PHOENIX – For eight innings, the Sun Devil Baseball team was recording the hits but the runs weren't there to show for it. That all changed with a frenetic ninth inning as ASU rattled off four runs against the nation's third-ranked team and an All-American closer as the Sun Devils walked off Stanford, 6-5, behind Myles Denson's pinch-hit sacrifice fly on Thursday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Sun Devils had stranded 12 baserunners over the first eight innings of action, recording 10 base hits and consistently threatening but only having two runs to show for their efforts. The Cardinal took advantage of ASU's lack of run production, pushing across one run at a time to stake a 5-2 advantage after eight innings and setting the table for All-American closer Jack Little.
ASU was unfazed by the previous career accolades, ripping off four straight hits to open the inning to make things interesting. Alika Williams pushed one across on an RBI single following a leadoff double from Hunter Bishop. Lyle Lin blooped one into left to put Williams in scoring position and Gage Workman made it a one-run game with an RBI double to put the tying run 90 feet away and loading the bases with no outs following an intention walk of Carter Aldrete..
Then a pair of unlikely heroes took over.
Cole Austin stepped to the plate after taking over as the designated hitter midway through the game. After missing the entirety of 2018 due to NCAA transfer regulations and missing well over half of 2019 following back surgery before the season, Austin was playing in his first career game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The redshirt junior made the most of it as he got enough of a 3-1 pitch to send it to the outfield for a game-tying sac fly that also moved all the runners up 90 feet and putting the winning run at third base.
When head coach Tracy Smith walked down the dugout to tell Myles Denson to get ready to pinch hit, the junior was already sitting on the bench with his batting helmet and gloves on and bat in hand. Denson was ready for the moment and delivered in a big way, battling off five consecutive strikes before lifting a sacrifice fly to left field to score Workman from third and record his first career walk-off RBI.
Nine Sun Devils combined to finish with 14 hits on the day, led by a 3-for-4, two RBI outing from Williams. Workman, Trevor Hauver and Lyle Lin all added multi-hit efforts while Spencer Torkelson extended his hitting streak to nine games and scored a run.
ASu record six hits with two outs, eight hits with runners on the basepath and were 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position – which excludes the two sac flies that inevitably won the game.
The incredible rally was likely only made possible thanks to the stalwart efforts of freshman right-hander Blake Burzell and the Sun Devil defense in the seventh inning. Stanford loaded the bases with no outs and a 4-2 lead and - for the second time in three games - the Sun Devils escaped that exact scenario without any damage done.
With the infield playing in and heavily shifted against the Cardinal's cleanup hitter Will Matthiessen, Drew Swift ranged perfectly to his left on a soft hit ground ball and made a hard throw to home for the force out to put one away. Burzell followed that with a swinging strikeout against big-bopper Andrew Daschbach and then induced the inning-ending fielder's choice for the force at second to keep ASU within a run.
Burzell finished the day with one run allowed in 2.0 innings pitched on a solo home run on the first pitch he threw of the night, but settled nicely to strikeout two and make pivotal pitches to keep ASU in striking distance.
Stanford would push across an insurance run in the top of the eighth to make it a three-run game, but Chaz Montoya limited the damage in his 1.2 scoreless innings of work to earn the win while also keeping ASU close enough to mount the rally.
Alec Marsh was efficient in his start, shaking off a heavy pitch load in the opening frames to go five innings with only three runs allowed and four strikeouts. Though ASU struggled for the majority of the game to find key hits, it also did its part to strand 10 Stanford baserunners over the course of the game to keep things from spiraling out of control. This was done largely in part by holding the Cardinal to 3-for-18 hitting (.167) with runners on the basepath.
Stanford got out to a quick start, capitalizing on a pair of first inning walks for two runs on a couple of RBI singles. But ASU quickly responded in the bottom half of the frame, with Torkelson leading off with a single and eventually coming home on a Williams sac fly.
A solo home run from Stanford in the fourth made it 3-1 but, again, ASU responded with Trevor Hauver RBI single to get back within a run.
The Sun Devils will return to action on Friday for the second game of the series, beginning at 6 p.m. PT. The game will be available on Pac-12 Network – Arizona and also available on the radio on NBC Sports 1060 AM.
The Sun Devils had stranded 12 baserunners over the first eight innings of action, recording 10 base hits and consistently threatening but only having two runs to show for their efforts. The Cardinal took advantage of ASU's lack of run production, pushing across one run at a time to stake a 5-2 advantage after eight innings and setting the table for All-American closer Jack Little.
ASU was unfazed by the previous career accolades, ripping off four straight hits to open the inning to make things interesting. Alika Williams pushed one across on an RBI single following a leadoff double from Hunter Bishop. Lyle Lin blooped one into left to put Williams in scoring position and Gage Workman made it a one-run game with an RBI double to put the tying run 90 feet away and loading the bases with no outs following an intention walk of Carter Aldrete..
Then a pair of unlikely heroes took over.
Cole Austin stepped to the plate after taking over as the designated hitter midway through the game. After missing the entirety of 2018 due to NCAA transfer regulations and missing well over half of 2019 following back surgery before the season, Austin was playing in his first career game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The redshirt junior made the most of it as he got enough of a 3-1 pitch to send it to the outfield for a game-tying sac fly that also moved all the runners up 90 feet and putting the winning run at third base.
When head coach Tracy Smith walked down the dugout to tell Myles Denson to get ready to pinch hit, the junior was already sitting on the bench with his batting helmet and gloves on and bat in hand. Denson was ready for the moment and delivered in a big way, battling off five consecutive strikes before lifting a sacrifice fly to left field to score Workman from third and record his first career walk-off RBI.
Nine Sun Devils combined to finish with 14 hits on the day, led by a 3-for-4, two RBI outing from Williams. Workman, Trevor Hauver and Lyle Lin all added multi-hit efforts while Spencer Torkelson extended his hitting streak to nine games and scored a run.
ASu record six hits with two outs, eight hits with runners on the basepath and were 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position – which excludes the two sac flies that inevitably won the game.
The incredible rally was likely only made possible thanks to the stalwart efforts of freshman right-hander Blake Burzell and the Sun Devil defense in the seventh inning. Stanford loaded the bases with no outs and a 4-2 lead and - for the second time in three games - the Sun Devils escaped that exact scenario without any damage done.
With the infield playing in and heavily shifted against the Cardinal's cleanup hitter Will Matthiessen, Drew Swift ranged perfectly to his left on a soft hit ground ball and made a hard throw to home for the force out to put one away. Burzell followed that with a swinging strikeout against big-bopper Andrew Daschbach and then induced the inning-ending fielder's choice for the force at second to keep ASU within a run.
Burzell finished the day with one run allowed in 2.0 innings pitched on a solo home run on the first pitch he threw of the night, but settled nicely to strikeout two and make pivotal pitches to keep ASU in striking distance.
Stanford would push across an insurance run in the top of the eighth to make it a three-run game, but Chaz Montoya limited the damage in his 1.2 scoreless innings of work to earn the win while also keeping ASU close enough to mount the rally.
Alec Marsh was efficient in his start, shaking off a heavy pitch load in the opening frames to go five innings with only three runs allowed and four strikeouts. Though ASU struggled for the majority of the game to find key hits, it also did its part to strand 10 Stanford baserunners over the course of the game to keep things from spiraling out of control. This was done largely in part by holding the Cardinal to 3-for-18 hitting (.167) with runners on the basepath.
Stanford got out to a quick start, capitalizing on a pair of first inning walks for two runs on a couple of RBI singles. But ASU quickly responded in the bottom half of the frame, with Torkelson leading off with a single and eventually coming home on a Williams sac fly.
A solo home run from Stanford in the fourth made it 3-1 but, again, ASU responded with Trevor Hauver RBI single to get back within a run.
The Sun Devils will return to action on Friday for the second game of the series, beginning at 6 p.m. PT. The game will be available on Pac-12 Network – Arizona and also available on the radio on NBC Sports 1060 AM.