Arizona State (6-1) picked up its second weekend series win of the season with a 9-2 thumping of Oral Roberts (4-2). After stunningly dropping the series opener, the offense rebounded in the final two games to carry ASU to victory.
The Sun Devils knocked five baseballs out of Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Sunday, a season-high for the squad. Junior third baseman Nu’u Contrades led the way with two home runs and three RBI from the leadoff position.
Sophomore righty Jaden Alba put together a solid start in his second outing of the year. He tallied six strikeouts in five innings, only allowing two runs. Alba’s efforts galvanized the bullpen that followed.
Sophomore right-hander Derek Schaefer tossed a scoreless inning in relief. Then, sophomore lefty Cole Carlon punched out four Golden Eagles across two scoreless innings. To close it out, freshman Eli Buxton shut the door with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
“All in all, the bullpen did an outstanding job,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “That was good to see. I was happy with that performance. And then offensively, we stuck with our plan for the most part of the day and were able to put up some good runs. So good all-around effort.”
Contrades picked up where he left off the day prior with a booming solo homer to dead-center field on the first pitch of the game. The long ball made for Contrades’ second in as many days.
The Sun Devils’ aggressive base-running throughout the series became a helping hand on Sunday. Oral Roberts’ starter, redshirt junior left-hander Trent Martin, committed three pickoff errors. It resulted in two unearned runs for ASU.
Sophomore left fielder Brandon Compton swiped two bags after he drew a season-high four walks. Additionally, redshirt junior designated hitter Jonathon Hernandez and senior second baseman Kyle Walker stole one bag each.
“That’s one thing that we talk about a lot. When you do the little things right, it makes the game a lot easier,” senior first baseman Jacob Tobias said. “And so when we stick to our game and do the things that we know we need to do right, and the other team maybe fumbles a little bit, we know we’re in a good spot.”
Despite the strong pitching performance, Oral Roberts strung together base hits to keep the game close in the middle frames. Senior designated hitter Cooper Combs doubled in the third to bring home the first run of the day for the Golden Eagles. Senior right fielder Will Edmunson reached base for the eighth time in the series with an RBI double in the fourth inning to cut ASU’s lead to 3-2.
The sun shining over Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Sunday afternoon heated the ASU bats in the later innings. Tobias hit a 430-foot towering 2-run homer to straightaway center field in the fifth inning. Junior right fielder Kien Vu and graduate student catcher Josiah Cromwick followed suit with solo shots of their own in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. According to Bloomquist, Vu’s big fly was just a scheduled event.
“I asked him what his approach was,” Bloomquist said, referring to a conversation he had with Vu before his sixth-inning at-bat. “And he said ‘I’m gonna hit a homer to left center.’ I said okay … I had zero to do with that, but it’s kind of ironic that Kien told me that’s what he was going to do and he did it.”
Alba’s strong start was once again supported by impressive run support. The sophomore spoke to his confidence on the mound building with the offense behind him.
“It’s always a good feeling knowing that your teammates are going to pick you up no matter what,” Alba said. “And with our offense being able to score runs at any time at any point, it just makes you feel like you just got to go out there and attack the other lineup. And whatever happens, happens because they’re going to come back and they’re going to put up crooked numbers every time. So just going out there being aggressive and just whatever happens because they’re going to put up a bunch of runs.”
In the eighth, Contrades stepped up to the plate and flexed his muscles again. He clobbered a 2-run shot to left for his second homer of the day. A year after being sidelined for most of the 2024 season with a back issue, Contrades is rounding back into form.
Deja Nu'u.
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) February 23, 2025
Second of the game. Third of the weekend.
9-2, good guys, B8. pic.twitter.com/rqk5NB3Tzj
“It feels good,” Contrades said of his big day at the plate. “[The coaching staff and I] got together and we made slight adjustments. [Bloomquist] really knows what he’s talking about and I’m all ears to him because we’ve made adjustments in the past that really work. It was really just adjustments.”
ASU scored in all but one inning, which has not been the norm. The Sun Devils have registered 13 innings of three runs or more offensively this season. On Sunday, they had none. While the five long homers were significant, Arizona State did the little things well to keep the line moving.
“That’s finding different ways to score,” Bloomquist said. “Some by the long ball, some by base running, those types of things to stay aggressive are going to be important as we continue to move on so that we’re not one dimensional.”
For the first time this season, the Sun Devils will hit the road to face former Pac-12 foe UCLA in a two-game midweek tilt in Los Angeles. Freshman left-handed pitcher Easton Barrett will get the ball on Tuesday for his first collegiate appearance.
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