Friday’s action was highlighted by three-hit performances by both Deven Marrero and Joey DeMichele while Brady Rodgers claimed his seventh win of the season in ASU’s 7-4 victory over the Cougars.
ASU took a 3-0 lead in the first inning thanks to doubles by Marrero and DeMichele as well as some fielding blunders by the Cougars. Marrero tripled in the second inning to push the Sun Devil lead to 4-0.
Washington State added two runs in the second inning and ASU later added three more in the seventh, largely thanks to a two-run Andrew Aplin home run.
Closer Jake Barrett earned his seventh save of the season by closing out the ninth after Matthew Dunbar tossed 1.2 innings of relief.
Saturday, pitcher Trevor Williams pitched a complete game shutout of the Cougars to pace the Devils to a 2-0 victory. Williams also struck out four with no walks—Williams hasn’t walked a batter in 25 consecutive innings—and seven hits, an effort that earned him Pac-12 Conference Pitcher of the Week honors.
The game remained scoreless into the sixth, when Aplin batted in Drew Stankiewicz from third to give ASU a 1-0 lead. In the eighth, Aplin would strike again, this time on the base paths, as he stole home to give the Devils a 2-0 margin.
ASU was able to generate only three hits for the game, but was able to benefit from some fortuitous events to gain the series victory.
On Sunday, ASU’s rally for the series sweep fell short as the Cougars used a walk-off single to edge the Sun Devils, 7-6.
WSU burst to a 4-0 first inning that forced starter Darin Gillies from the game after only two outs.
ASU responded with two third inning runs but two Cougar home runs extended Washington State to a 6-2 lead in the fifth. The Sun Devils cut the lead to 6-4 as the game entered the ninth, and an Abe Ruiz solo home run and a Nathaniel Causey pinch hit RBI single tied the game and forced Washington State to bat in the ninth.
In the bottom of the ninth, however, Jake Barrett allowed a two-out walk-off single to give the Cougars the win.
The Devils return home this weekend for action against first-year conference foe Utah, with Friday and Saturday’s starts set for 6:30 p.m. and Sundays set for 12:30 p.m. All three games will be broadcast live on The Fan AM 1060 and will also be webcast on FoxSportsArizona.com.