Behind four RBIs from Hunter Jump and the first career home run from Zach Hogueisson, ASU baseball defeated San Diego 12-7 for their 20th win of the season.
On Wednesday at the University of San Diego, ASU pitching gave up seven runs on 14 hits with the top of the lineup, Spencer Torkelson and Gage Canning, combining to hit 2-for-9 with a couple of weak singles.
Yet, the Devils prevailed to a 12-7 victory. The rest of the Sun Devil lineup came up big, including a player who had not been written in the lineup yet this season.
Zach Hogueisson was 1-for-12 with no starts prior to Wednesday night. Against the Toreros, he went 3-for-5 with two doubles, his first home run and two RBIs.
Hogueisson wasn’t the only freshman to come through. Alika Williams got three hits and drove in a couple of runs while Hunter Jump picked up four RBIs as well.
As for the veterans in the lineup, Carter Aldrete picked up three hits, including a double and home run of his own. Hunter Bishop blasted a two-run home run in the third inning which gave the Devils a 5-0 lead.
Heading into the seventh, it appeared that nothing could go wrong for ASU. They lead 9-1, and Sam Romero had gone six innings with giving up just one run with six strikeouts.
Then in the seventh, Romero was seemingly left in for too long and gave up three hits and a walk. He exited the game with the score 9-3 and two runners on.
Connor Higgins came in to try and get out of the inning, but both of his inherited runners scored before he was replaced by Dellan Raish.
By the end of the seventh, the score was 9-5, and flashbacks of past ASU blown leads from earlier this year started to come to mind.
However, ASU’s offense once again came to the rescue as they picked up a couple of insurance runs to bury the Toreros.
With the win ASU moved to 20-27 on the year. It snapped a seven-game losing streak against non-conference competition. Their last win against a team outside the Pac-12 came on March 9 against UNC-Wilmington.
Next: ASU Baseball: Sun Devils drop series finale to Washington
The Devils finish their non-conference schedule with two games at home against Pacific on Sunday and Monday. ASU’s two remaining Pac-12 series are at Arizona and at home against Cal.