PHOENIX - No. 19 Sun Devil Baseball had an outstanding bounceback weekend performance after a heartbreaking midweek loss, this time it was to New Mexicon State in extra innings this past Wednesday. They responded by sweeping the Baylor Bears, outscoring them 26-8 in the three games they played. This was the first time this season that Arizona State has swept a conference series. This was also the first time that Baylor had been swept in a conference series since 2024.
The week got started with a midweek matchup with New Mexico State. The game immediately went back and forth, with ASU hanging on to a 6-5 lead after Landon Hairston getting his 25th home run of the season as his astonishing career year continued. Trailing 7-8 going into the bottom of the ninth, ASU had one last opportunity to tie or take the lead. Dean Toigo capitalized with a shot to deep center field to tie the game. The game headed to extra innings, with noone able to score through the 10th, New Mexico State got two runs as ASU was down 8-10. The Sun Devils tried to come back off a Nu'u Contrades RBI double to bring the deficit down to one, but that was all they weren't not able to add more to the scoreboard as they lost 9-10 after 11 innings.
The Sun Devils remained at home for a conference series with the Baylor Bears. On Friday, Cole Carlon delivered his second consecutive dominant outing. He struckout 12 through six innings while only allowing two runs. The offense backed him up by racking up five home runs and 16 hits. Hairston extended his hitting streak to 26 games, which is the fifth-longest streak in program history. Beckett Zavorek had two home runs despite only having one career homer entering the game. Nu'u Contrades, Dominic Smaldino and Dean Toigo all had home runs as well as the Sun Devils took the first game of the series, 11-2.
The Sun Devil pitching continued to shine in Saturday's matchup, as the outings from Taylor Penn, Colin Linder, Alex Overbay and Derek Schaefer were all efficient as they combined for 14 strikeouts. Contrades helped out on the offensive side, going 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a home run to deep left field. Zavorek added some insurance in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly to get Smaldino home. Arizona State held on and took the 4-2 win to clinch the series.
On Sunday, Kole Klecker had a resilient performance, tossing six innings allowing only four hits and a walk. He also struck out 8 Baylor batters in the process. ASU had a 3-2 lead going into the fifth and that's when the offense started to click in. Austen Roellig got it started with a two run homer to deep right field. Zavorek notched an RBI double and Brody Briggs hit an RBI single to bring in another run as the Sun Devils had four runs in the fifth and added three more in the sixth. Smaldino iced the game, hitting his ninth home run of the season as the Sun Devils won this one, 11-4, to earn the series sweep over the Bears.
Arizona State will look to keep up their winning ways as they will have a couple days off before heading to Orlando for a weekend series matchup with UCF.
The Knights are coming off a sweep themselves, winning all three games in their road series against Utah. They recorded 34 total runs offensively in the series and currently share the second best conference record with Arizona State at 14-7. They will head to Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida, to take on Stetson before returning home for a series with the Sun Devils.
All games this week can be streamed on ESPN+. All games this week can also be heard on KDUS AM 1060.
No. 19 ASU (31-14, 14-7 Big 12) | UCF (25-15, 14-7 Big 12)
This week
Friday, May 1, 3:00 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State at. UCF (Orlando) | Watch live: ESPN+ | Listen on KDUS AM 1060
Saturday, May 2, 3:00 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State at. UCF (Orlando) | Watch live: ESPN+ | Listen on KDUS AM 1060
Sunday, May 3, 10:00 a.m. | No. 19 Arizona State at. UCF (Orlando) | Watch live: ESPN+ | Listen on KDUS AM 1060
Next week
Tuesday, May 5, 5:00 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State at. Missouri (Columbia)
Friday, May 8, 6:05 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State vs. Oklahoma State (Phoenix)
Saturday, May 9, 6:05 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State vs. Oklahoma State (Phoenix)
Sunday, May 10, 1:05 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State vs. Oklahoma State (Phoenix)
Last week
Monday, April 22, 6:35 p.m. | No. 25 Arizona State vs. New Mexico State (Phoenix) | L, 9-10 (11 inn.)
Thursday, April 24, 6:35 p.m. | No. 25 Arizona State vs. Baylor (Phoenix) | W, 11-2
Friday, April 25, 6:35 p.m. | No. 25 Arizona State vs. Baylor (Phoenix) | W, 4-2
Saturday, April 26, 1:05 p.m. | No. 25 Arizona State vs. Baylor (Phoenix) | W, 11-4
All times MST
Get tickets
For more information on Sun Devil Baseball tickets, visit the following link.