PHOENIX – Sun Devil Baseball ended its weekend with a massive eighth-inning comeback to sweep USC for the first time since 2012 with a 9-8 victory on Saturday afternoon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Jacob Tobias and Joe Lampe each recorded two-run homers in the eighth, erasing a three-run deficit to go ahead after the Trojans had scored eight unanswered to take an 8-5 lead. For the first time this season, the Sun Devils were able to keep a one-run lead for the win after previously being 0-6 in one-run games.
Sean McLain had a three-hit game while Lampe and Ryan Campos each added a pair. Every batter in the lineup was able to reach base at least once. Lampe had some struggles at the plate this series, going 2-10 in the first two games, but that was all erased with his two-out, two-run shot to give the Sun Devils the lead in the penultimate frame.
ASU did its offensive damage against two of the best pitchers in the Pac-12, tagging starter Charlie Hurley for five earned runs after the sophomore had never allowed more than three in 27 career appearances prior. They then lit up Matt Keating for two homers and a double in the eighth inning after the USC closer had allowed just one extra-base hit in 15 appearances all season.
Brock Peery earned his second save of the weekend and team-leading sixth of the year. TURNING POINT
The Sun Devils were reeling after watching a 5-0 lead be completely wiped away by eight unanswered Trojans runs – including three in the top of the eighth to make it an 8-5 game. ASU wasn't sniffing USC reliever Jaden Agassi, who had faced the minimum in the first 12 batters he faced in the game and had allowed just one "single" on a softball dribbler to third in the seventh that the third basemen slipped while attempting to field. The Devils had a pair of freshmen leading off the bottom of the eight and the duo certainly didn't act the part. Ryan Campos laced a leadoff single to left field for the first true hit off Agassi, forcing USC to go to its normally reliable closer Matt Keating. Keating was immediately welcomed to the game by Jacob Tobias, who launched one off the National Champions banner in right field for the first homer given up by Keating this year to get the Devils within a run. THE BIG MOMENT
Nate Baez followed the big blast with his team-leading 16th double of the year, but ASU saw the eight- and nine-hole hitters go down without any pomp and circumstance. Joe Lampe - who had struggled in the first two games this weekend, going just 2-for-10 – stepped to the plate and put a good swing on a 1-0 pitch and the high fly ball took to the airstream down the right field line while the crowd and the Sun Devils waited with bated breath on the landing spot, wondering if it would be far enough OR fair enough. It turned out to be both as Lampe's ninth-home run of the season put the Sun Devils on top at 9-8. THE FINAL STRAW
Certainly nothing was a given in this one, even moreso as ASU was 0-6 this season in one-run games. Brock Peery made his third appearance of the weekend and was charged with navigating a tight lead. Peery walked the first batter in the ninth put the Trojans' go-ahead run on the basepath immediate. But the sophomore didn't flinch and got the first out to left on just two pitches. He followed that with another two-pitch AB to get the Trojan to foul out to the edge of the playing surface on a nice play by Conor Davis. Finally, Peery threw two called strikes and a third swinging to conclude the game and earned his sixth save of the year and ASU's first victory in a one-run game. NOTABLES
FIRST INNING
The Trojans made some hard contact early in the game with two singles from the Trojans' leadoff and two-hole hitters. Tulloch saw his first out come as a flyout to center field. Then his defense picked him up as a grounder rolled right to second base, allowing shortstop Sean McLain to range over to field the ground ball with his foot already on the bag, and throw to Davis for a double play. McLain singled to left for the Sun Devils' first hit. Long singled to right, putting runners at first and second. Davis reached first on a fielder's choice, getting Long out at second, but pushing McLain ninety feet away from the first run of the game. Campos saw four straight balls to load the bases, but Tobias' at-bat would end in a ground out, meaning the Sun Devils would not see any runs come from the inning.
SECOND INNING
The Trojans started the inning with a high fly ball into centerfield and on the next pitch, Tulloch gave up a single. A walk put runners on first and second with one out, but the next batter grounded one hardly to Long who made a great play and tagged his base and made the throw to first right in time for the 5-3 double play. The Sun Devil bats went down quietly.
THIRD INNING
Tulloch settled in and went one, two, three, with two strikeouts and a grounder to Davis. Lampe led off the third with a triple off the top of the 395 marker in center field. McLain knocked a single to right, putting the first run of the game on the board. Davis swatted a double down the left field line to plate McLain. As usual in recent weeks, Ryan Campos delivered, with a hit over the shortstop's head to bring Davis home. With one out, Campos attempted to steal second, getting caught, but Tobias managed to get on with two outs on a full count walk. Baez hit a grounder up the middle to put away a third out.
FOURTH INNING
Tulloch produced two grounders for the first and second outs of the inning, but a two-out double into the right-center field gap would put a runner in scoring position for the Trojans. Tulloch bounced back and retired the next batter with a three-pitch strikeout to end the inning. Murphy was HBP to lead things off for the Sun Devils and Champagne and Lampe both walked to load them with no outs. McLain struck one deep into right field for the RBI sac fly, but Long and Davis struck out without capitalizing on the opportunity. A wild pitch though did bring an extra run in for the Devils to give them a 5-0 lead.
FIFTH INNING
Tulloch walked the leadoff batter in five pitches. The Sun Devils got an out on the board with a flyout to Lampe. Runners were put at second and third, after a double to left center. Tulloch lost a 1-2 count, walking the batter at the plate to load the bases. The next Trojan batter knocked a single to center, getting his team its two first runs of the game. After the two-run single. Tulloch exited the game and made way for Christian Bodlovich. The reliever threw one pitch to get the Sun Devils exactly what they wanted: a double play to end the inning. The Sun Devils had a quiet round of at-bats to end the inning.
SIXTH INNING
Bodlovich came back out for some more work and induced grounder for the first out, but back-to-back singles would put runners at the corners. He struck out the following batter, but the next one lined a single into center that Lampe could not handle as it hit off his glove and rolled away from him to bring in both runs for the Trojans to get back with a run. Will Levine went in to relieve Bodlovich and hit the first batter he faced, but a slow grounder down the right-field line would get the Devils out of the inning. Arizona State went down one, two, three.
SEVENTH INNING
The seventh would serve as a blow to the Sun Devils. Levine walked his first batter of the seventh on a full count and then walked the second batter faced on four straight balls. The Trojans executed a double steal, putting runners at second and third. What came as the first out would also come as the tying run in the game. A ground out by the Trojans' fourth hitter also made the game that was once 5-0, 5-5 at this point. Blake Pivaroff replaced Will Levine. On a 3-0 count, Baez battled the sun to catch a pop up, and Pivaroff struck out the final batter of the inning. McLain led off the bottom half of the inning with an infield "single" after the third basemen slipped attempting to field a dribbler but a flyout and double play sent ASU back to the dugout with no damage done.
EIGHTH INNING
Jared Glenn entered the game and the Trojans started the top of the seventh inning with a grounder to Long, followed by another grounder to Long but the throw went into the dugout and put a baserunner on second with one out. A HBP and a double into left-center that Lampe tried diving for to make the play, would bring in two runners for the Trojans, giving them their first lead of the game. With the infield in, McLain made a nice play on a grounder to get the second out of the inning. Chase Webster then went in was welcomed with a double, which put the Sun Devils at a three-run deficit as USC reeled off eight unanswered runs to take an 8-5 lead. A pop-out to McLain ended the hectic half inning.
Campos led off the inning with an opposite-field single over the shortstop's head - the first true hit that USC's Jaden Agassi had allowed in 4.0 innings in which he had absolutely stifled the Sun Devil offense. With a runner on, USC went to its normally reliable closer Matt Keating. Jacob Tobias welcomed Keating to the game as he immediately smoked a ball off the National Championships board in right field to put Arizona State within one on the first home run Keating had allowed this season. Baez then laced one over a diving third baseman for his 16th double of the year, but the next two went down quietly. Lampe could not pass up on the two-out rally so he did what he does best and gave his guys the lead with a two-run shot right over the right-field wall. The inning ended, but not before ASU regained the lead.
NINTH INNING
Brock Peery came in to close the game, but initially gave up a five-pitch leadoff walk. Unfazed Peery did not let the Trojans see anything else as a fly out, foul out and strike out would conclude the game and secure the series sweep over the Trojans. ON DECK
The Devils will host CSUN this weekend in a midweek tilt on Tuesday at 6 p.m. AZT. The game will be available online through the ASU Live Stream and over the airwaves on KDUS 1060 AM.
Jacob Tobias and Joe Lampe each recorded two-run homers in the eighth, erasing a three-run deficit to go ahead after the Trojans had scored eight unanswered to take an 8-5 lead. For the first time this season, the Sun Devils were able to keep a one-run lead for the win after previously being 0-6 in one-run games.
Sean McLain had a three-hit game while Lampe and Ryan Campos each added a pair. Every batter in the lineup was able to reach base at least once. Lampe had some struggles at the plate this series, going 2-10 in the first two games, but that was all erased with his two-out, two-run shot to give the Sun Devils the lead in the penultimate frame.
ASU did its offensive damage against two of the best pitchers in the Pac-12, tagging starter Charlie Hurley for five earned runs after the sophomore had never allowed more than three in 27 career appearances prior. They then lit up Matt Keating for two homers and a double in the eighth inning after the USC closer had allowed just one extra-base hit in 15 appearances all season.
Brock Peery earned his second save of the weekend and team-leading sixth of the year. TURNING POINT
The Sun Devils were reeling after watching a 5-0 lead be completely wiped away by eight unanswered Trojans runs – including three in the top of the eighth to make it an 8-5 game. ASU wasn't sniffing USC reliever Jaden Agassi, who had faced the minimum in the first 12 batters he faced in the game and had allowed just one "single" on a softball dribbler to third in the seventh that the third basemen slipped while attempting to field. The Devils had a pair of freshmen leading off the bottom of the eight and the duo certainly didn't act the part. Ryan Campos laced a leadoff single to left field for the first true hit off Agassi, forcing USC to go to its normally reliable closer Matt Keating. Keating was immediately welcomed to the game by Jacob Tobias, who launched one off the National Champions banner in right field for the first homer given up by Keating this year to get the Devils within a run. THE BIG MOMENT
Nate Baez followed the big blast with his team-leading 16th double of the year, but ASU saw the eight- and nine-hole hitters go down without any pomp and circumstance. Joe Lampe - who had struggled in the first two games this weekend, going just 2-for-10 – stepped to the plate and put a good swing on a 1-0 pitch and the high fly ball took to the airstream down the right field line while the crowd and the Sun Devils waited with bated breath on the landing spot, wondering if it would be far enough OR fair enough. It turned out to be both as Lampe's ninth-home run of the season put the Sun Devils on top at 9-8. THE FINAL STRAW
Certainly nothing was a given in this one, even moreso as ASU was 0-6 this season in one-run games. Brock Peery made his third appearance of the weekend and was charged with navigating a tight lead. Peery walked the first batter in the ninth put the Trojans' go-ahead run on the basepath immediate. But the sophomore didn't flinch and got the first out to left on just two pitches. He followed that with another two-pitch AB to get the Trojan to foul out to the edge of the playing surface on a nice play by Conor Davis. Finally, Peery threw two called strikes and a third swinging to conclude the game and earned his sixth save of the year and ASU's first victory in a one-run game. NOTABLES
- Joe Lampe's third-inning triple was the first allowed by USC starter Charlie Hurley this year in over 45 innings pitched.
- The Sun Devils scored three runs off Hurley in the third, matching the most runs he had allowed in a single GAME in his career - let alone a single inning.
- ASU finished with 5 earned runs off of Hurley, who entered the game with a 1.85 ERA, a 4-1 record and had allowed just nine total earned runs all season.
- In fact in 27 career games entering the afternoon, Hurley had allowed three earned runs just once (vs. Cal earlier this year in 5.2 innings) and had never allowed more than two outside of that game.
- ASU chased Hurley after 3.0 innings, his shortest weekend start of the season. He had gone over 5.0 in each of his last six starts.
- Entering the day, USC closer Matt Keating hadn't given up a home run all season and had allowed just one extra base hit in 20.1 innings over 15 appearances while holding opponents to .132 hitting He gave up two homers and a double in the span of five batters in the 8th.
- The Sun Devils recorded double-digit hits for the 13th time in the last 15 games and 21st time in 37 games this season.
- With two more hits this afternoon, true freshman Ryan Campos is now batting .385 in Pac-12 games this season, nearly 30 points more than any of his teammates while his 11 RBIs are tied for third on the team. He is reaching base at a .467 clip in that time.
- His huge rally-starting eighth inning single tonight gave him multiple hits in a game for the sixth straight game and the eighth time in the last 10 games.
- ASU scored 31 runs in the series - which is more than USC had allowed in an entire three-game series since UCLA scored 42 from April 20-22, 2018 - with 43 weekend series occurring in that span.
- Nate Baez recorded his team-leading 16th double of the season - a pivotal one in the eighth inning that represented the tying run.
- ASU is averaging 9.9 runs per game in its last 11 games - and that includes being shut out in one of those - and 12.3 hits per game in that span.
- In ASU's first 19 games through the 21-0 shellacking at Oregon State, ASU was batting .240 with runners in scoring position (49-of-204). In 18 games since then, ASU is batting .322 with RISP (73-of-227).
- With the two two-run homers in the eighth, ASU has recorded a long ball with runners on base on 13 of its last 15 home runs. That's notable as ASU had baserunners on just eight of its first 27 homers this year.
FIRST INNING
The Trojans made some hard contact early in the game with two singles from the Trojans' leadoff and two-hole hitters. Tulloch saw his first out come as a flyout to center field. Then his defense picked him up as a grounder rolled right to second base, allowing shortstop Sean McLain to range over to field the ground ball with his foot already on the bag, and throw to Davis for a double play. McLain singled to left for the Sun Devils' first hit. Long singled to right, putting runners at first and second. Davis reached first on a fielder's choice, getting Long out at second, but pushing McLain ninety feet away from the first run of the game. Campos saw four straight balls to load the bases, but Tobias' at-bat would end in a ground out, meaning the Sun Devils would not see any runs come from the inning.
SECOND INNING
The Trojans started the inning with a high fly ball into centerfield and on the next pitch, Tulloch gave up a single. A walk put runners on first and second with one out, but the next batter grounded one hardly to Long who made a great play and tagged his base and made the throw to first right in time for the 5-3 double play. The Sun Devil bats went down quietly.
THIRD INNING
Tulloch settled in and went one, two, three, with two strikeouts and a grounder to Davis. Lampe led off the third with a triple off the top of the 395 marker in center field. McLain knocked a single to right, putting the first run of the game on the board. Davis swatted a double down the left field line to plate McLain. As usual in recent weeks, Ryan Campos delivered, with a hit over the shortstop's head to bring Davis home. With one out, Campos attempted to steal second, getting caught, but Tobias managed to get on with two outs on a full count walk. Baez hit a grounder up the middle to put away a third out.
FOURTH INNING
Tulloch produced two grounders for the first and second outs of the inning, but a two-out double into the right-center field gap would put a runner in scoring position for the Trojans. Tulloch bounced back and retired the next batter with a three-pitch strikeout to end the inning. Murphy was HBP to lead things off for the Sun Devils and Champagne and Lampe both walked to load them with no outs. McLain struck one deep into right field for the RBI sac fly, but Long and Davis struck out without capitalizing on the opportunity. A wild pitch though did bring an extra run in for the Devils to give them a 5-0 lead.
FIFTH INNING
Tulloch walked the leadoff batter in five pitches. The Sun Devils got an out on the board with a flyout to Lampe. Runners were put at second and third, after a double to left center. Tulloch lost a 1-2 count, walking the batter at the plate to load the bases. The next Trojan batter knocked a single to center, getting his team its two first runs of the game. After the two-run single. Tulloch exited the game and made way for Christian Bodlovich. The reliever threw one pitch to get the Sun Devils exactly what they wanted: a double play to end the inning. The Sun Devils had a quiet round of at-bats to end the inning.
SIXTH INNING
Bodlovich came back out for some more work and induced grounder for the first out, but back-to-back singles would put runners at the corners. He struck out the following batter, but the next one lined a single into center that Lampe could not handle as it hit off his glove and rolled away from him to bring in both runs for the Trojans to get back with a run. Will Levine went in to relieve Bodlovich and hit the first batter he faced, but a slow grounder down the right-field line would get the Devils out of the inning. Arizona State went down one, two, three.
SEVENTH INNING
The seventh would serve as a blow to the Sun Devils. Levine walked his first batter of the seventh on a full count and then walked the second batter faced on four straight balls. The Trojans executed a double steal, putting runners at second and third. What came as the first out would also come as the tying run in the game. A ground out by the Trojans' fourth hitter also made the game that was once 5-0, 5-5 at this point. Blake Pivaroff replaced Will Levine. On a 3-0 count, Baez battled the sun to catch a pop up, and Pivaroff struck out the final batter of the inning. McLain led off the bottom half of the inning with an infield "single" after the third basemen slipped attempting to field a dribbler but a flyout and double play sent ASU back to the dugout with no damage done.
EIGHTH INNING
Jared Glenn entered the game and the Trojans started the top of the seventh inning with a grounder to Long, followed by another grounder to Long but the throw went into the dugout and put a baserunner on second with one out. A HBP and a double into left-center that Lampe tried diving for to make the play, would bring in two runners for the Trojans, giving them their first lead of the game. With the infield in, McLain made a nice play on a grounder to get the second out of the inning. Chase Webster then went in was welcomed with a double, which put the Sun Devils at a three-run deficit as USC reeled off eight unanswered runs to take an 8-5 lead. A pop-out to McLain ended the hectic half inning.
Campos led off the inning with an opposite-field single over the shortstop's head - the first true hit that USC's Jaden Agassi had allowed in 4.0 innings in which he had absolutely stifled the Sun Devil offense. With a runner on, USC went to its normally reliable closer Matt Keating. Jacob Tobias welcomed Keating to the game as he immediately smoked a ball off the National Championships board in right field to put Arizona State within one on the first home run Keating had allowed this season. Baez then laced one over a diving third baseman for his 16th double of the year, but the next two went down quietly. Lampe could not pass up on the two-out rally so he did what he does best and gave his guys the lead with a two-run shot right over the right-field wall. The inning ended, but not before ASU regained the lead.
NINTH INNING
Brock Peery came in to close the game, but initially gave up a five-pitch leadoff walk. Unfazed Peery did not let the Trojans see anything else as a fly out, foul out and strike out would conclude the game and secure the series sweep over the Trojans. ON DECK
The Devils will host CSUN this weekend in a midweek tilt on Tuesday at 6 p.m. AZT. The game will be available online through the ASU Live Stream and over the airwaves on KDUS 1060 AM.