Spencer Torkelson mashed his 20th home run of the season as ASU baseball completed the three-game sweep of Utah at Phoenix Municipal Stadium this weekend.
A four-run first inning for the Sun Devils resulted in a precursor for what was to come as ASU pounded Utah in game three of a three-game series by a final score of 13-8 from Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Sun Devil offense exploded on the afternoon with 13 runs on 16 hits as the highlight of the game offensively for the Sun Devils came from the bat of Spencer Torkelson who hit a no-doubt-about-it three-run bomb to give ASU the 11-2 advantage over Utah in the fifth inning.
“I think our guys were pretty locked into the plate this weekend,” head coach Tracy Smith said after the win.
Torkelson home run was his 20th of the season as the ASU freshman now has a three home run lead at the top of the NCAA home run leaderboard in 2018.
Leading the hit parade in the early inning for the ASU offense this afternoon was the unlikely combination of Taylor Lane and Hunter Jump.
With the bases loaded and one out in the first inning, Taylor Lane jump started the offense for ASU with a single between the shortstop and third baseman to drive in a pair of runs and give ASU the 2-0 lead.
Then, after a Gage Workman fly out to center field, Hunter Jump came up to the plate with two on and two outs and proceeded to drill a ball down the first base line for a triple.
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Jump’s triple extended the ASU lead to four after just one inning of play.
Two innings later, Jump came up with two men in scoring position and slapped a one-out single to drive in both runners and give ASU the 6-0 advantage.
The freshman finished the day going 3-for-4 with a triple and four runs batted in.
Then, with the game nearly out of reach already for the Utes, Gage Canning went on to smash his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot to give the Sun Devils an 8-0 lead.
On the mound for ASU was Eli Lingos who came into the days contest with an impressive 2.88 earned run average in his nine previous starts for the Sun Devils.
After not allowing a run in his first four innings of work, the senior lefty allowed a pair of runs to score in the fifth on an RBI triple from DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and an RBI single from Chandler Anderson.
Lingos’ only runs came across in the fifth inning as he was replaced by Fitz Stadler in the seventh after throwing a scoreless frame in the sixth.
In relief of Lingos was Fitz Stadler and Connor Higgins who both struggled to get outs in replace of the lefty starter.
In just a third of an inning of work, Stadler went on to allow five runs (four earned) as he exited the inning with the bases loaded for Higgins.
Also a lefty, Higgins ended up letting all three of his inherited runners to score as the ASU lead was cut to just four runs as the Sun Devils were still leading 11-7.
“It’s just a shame that we have not been able to shut things down out of the bullpen,” Smith said. “If we’re going to compete down the stretch, guys need to step up out of the bullpen.”
The star at the plate for the Utes on the afternoon was Chandler Anderson who went 3-for-4 with a run batted in while his teammate Matt Richardson picked up a pair of hits and scored twice himself.
In replace of Higgins was Jake Godfrey who was solid in 1.1 innings of relief for the Sun Devils as the righty did not allow an earned run on the afternoon.
Taking over for Godfrey with one out in the ninth inning was Ryan Hingst who ended up loading the bases with one out, but Hingst failed to record an out and was replaced by Saturday night’s starting pitcher in Sam Romero.
Romero then got out of the bases loaded jam with a 4-6-5 double play to end the ball game.
“To come out and get that last two outs is pretty good,” Smith said.
Next: ASU Baseball: Offense propels Sun Devils to win over Utah
On Wednesday, ASU hosts New Mexico State for a one game mid-week affair with the Aggies. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m.
All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.