Arizona State holds off Minnesota rally, avoids suffering series sweep

It was another wild finish for Arizona State, though this time the Sun Devils found a way to win.

ASU (8-4) jumped out to an 8-2 lead but allowed Minnesota (4-5) to close the gap to 8-7 — a rally powered by four solo home runs in the seventh inning — before securing the one-run victory and avoiding a three-game sweep at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

The Sun Devils finished with 11 hits — including one home run and three doubles — and five stolen bases while leaving seven runners on base in the victory. The Golden Gophers totaled 14 hits — including five home runs — but left nine runners on base.

Josaiah Cromwick went 2-for-2 with a home run and a double, Brandon Compton went 2-for-5 with a two-RBI double, and Beckett Zavorek went 2-for-3 with two RBIs as Arizona State snapped a two-game losing streak.

The Sun Devils squandered leads late in the first two games of the series, falling 7-6 in 10 innings Friday and coming up short again in a 6-4 loss Saturday against the Golden Gophers.

Jaden Alba got off to a strong start for ASU, allowing just three hits while striking out five and walking one over three innings. The sophomore right-hander took the mound to start the fourth but appeared to be bothered by a leg injury during warmups and left the game.

Freshman Easton Barrett was called into action earlier than expected and went 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit with two strikeouts and a walk.

Sophomore right-hander Rohan Lettow entered the game in the seventh and immediately allowed a two-out home run to Jameson Martin. Lettow then gave up back-to-back solo shots to Parker Knoll and Jack Spanier, ending his day. Lettow's stat line wasn't pretty: three earned runs on three hits with one strikeout in one-third of an inning.

Junior left-hander Sean Fitzpatrick replaced Lettow and promptly gave up a third consecutive home run to Easton Richter, cutting what had been an 8-2 lead for the Sun Devils to 8-5.

Two batters later, Charlie Sutherland delivered the fourth home run of the inning for the Golden Gophers, trimming the Sun Devils' lead to 8-6 and ending Fitzpatrick's day. His line: two runs on two hits in one-third of an inning of work.

Sophomore right-hander Josh Butler came in to get the final two outs of the inning but gave up a run on three hits before being pulled with one out in the ninth and ASU clinging to an 8-7 advantage. Bulter allowed one run on two hits while striking out three in two innings.

Sophomore right-hander Derek Schaefer came in with runners at second and third but struck out the final two batters to get out of the jam and secure the victory.

Scoring summary

Arizona State got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first inning, taking a 1-0 lead on a one-out sacrifice fly from Jacob Tobias that scored fellow senior Matt King from third. The Sun Devils also got a double from Cromwick and singles from King and Compton in the inning but left two runners of base.

Barrett retired the first two batters he faced in the top of the fourth inning but then walked Jameson Martin and hit Sam Hunt with a pitch. Jack Spanier followed with a single to center field, scoring Martin and tying the game at 1-1 before the Sun Devils recorded the final out.

Arizona State quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a one-out home run from Cromwick. The 388-foot solo shot was the fifth of the season for catcher and grad student from Las Vegas.

ASU added another run in the fifth inning when Zavorek scored from second on a failed pick-off attempt that resulted in a throwing error for Minnesota starter Justin Thorsteinson.

Zavorek, a freshman from Fresno, California, reached base on a lead-off bunt down the left field line, then stole second before the Gophers gifted him a run on the error.

Minnesota cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the sixth inning on Jameson's solo home run.

ASU responded with a five-run sixth, getting an RBI single from Kyle Walker, a two-RBI single from Zavorek, and a two-RBI double from Compton to extend the lead to 8-2.

That's when Minnesota began blasting ASU's bullpen as Spanier, Knoll, Richter and Sutherland also hit solo home runs to close the gap to 8-6 before Schaefer closed out the victory.

Junior outfielder Kein Vu didn't start the final game of the series but replaced Jonathon Hernandez in right field in the eighth. Vu was involved in a collision at first base during Saturday's game that left him shaken up.