ASU Baseball: Sun Devils dominate in 12-0 victory over Xavier

ASU baseball smashed four home runs and Boyd Vander Kooi threw a seven-inning shutout in the Sun Devils’ 13th win of the year.

The Sun Devils have scored eight or more runs 10 times in 13 games this season. They’ve also plated 10 (or more) runs in eight of 13 games played.

Because of these numbers, ASU has won 13 of 13 games this season – the thirteenth coming on Friday night in a 12-0 victory over Xavier (5-6) at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

ASU scored at least two runs in five of the first seven innings, dominating the Musketeers from the outset with a two-run home run from Hunter Bishop in the first.

Bishop’s bomb was his sixth of the year and the first of four home runs hit by the Sun Devils on the night.

Lyle Lin smashed his third, a career high, Carter Aldrete blasted his fourth and even freshman Marc Lidd hit the first home run of his collegiate career.

Each starter in the Sun Devils lineup is hitting over .300. These are video game numbers for a team that is nearly a quarter of the way through the season.

But offense was always expected to be a strength for this ASU team. Pitching and defense were the anticipated issues.

On Friday night, and so far this season for that matter, the Sun Devils’ pitching and defense was superb. Not only did ASU shut out Xavier, but they also committed zero errors on the evening.

“Guys are very confident of the guys playing behind them,” ASU head coach Tracy Smith said after the win. “When you’re out there and you’re pitching aggressively in the zone, the guys are making the plays behind them, good things happen.”

ASU starting pitcher Boyd Vander Kooi threw seven scoreless innings, striking out six batters, allowing five hits and surrendering only one extra base hit all night.

After allowing nine earned runs in 13.2 innings pitched, Vander Kooi made a key adjustment that led to his success on Friday night.

“The harder I throw it, the better location I have,” Vander Kooi said. “In the simplest form that you can put it, throwing it as hard as I can seemed to work out.”

ASU faces off against Xavier on Saturday at 6:30 for game two of a three-game series at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.