Offensive explosion powers Sun Devils to convincing midweek win

The power bill at Phoenix Municipal Stadium must have been paid and then some, because there was no shortage of it on Tuesday night.

Coming off a weekend sweep of Omaha, Arizona State welcomed in the UConn Huskies for a midweek matchup. Chandler Hamilton product Kole Klecker took to the mound for his first start since transferring in from TCU in the offseason.

Klecker was nothing short of impressive in his Tempe debut, allowing just one run on two hits with 7 strikeouts and 0 walks. Though for as well as he pitched, the offense stole the show in this one, cranking out 17 runs on 17 hits in a comfortable 17-7 victory.

15 Sun Devil batters saw at bats, every batter in the starting 9 either recorded a hit or scored a run, and 4 home runs brought the total for the season to 10, none bigger than the grand slam off the bat of Landon Hairston in the 5th inning.

Landon had a career night, going 2-for-4 and driving in 7 runs, his other hit being a 3-run double in the 4th inning. Dominic Longo finished a triple shy of the cycle, starting the home run party in the 2nd inning and later adding a double and single to finish 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Nu’u Contrades and Austen Roellig flashed the power as well to turn this game into a runaway by the 6th inning.

It was the situational hitting that stood out tonight, going 7-for-10 with runners in scoring position after going 2-for-10 on Sunday against Omaha. In postgame comments, Nu’u Contrades talked about looking for pitches up in the zone and attacking them with runners in scoring position, and head coach Willie Bloomquist added:

"We try to emphasize that the pressure is on the guy on the bump. We got the bases loaded, nobody out. The pressure is not on you (the hitter), it’s on the guy on the mound. He’s the one that’s pitched himself into that problem."

On hitting with RISP

The plan of attack worked with precision, giving the bullpen plenty of wiggle room from the 6th inning on. The Huskies did get their licks in, led by Evan Menzel with a 3-hit night and home runs by Jackson Marshall and Cam Righi. The bullpen collective of Taylor Penn, Brady Louck and Colby Guy did allow 6 runs over the final three innings, but pitched effectively enough to ensure that the game was never in any serious danger.

Next up for the Sun Devils will be a weekend series with the St. John’s Red Storm, first pitch from Phoenix Municipal Stadium at 6:35pm on Friday night.