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Baseball takes care of business in elimination game of Lincoln Regional in 17-0 rout

Kole Klecker pitched 8.0 shutout innings for the Sun Devils, striking out a career high 13 in the rout.

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Baseball takes care of business in elimination game of Lincoln Regional in 17-0 routBaseball takes care of business in elimination game of Lincoln Regional in 17-0 rout
Alyssa Colwell

Kole Klecker pitched 8.0 shutout innings for the Sun Devils, striking out a career high 13.

LINCOLN, Neb. – No. 22 Sun Devil Baseball bounced back in a big way from Friday’s tough loss, routing South Dakota State, 17-0, to stay alive in the elimination bracket of the Lincoln Regional on Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.

Having to take the field less than 13 hours after a heartbreaking 14-inning loss, Arizona State (38-20) rode a career game from Valley-native Kole Klecker and one of the most explosive innings in NCAA postseason history en route to tomorrow’s elimination game between the loser of the Ole Miss-Nebraska contest later Saturday evening.

The Sun Devils recorded grand slams in the fifth and sixth innings from Nu’u Contrades and Austen Roellig to blow the game open, taking advantage of nine Jackrabbit walks and three errors to score 17 runs on just 11 hits. 

Klecker gave the Sun Devils a career-high 8.0 innings of work, smashing his career high with 13 strikeouts - four more than his previous high of nine set as a freshman in the postseason of the 2023 tournament. The veteran struck out two in each of the first five innings of the game, giving the offense time to wake up before he capped his outing off by striking out the side in the eighth inning.

The bats were quiet early while the team tried to solve SDSU starter Drew McDowell, recording just one hit over the first four innings - a solo shot from Dean Toigo in the first to give ASU a 1-0 lead.

When the bats came alive, they did so in historic fashion with an 11-run fifth inning that represented the second-most runs scored by a team in an NCAA Regional or Super Regional in history, highlighted by Contrades’ grand slam - his third homer of the regional. 

Turning point
Kole Klecker set the tone for the contest and allowed for the offense to get its legs under them. Klecker recorded two strikeouts in EACH of his first five innings of the game, recording a career-high 13 strikeouts overall. Klecker’s previous career-high came as a freshman in 2023 in the Fort Worth Super Regional against Indiana State. Klecker’s two hits allowed came by way of an infield single and a bloop shot to shallow right field that found a hole in between ASU defenders. 

Big moment
The Sun Devil bats were quiet through four innings with the team’s lone hit coming on Dean Toigo’s two-out solo shot in the first inning. Still, the team held a 1-0 lead through four innings behind Klecker’s gem before erupting in the fifth. Arizona State recorded nine runs before even recording an out in the frame, capitalizing on five South Dakota State outs and two errors. The Jackrabbits had five pitchers face ASU in the frame that lasted 41 minutes. The loudest hit came on Nu’u Contrades’ third grand slam of the season - ASU’s nation-leading 10th of the year - on a line drive opposite field shot that cleared the low right field wall into the SDSU bullpen.  The 11 runs tied for the second-most runs in an inning in a Regional or Super Regional game and the most since LSU posted 18 in 1996. 

Final straw
One opposite field grand slam into the bullpen wasn’t quite enough for the Sun Devils. ASU again loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning, plating one on McGary’s RBI hit-by-pitch before Roellig took one the other way for his first career grand slam to make it a 17-0 game. Klecker continued to roll through eight innings to save the Sun Devil bullpen for a pivotal elimination doubleheader on Sunday - a new career high - while striking out 13, the most for a Sun Devil pitcher in a postseason game since Mike Leake had 15 against Oral Roberts in 2009.   

The big number
11 - Arizona State put up an 11-spot on South Dakota State in the fifth inning that tied for the second-most runs in an inning in a regional/super game and most since LSU posted 18 in 1996. It was ASU’s most-runs in an innings since scoring 10 against Grand Canyon last season. The 11-run fifth inning inning was the first time ASU had plated 11 runs in an inning since April 26, 2015 against Tennessee Tech, when it scored 11.

Notables

  • ASU has scored multiple runs in 107 of its 190 half-innings with runs this season. ASU has 58 innings with at least three runs scored, 32 with at least four and 25 with at least five.
  • Landon Hairston extended his reached base streak to 41 consecutive games with his fifth-inning RBI single. 
  • Hairston’s two-RBI day gave him 80 for the season - the first 80-RBI season for an ASU player since Brett Wallace had 83 in 2008.
  • BOTH RBI singles that Hairston recorded in the fifth inning came against pitchers recently having entered the contest. Entering the weekend, he had 27 hits and 34 RBIs when being one of the first three batters an opponent reliever faced, ranking first in the nation in both categories. He was batting .509 off new pitchers that faced him within their first three batters faced - seventh-best in the country. His absurd 1.952 OPS off those new pitchers was first in the country. In fact, that was the highest of any player in the country since AT LEAST 2019.
  • The Sun Devils assumed sole possession of first in the nation with their 10th and 11th grand slams of the season. 
  • ASU’s 17 runs were its most in the postseason since scoring 17 against Kent State in the first game of the 2009 Tempe Regional.

    Up next
    The Sun Devils will turn to their next game, squaring off the with the loser of Saturday's Nebraska and Ole Miss game at 12 p.m AZT. The game can be streamed on an ESPN Network (specific channel TBD) and is available over the Valley airwaves on KDUS-1060.

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Inning by inning
First inning
Starting for the Sun Devils, Kole Klecker pitched a 1-2-3 top of the inning, complete with two strikeouts and a flyout. 

After the first two went down quickly, Dean Toigo lifted a home run to right center to give the Sun Devils a 1-0 lead. Smaldino popped out to second to end the frame.

Second inning
Klecker continued his outing on the mound, getting a flyout and a strikeout before allowing an infield single. However, he was able to strike out the next batter to close out the scoreless inning. 

The Sun Devils went down in order in the second.

Third inning
Another three-up, three-down inning saw Klecker strike out two and get an inning-ending groundout. 

Despite a leadoff walk from Brody Briggs, Arizona State wasn’t able to move him over as a strikeout, popout, and flyout followed. 

Fourth inning
Adding another two strikeouts, Klecker delivered another scoreless frame.

Arizona State’s bats were quiet in the fourth.

Fifth inning
Continuing his outing on the mound, Klecker put up another zero with a scoreless inning, bookended by strikeouts. 

Garrett Michel led off the inning with a walk before moving over to third on a single from Austen Roellig. Briggs took a four-pitch walk to load up the bases, and PJ Moutzouridis worked an RBI-walk to extend ASU’s lead to 2-0. Landon Hairston delivered an RBI-single through the left side before Nu’u Contrades came through with a big swing, depositing a ball into the visitor bullpen for a grand slam, making it 7-0, Sun Devils. Toigo then reached and advanced to third on an error from the pitcher, coming around to score on a single from Dominic Smaldino. Longo singled to put runners on the corners, and Ky McGary walked to load the bases once again. Back-to-back four-pitch walks from Roellig and Briggs drove in two more runs for the Sun Devils to make it a 10-0 game. Moutzouridis grounded into a double play, driving in a run, and Hairston picked up his second RBI-single of the inning to make it 12-0. A flyout to center ended the frame.

Sixth inning
Klecker returned to the mound after the long bottom of the fifth and pitched another scoreless frame. The first hitter went down on a groundout, and after allowing a bloop single, Klecker induced an inning-ending double play. 

Toigo took a leadoff walk, then moved over to second as Smaldino reached on an error. A single from Longo loaded the bases, and a hit-by-pitch for McGary drove in another run for Arizona State. Roellig then delivered a grand slam to right center to make it a 17-0 lead. Coen Niclai, pinch hitting for Briggs, singled into left, and Moutzouridis followed it up with a single through the left side. Hairston flew out to center, moving both runners into scoring position, but both were left stranded after a groundout and a pop out.

Seventh inning
Remaining on the mound, Klecker retired the first hitter on a flyout to left field. He walked the next hitter, then got a fielder’s choice groundout for the second out. Another flyout to left concluded another scoreless frame. 

Despite the first two hitters reaching on a walk and a hit by pitch, the next three Arizona State hitters went down in order, with the score staying at 17-0. 

Eighth inning
Klecker went back out for the eighth, retiring the first two hitters via strikeout before allowing a two-out double down the left field line. A walk put two runners on for South Dakota St, but Klecker was able to strikeout the next batter to retire the side.

Arizona State went down in order in the bottom of the eighth. 

Ninth inning
Josh Butler was called in from the bullpen, retiring the side on three straight groundouts, sealing the 17-0 victory.  

 

Quotables

Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening statement
"Huge resilience from our guys to bounce back today after a marathon game last night, where they left everything on the field and came up a little short, but for them to bounce back today was huge.” Can’t say enough about the job Kole Klecker did, keeping us in there and keeping zeros on the board. Offense took a while to get going there, as McDowell had us off balance there through four innings, but just the job Klecker did to give us some length and put up zeros, give our bullpen a chance to rest, was just huge, exactly what we needed today. Offensively, we turned it on there in the fifth, were able to again get to the bullpen, take advantage of getting ahead in the count and some walks and stuff like that, but our guys did a good job staying patient and taking what the game gave them. Super excited, super happy for our guys and the way they bounced back.”

On leaving Klecker in to finish the eighth
"I wanted to. He was up there around 110 pitches, and I wanted to get a sense of what he was feeling at that point in time. Because that’s a lot of pitches for him, and I wanted to make sure he was still feeling good, and to let him know to empty the tank. This is the last hitter you got, and I got the response I was looking for when I went out there. But it’s his game. I wanted him to try to get through that inning if he could, and he did a great job of getting that last guy out.”

On the message to the team heading into tomorrow
"We know we’re going to play somebody good tomorrow, and our message is, stay ready. If we come and play our game and stay mentally ready to play our best baseball, I don’t really care who we play. And that’s always been the message for our guys, is play the best baseball we can, and we’ll figure out tonight who we’re going to play tomorrow, and figure out a starting pitcher. We know it’s all hands on deck, so we’ll be excited, whoever we play.”

Infielder Nu'u Contrades
On his third home run in the past two games
"I’ve just been trying to stick to my approach. Hard the other way is when I do the most damage, so just trying to stick with that and stay on the fastball. Timing has been the biggest key.”

Pitcher Kole Klecker
On his emotions throughout the game
"Obviously it’s win or go home, right? So there’s a little more pressure on this game, and then what we went through earlier this morning with the long one, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Just kind of had to go out there, compete was the biggest thing. And then early on, just kind of established a really good three pitch mix, and I was just pitching off all three of those pitches. I saw a lot of success with that. Defense played great behind me, and then it’s obviously really easy when the offense puts up 17 runs, you got that cushion to really attack hitters. So all in all, just a really good performance out of the whole team to bounce back from that last game.”

On staying loose during the long bottom half of the innings
"It’s a little bittersweet because they’re scoring runs for you, but they’re making you wait an hour, especially when I was in a good rhythm and groove. But you just have to keep the emotions in check, move around when I can. I actually ended up going down to the bullpen a little bit and played some catch when it was getting super long. I just realized that your body can do a lot, just stay mentally sharp and ready, and just not really check out. Just always stay in the game. So that helped a lot.”

Season Home Run Tracker (114)

Season/Career details with video from all ASU's home runs this season

Season, 28 | Career, 32

May 21 vs. Cincinnati (Fourth inning, 393 feet to right field)

May 16 at Houston (Sixth inning, 365 feet to right field)

May 15 at Houston (First inning, 389 feet to right field)

April 22 vs. New Mexico State (Fourth inning, 403 feet to right field)

April 22 vs. New Mexico State (First inning, 435 feet to right field)

April 12 vs. Utah (Fifth inning, 339 feet to right field)

April 11 vs. Utah (Eighth inning, 429 feet to right field)


April 11 vs. Utah (Fourth inning, 405 feet to right field)

 


April 10 vs. Utah (Fifth inning, 398 feet to right field)

 


April 7 at GCU (Seventh inning, 397 feet to center field)

 

April 4 at Arizona (Third inning, 403 feet to center field)

March 30 vs. San Diego St. (Seventh inning, 420 feet to right field)

March 30 vs. San Diego St. (Fifth inning, 416 feet to right field)

March 29 vs. No. 17 West Virginia (First inning, 404 feet to center field)

March 28 vs. No. 17 West Virginia (Fifth inning, 405 feet to right field)


March 27 vs. No. 17 West Virginia (Fourth inning, 403 feet to right field)

March 27 vs. No. 17 West Virginia (First inning, 411 feet to left field)

March 25 vs. New Mexico State (Seventh inning, 409 feet to left field)


March 21 at Kansas State (Second inning, 385 feet to right field)

 

March 20 at Kansas State (Eighth inning, 401 feet to right center)

 

March 15 vs. No. 17 TCU (Fourth inning, 420 feet to left center)

March 14 vs. No. 17 TCU (Third inning; 413 FT to left field)

 

March 10 vs. Arizona (Fourth inning; 419 FT to left field)

 

March 8 vs. LMU (Fourth inning; 369 FT to left field)

 

March 7 vs. LMU (Seventh inning; 461 FT to right center)

 

Feb. 24 vs. No. 14 Oklahoma (Third inning; 386 FT to right center)

 

Feb. 24 vs. No. 14 Oklahoma (Second inning; 432 FT to right center)

 

Feb. 17 vs. UConn (Fifth inning; 413 FT to right field)

Season, 20 | Career, 35

May 21 vs. South Dakota St. (Fifth inning, 331 feet to right field)

May 20 vs. Ole Miss (Seventh inning, 390 feet to left field)

May 20 vs. Ole Miss (Third inning, 398 feet to left field)

May 15 at Houston (First inning, 410 feet to left field)

May 15 at Houston (First inning, 414 feet to left field)

May 9 vs. Oklahoma State (Eighth inning; 427 FT to left field)

May 3 vs. UCF (First inning; 390 FT to left field)

April 25 vs. Baylor (Third inning; 405 FT to right center field)

April 24 vs. Baylor (Seventh inning; 386 FT to right field)

 April 13 vs. Arizona (Eighth inning; 399 FT to left field)


April 12 vs. Utah (First inning; 424 FT to left field)

 

April 11 vs. Utah (Eighth inning; 420 FT to center field)


March 27 vs. No. 17 West Virginia (Fifth inning; 371 FT to right field)

March 27 vs. No. 17 West Virginia (Fourth inning; 440 FT to left field)

March 25 vs. New Mexico State (First inning; 455 FT to left field)


March 6 vs. LMU (Fourth inning; 410 FT to down left line)

 

Feb. 24 at No. 13 Oklahoma (Second inning; 408 FT to down left line)

Feb. 20 vs. St John's (Fifth inning; 400 FT to left center)

Feb. 17 vs. UConn (Fourth inning; 420 FT to center)

Feb. 14 vs. St. John's (Third inning; 366 FT to left center)

Season, 19 | Career, 37 (DI only)

May 30 vs. South Dakota St. (First Inning, 418 FT to right field)

May 29 vs. Ole Miss (Fifth Inning, 427 FT to right field)

May 22 vs. West Virginia (Fourth Inning, 457 FT to right field)

April 24 vs. Baylor (First Inning, 433 FT to right field)

April 22 vs. New Mexico State (Ninth Inning, 417 FT to center field)

April 12 vs. Utah (First Inning, 422 FT to right field)

April 7 at GCU (Third Inning, 353 FT to right field)

March 29 vs. No. 17 West Virginia (Ninth Inning, 400 FT to right field)

March 21 at Kansas State (Ninth inning; 387 FT to left center)

March 21 at Kansas State (First inning; 417 FT to right center)

March 17 vs. GCU (Sixth inning; 421 FT to right center)

March 15 vs. #17 TCU (Eighth inning; 410 FT to center)

March 14 vs. #17 TCU (Sixth inning; 400 FT to left center)

March 10 vs. Arizona (Fourth inning; 398 FT to right center)

March 8 vs. LMU (First inning; 451 FT to right field)

March 7 vs. LMU (Second inning; 415 FT to right field)

 

Feb. 20 vs. St. John's (First inning; 429 FT to right field)

Feb. 15 vs. Omaha (Sixth inning; 380 FT to right field)

Feb. 14 vs. Omaha (Sixth inning; 362 FT to right field)

Season, 16 | Career, 30

May 21 vs. Cincinnati (First inning; 382 FT to right field)

May 16 at Houston (Ninth inning; 412 FT to left field)

May 10 vs. Oklahoma State (Eighth inning; 389 FT to left field)

May 10 vs. Oklahoma State (Fifth inning; 434 FT to center field)

May 10 vs. Oklahoma State (Third inning; 369 FT to left field)

 

May 9 vs. Oklahoma State (Second inning; 374 FT to right field)

May 9 vs. Oklahoma State (Second inning; 411 FT to right field)

April 26 vs. Baylor (Eighth inning; 438 FT to center field)


April 24 vs. Baylor (First inning; 452 FT to left field)

April 22 vs. New Mexico State (Third inning; 424 FT to left field)

April 7 at GCU (Third inning; 409 FT to left field)

April 4 at Arizona (Third inning; 404 FT to right center)

March 8 vs. LMU (Eighth inning; 402 FT to left center)

Feb. 27 vs. No. 4 Mississippi State (Ninth inning; 466 FT to left center)

Feb. 20 vs. St. John's (Fourth inning; 397 FT to right field)

Feb. 14 vs. Omaha (Fifth inning; 423 FT to right center)

Season, 6 | Career, 17 (DI only)

March 8 vs. LMU (Fourth inning; 348 feet to left field)

March 7 vs. LMU (Third inning; 395 feet to left field)

 

March 1 vs. No. 23 Texas A&M (Sixth inning; 378 to left field)

Feb. 27 vs. No. 4 Mississippi State (Ninth inning; 396 FT to left center)

Feb. 24 vs. No. 14 Oklahoma (Second inning; 416 FT to center field)

Feb. 17 vs. UConn (Second inning; 416 FT to center field)

Season 5 | Career, 6

April 11 vs. Utah (Fourth inning; 422 FT to center field)


April 7 at GCU (Seventh inning; 368 FT to right field)

 

April 7 at GCU (Fifth inning; 388 FT to left field)

March 17 vs. GCU (Seventh inning; 405 FT to right center field)

March 8 vs. LMU (Fifth inning; 426 FT to left field)

Season 4 | Career, 13

April 11 vs. Utah (Ninth inning; 359 FT to left field)

April 7 at GCU (Ninth inning; 337 FT to left field)

March 20 at Kansas State (Fifth inning; 376 FT to left field)

March 13 vs. TCU (First inning; 341 FT to right field)

Season 4 | Career, 14

May 21 vs. Cincinnati (Seventh inning; 362 FT to left field)

April 16 at BYU (Seventh inning; 410 FT to center field)

March 28 vs. West Virginia (Ninth inning; 402 FT to left field)


Feb. 14 vs. Omaha (Second inning; 395 FT to right field)

Season 3 | Career, 21

May 2 at UCF (Second inning; 398 FT to center field)

March 14 vs. No. 17 TCU (Sixth inning; 427 FT to left center field)

March 1 vs. No. 23 Texas A&M (Second inning; 381 FT to left field)

Season 3 | Career, 4

May 30 vs. South Dakota St. (Sixth inning; 346 FT to right field)

Apr. 26 vs. Baylor (Fifth inning; 389 FT to right field)

Feb. 17 vs. UConn (Sixth inning; 414 FT to center field)