.
It was the most hits for the Sun Devils since recording 23 against San Francisco back in 2010. Four Sun Devils recorded three or more hits and seven had multi-hit efforts as the ASU put forth one of its most complete efforts of the season.
Hunter Bishop knocked his Pac-12 leading 22ndhome run of the season while Spencer Torkelson kept pace with him with his 18thof the year. Bishop was 4-for-6 with two RBIs and three runs scored while Torkelson was 3-for-5 with a team-best four RBIs. Trevor Hauver added three hits, including his home run, and Lyle Lin added a three-hit effort as well.
Gage Workman notched his seventh homer of the season and added three RBIs to the effort while Drew Swift and Sam Ferri also added two-hit efforts. Cole Austin recorded his first hit as a Sun Devil, an RBI single in the seventh that opened the floodgates to a six-run frame to blow the game open.
The chorus of base hits nearly overshadowed an exceptional effort from Sun Devil ace Alec Marsh. The junior matched a career high with 10 strikeouts, allowing just two runs and one walk while scattering five hits over seven innings of work. Marsh left the game with a 15-2 advantage, with Nebraska salvaging a couple of runs over the final two innings with the result of the game not in question.
ASU had a leadoff batter in eight of nine innings and needed just four innings to put up more runs on Nebraska ace Matt Waldron than he had allowed all season. ASU advanced runners 15 times on 28 chances (.536), bat .333 (6-of-18) with runners in scoring position and players errorless ball defensively as the team got it done in all phases of the game.
Hauver took off for first base on a 3-1 pitch that looked to be a leadoff walk in the game, shaking off a strike call to bring the count full and launching the next pitch he saw deep over the right field wall to silence the Husker fans. The Sun Devil offense wouldn't give them an opportunity to get back into it.
Sam Ferri mounted a two-out rally in the second, knocking a two-RBI single on the first pitch he saw to give the Devils a 3-0 lead. A Husker solo shot got Nebraska on the board but ASU responded immediately with Hunter Bishop's 22ndlong ball of the year – a two run shot to make it 5-1.
Again Nebraska would tack on a solo run in the bottom of the third to keep things interesting, but Torkelson countered with a sac fly in the fourth in make it 6-2.
The Sun Devil bats quieted a bit in the middle innings but Marsh hit his stride at the same time, at one point retiring 10 consecutive Huskers to keep it a four-run game.
The floodgates finally opened in the seventh with ASU putting runners on the corners with one out for Austin. The redshirt junior - who as little as two weeks ago wasn't even necessarily expected to play this season after recovering from a back injury – powered one right back down the middle of the diamond for his first career hit and RBI in the Maroon and Gold.
Drew Swift followed that with an RBI single to make it 8-2 and open things up, but the Devils continued to pour it on. Hauver knocked a two-out RBI single and Torkelson lifted one that nearly left the ballpark – the literal ballpark – a monster three-run shot and the rout was on with ASU staking a 12-2 lead.
Workman ensured that Torkelson wouldn't get the last laugh of the night, launching a monster three-run dinger of his own that rivaled the All-American's moonshot in terms of majesty and distance. Workman's bomb made it a 15-2 game and there was little Nebraska could do but salvage a couple runs against the Sun Devil bullpen in the waning minutes of the game to make the score slightly more respectable.
The Sun Devils will look for the series victory tomorrow against the Huskers, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. Arizona time. Fans with access to the Big Ten Network through their cable providers will be able to stream the game live via btn2go.com. Fans can also tune in to NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM for radio coverage of the event.
It took one swing of the bat to silence them.
Trevor Hauver's leadoff home run set the tone for a mammoth day for the Sun Devil Baseball offense, as the team exploded for four home runs and 21 hits in a 15-6 rout of the Huskers at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Neb.
It was the most hits for the Sun Devils since recording 23 against San Francisco back in 2010. Four Sun Devils recorded three or more hits and seven had multi-hit efforts as the ASU put forth one of its most complete efforts of the season.
Hunter Bishop knocked his Pac-12 leading 22ndhome run of the season while Spencer Torkelson kept pace with him with his 18thof the year. Bishop was 4-for-6 with two RBIs and three runs scored while Torkelson was 3-for-5 with a team-best four RBIs. Trevor Hauver added three hits, including his home run, and Lyle Lin added a three-hit effort as well.
Gage Workman notched his seventh homer of the season and added three RBIs to the effort while Drew Swift and Sam Ferri also added two-hit efforts. Cole Austin recorded his first hit as a Sun Devil, an RBI single in the seventh that opened the floodgates to a six-run frame to blow the game open.
The chorus of base hits nearly overshadowed an exceptional effort from Sun Devil ace Alec Marsh. The junior matched a career high with 10 strikeouts, allowing just two runs and one walk while scattering five hits over seven innings of work. Marsh left the game with a 15-2 advantage, with Nebraska salvaging a couple of runs over the final two innings with the result of the game not in question.
ASU had a leadoff batter in eight of nine innings and needed just four innings to put up more runs on Nebraska ace Matt Waldron than he had allowed all season. ASU advanced runners 15 times on 28 chances (.536), bat .333 (6-of-18) with runners in scoring position and players errorless ball defensively as the team got it done in all phases of the game.
Hauver took off for first base on a 3-1 pitch that looked to be a leadoff walk in the game, shaking off a strike call to bring the count full and launching the next pitch he saw deep over the right field wall to silence the Husker fans. The Sun Devil offense wouldn't give them an opportunity to get back into it.
Sam Ferri mounted a two-out rally in the second, knocking a two-RBI single on the first pitch he saw to give the Devils a 3-0 lead. A Husker solo shot got Nebraska on the board but ASU responded immediately with Hunter Bishop's 22ndlong ball of the year – a two run shot to make it 5-1.
Again Nebraska would tack on a solo run in the bottom of the third to keep things interesting, but Torkelson countered with a sac fly in the fourth in make it 6-2.
The Sun Devil bats quieted a bit in the middle innings but Marsh hit his stride at the same time, at one point retiring 10 consecutive Huskers to keep it a four-run game.
The floodgates finally opened in the seventh with ASU putting runners on the corners with one out for Austin. The redshirt junior - who as little as two weeks ago wasn't even necessarily expected to play this season after recovering from a back injury – powered one right back down the middle of the diamond for his first career hit and RBI in the Maroon and Gold.
Drew Swift followed that with an RBI single to make it 8-2 and open things up, but the Devils continued to pour it on. Hauver knocked a two-out RBI single and Torkelson lifted one that nearly left the ballpark – the literal ballpark – a monster three-run shot and the rout was on with ASU staking a 12-2 lead.
Workman ensured that Torkelson wouldn't get the last laugh of the night, launching a monster three-run dinger of his own that rivaled the All-American's moonshot in terms of majesty and distance. Workman's bomb made it a 15-2 game and there was little Nebraska could do but salvage a couple runs against the Sun Devil bullpen in the waning minutes of the game to make the score slightly more respectable.
The Sun Devils will look for the series victory tomorrow against the Huskers, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. Arizona time. Fans with access to the Big Ten Network through their cable providers will be able to stream the game live via btn2go.com. Fans can also tune in to NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM for radio coverage of the event.