A midweek baseball matchup featured the UC San Diego Tritons and the Arizona State Sun Devils at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. At the end of seven innings, the Sun Devils’ offense scored a run in every inning besides the second frame, winning 15-5.
After taking two of three in their last series, the Sun Devil bats did not disappear in Tuesday night’s matchup. Redshirt sophomore outfielder Nick McLain went three-for-three with two RBIs and a home run. After allowing a run in the first inning to the Tritons, McLain hit a first-pitch two-run home run over the left-center field fence.
“Fastball,” McLain said. “I ended up hitting a change up but I’m a pretty good low-ball hitter.”
Senior infielder Steven Ondina provided a spark to the bottom of the lineup for the Sun Devils. Ondina, like McLain, also recorded a three-hit night. Amid a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth inning, Ondina tripled off the base of the wall in center field. The senior infielder brought in the ninth run of the game for ASU.
“Just trying to stay aggressive with the fastball,” Ondina said. “He (UC San Diego’s pitcher) threw me a curveball and then a fastball and I was ready for it.”
The Sun Devils capitalized on seven walks and wild pitches in the batter’s box. Arizona State scored more runs than they had hits. Thirteen hits provided 15 runs and ASU did not commit any errors in the game. In Sunday’s loss to USC, ASU had four errors. Head coach Willie Bloomquist mentioned the understanding his players had after a poor showing to the Trojans.
“I didn’t have a message to them,” Bloomquist said when asked what he told his team defensively going into today’s contest. “They know at this point and time of the year. They are doing a much better job of policing themselves, they knew that it wasn’t acceptable, and I didn’t have to say anything.”
Freshman right-handed pitcher Adam Behrens got the start on the bump for Bloomquist’s team. After a rocky first two innings allowing four earned runs, the two relievers that followed shut down the Tritons’ offense. Junior left-handed pitcher Matt Cornelius pitched 2.2 innings and allowed one hit, walk, and added two strikeouts to his stat line. Redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Matt Tieding pitched the final two innings and allowed one run.
“It’s huge,” Cornelius said. “A couple of days ago was tough, we definitely needed that win. It was much needed.”
The Sun Devils lineup saw contributions from top to bottom. Outside of McLain and Ondina, freshman outfielder Brandon Compton, junior infielder Jacob Tobias, and sophomore outfielder Kien Vu all had two-hit performances. Compton hit a solo homer off the batter’s eye in center field to give ASU an 8-4 lead in the fifth inning.
Arizona State will look to sweep the two-game series against UC San Diego with a win on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
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