ASU Baseball: Sun Devils Secure Important Win Against No. 4 UCLA

Arizona State baseball secured one of the most important wins of its 2013 Pac-12 conference schedule by defeating No. 4 ULCA 4-1 at Packard Stadium on Thursday night. Right-hander Trevor Williams (4-2) led the 24th-ranked Sun Devils to victory by pitching seven straight innings.

ASU (14-7-1, 3-4) hosts UCLA at 6:30 p.m. tonight in the second game of a three-game home stand. The Sun Devils are still looking for their first conference series victory of the season.

Williams, a junior from San Diego, Calif., struck out six and did not give up a run until the top of the eighth inning before giving way to reliever Matt Dunbar. Williams has now allowed two runs in 14 2/3 innings in his two career starts against UCLA. Four Sun Devils had RBIs, with third baseman Michael Benjamin contributing a home run. ASU has hit 13 home runs this season by seven different players.

UCLA (17-5, 5-2) scored its sole run in the top of the eighth inning on a pair of singles, but Benjamin responded in the bottom of the frame with his second home run of the season to put the Sun Devils on top 4-1.

In defeating the Bruins, Arizona State earned its fourth win over a top-10 opponent this season and head coach Tim Esmay garnered his 12th win over a top-10 team. The Sun Devils also improved to 113-66 all-time against UCLA.