Baseball Outlasts Washington in Epic Rubber Match, 21-18

PHOENIX - In an epic four-hour affair that saw nine lead changes and a combined 39 runs, Sun Devil Baseball (26-23, 14-13 Pac-12) outlasted the Washington Huskies (18-22-1, 9-15), 21-18, to take the rubber match of the series on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. 
 
The Sun Devils kicked the go-ahead field goal in the bottom of the eighth on a three-run shot from Ethan Mendoza to break an 18-18 tie and Ryan Schiefer was able to get the final out against UW's scorching hot AJ Guerrero, who represented the tying run at the plate to seal the victory and series win. 
 
A sunny afternoon in Phoenix with the flags over the batter's eye whipping to the north in winds upwards and over 20 miles per hour set the scene for an offensive frenzy. With 44 hits and seven home runs between the two teams, no lead was safe until the final out. 
 
Every Sun Devil starter contributed to the team's 23 hits, with Nick McLain going 5-for-5 in his at-bats, Mendoza was 4-for-4 and Brandon Compton, Ryan Campos, and Mario Demera each added three knocks. Compton homered twice, with a grand slam in the first and a solo shot in the fourth. McLain had his own two-run homer and Mendoza capped it off with his third homer of the week - and of his career - in the eighth.
 
Desperately needing a stop from the bullpen in the later innings, Sean Fitzpatrick struck out the side in the seventh and allowed three hits and runs over 2.0 innings - his only blemish coming on three-run shot in the top of the eighth to Guerrero on the first pitch after the Muni faithful thought he had struck out the electric junior. In 1.2 innings of relief, Ryan Schiefer earned the win by only allowing one hit and striking out one, capped by an exceptional catch by Isaiah Jackson to rob extra bases on the final out.  
 
TURNING POINT
UW started off the bat-friendly day with a wind-aided two-run homer in the top of the first. With two outs, a walk filled the bases and the Huskies brought two more runs in with a single to right field. Not to be outdone, ASU was ready to take advantage of the weather in the bottom half of the inning. Campos and Vu led off with singles and McClain was hit by a pitch. After Tobias was walked to bring in the first run, Compton stepped up and hit his third grand slam of the year to give the Sun Devils a 5-4 lead after one - a wild first inning that was a glimpse of what to expect over the rest of the game.
 
BIG MOMENT
The Sun Devils got some breathing room in the bottom of the fourth, scoring six runs - all with two outs - to take a 13-7 advantage. However, the Huskies answered right back with seven two-out runs of their own in the top of the fifth to reclaim a 14-13 advantage. ASU was unfazed, punching right back with a two-out run courtesy of Mario Demera in the bottom half of the frame to even the game and show the Sun Devils wouldn't go quietly into the afternoon. 
 
FINAL STRAW
ASU tacked on a couple more runs in the sixth and seventh to stake a 17-15 lead but the Huskies looked to AJ Guerrero yet again in the eighth as the junior notched his second homer of the game on his fifth hit -  a two-out, three-run shot after looking to have taken strike three to end the inning in the eyes of the over 2,000 fans at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. His sixth, seventh and eighth RBIs of the game gave Washington a 18-17 advantage, putting pressure on the Sun Devils as they were left to their final six outs. McLain got on base with a one-out double to right field and crossed the plate for the tying run as Jacob Tobias earned his first hit of the game, beating the infield shift with an RBI single through the left side with the short stop shaded to the right of the second-base bag. A double from Compton on his remarkable day put two runners in scoring position with one out and Washington went to its bullpen. Mendoza welcomed the new pitcher to the game on the very first pitch he saw, going big fly over the left center field wall to give the Sun Devils three go-ahead runs. Needing three outs to close it out - a huge task against a Washing offtense that scored in six of the first eight inning, Schiefer forced a fly out and a ground out to start the inning. The Huskies threatened, putting two on via a single and a walk to bring the dangerous Guerrero to the plate, representing the tying run. The Husky put a good swing on one, lacing a ball to the left center gap but Isaiah Jackson - who entered as a defensive replacement in the previous inning - was able to sprint under the line drive to center and close the game with his extended glove. 
 
QUOTABLES
Arizona State Coach Willie Bloomquist
On the team's resilience on display this whole weekend: 
"I mean, awesome. As far as the resiliency and the no-give-in factor I think it was awesome. All weekend really for our guys, which makes me happy. Like I say, you're sometimes going to have ugly, ugly games like today, but it's better to be ugly and on top when you win than to come out on the losing end. Our guys battled every inning of every game this series. On a crazy day where you knew it was going to be one of those days here at Muni with gale force winds blowing out. It's just a matter of who was going to take the last punch and who was going to hit last seemed like (it would be who) was going to win this one, but we got up, we got down, we got up, we got down and gave up leads and came back and took leads, gave them up and it just kept on going. So, I'm happy with the will to continue to fight. That was an impressive weekend, all 28 innings." 
 
On his players saying that they wanted to back him up after he was ejected in the eighth inning: 
"Well, it makes me happy. If they looked at it that way – that they wanted to pick me up. That makes me feel good. But at the same token, the most important part is that I want those guys to know that I got their back. There's times where guys come back and complain about balls and strikes and I'm not going to get tossed every time someone has a complaint because I would never finish a game if that were the case, but in that moment in that situation with our season's situation, everything seemed to be on the line right there and I thought our kid executed a pretty damn good pitch. I'm going to stand up for him." 
 
Sophomore designated hitter Brandon Compton: 
On how to avoid a downturn on Tuesday after a few crazy wins this week: 
"It's going to be the same kind of baseball we just saw today. It's going to be a lot of fun baseball. It's going to be very high, intense. Going back to what you said about Saturday, we just had a couple of bad innings, but overall I felt like our offense did really well and towards the end our pitchers did really well, too. So, there were a lot of positives in that game, too. Through this week I felt like we've done really well. The last two weekends, we've done really well. We've been winning series, so I think we're just going to carry it over in Tuesday's game and move forward with it." 
 
NOTABLES 

• Ryan Campos' first-inning single means he has now reached base safely in 128-of-138 career games (92.8 percent) with the Sun Devils and all but one game this season.
• Brandon Compton's first-inning grand slam was his third grand slam of the year - tied for second-most in single-season school history behind only Jeff Larish (4) in 2003. It is also the most since that two seasons when Larish had four while Steve Garrabants and Jeremy West had three. 
• UW starter Reilly McAdams had allowed just six runs total in 19.0 innings over 11 games this season before giving up five to the Sun Devils in the first, his only frame of the game. 
• ASU has reached double digit hits in 32 of 49 games this season, posting 23 today. It was the most hits since. The 21 runs were the most since scoring 21 at Santa Clara on April 11, 2022 and tied for the most since scoring 26 against Northern Illinois in 2010. It was the most runs scored in a Pac-12 game since ASU scored 23 against Arizona on March 22, 2009.
• It was the most runs Washington had allowed since giving up 21 against Utah on May 29, 2016. That was the most since allowing 25 to, coincidentally, ASU on May 12, 2000. 
• With 21 runs today, ASU has scored 123 runs over its last nine games (13.7 runs per game) and reached double digits in seven of those.
• This season, ASU has posted 51 3+ run innings and 33 4+ run innings following its five-run first, six-run fourth and four-run eighth. It was the 13th and 14th time this season ASU has scored five or more runs in an inning.
• Nick McLain homered for the fifth-straight game and capped off a gaudy week at the plate with his first career five-hit game. In ASU's five games this week, McLain bat .591 (13-of-22) with 13 RBIs and scored 14 runs. He hit a walk-off grand slam in extra innings (10) to defeat Washington on Friday. He slugged 1.364 on the week with five homers and two doubles, striking out just once and reaching base at a .654 clip for a gaudy 2.018 OPS.
• Ethan Mendoza entered the week with no homers before registering three over ASU's five games this week - the first three of the freshman's career. None were bigger than his go-ahead three-run shot in the eighth. That capped off a five-game stretch for the freshman where he bat .556 on 10-of-18 hitting with three homers, a triple, two doubles and an insane 1.278 OBP while scoring ten runs. 
• ASU's four homers last night and this afternoon were the most allowed in a single game by the Huskies this season, the fourth-straight series in which ASU has accomplished that feat in at least one game (4 at UCLA, 4 vs. USC, 5 vs. UCSD and 4 vs. UW).
• Kien Vu extended his hitting streak to 15 straight games today, the longest for a Sun Devil this season.

 
INNING BY INNING 
First Inning
The Huskies jumped out to a quick lead after a wind-aided two-run homer and a series of walks and singles had the bases loaded multiple times and brought in four runs. Omlid was able to strike two out swinging to get  out of the frame. Stepping up to the plate, Campos singled up the middle on the second pitch and the hitting spree for the Sun Devils began. Vu singled to center field and McLain was hit by his second pitch before Tobias drew a full count walk to bring Campos in. Compton then launched his second grand slam in as many Sundays to steal the Huskies' short-lived margin. After a Mendoza single, three groundouts ended the exciting inning. 
 
Second Inning
After an athletic play from Tobias at first to field the first out, Omlid struck out the next two batters to end a quick frame. Campos led with another single, but was caught attempting to steal second. Vu was walked and reached third on a McLain single, but a strikeout and pop fly left them both stranded. 
 
Third Inning
After a two-out solo home run to tie it the game at five, Ondina was able to get the last out as the batter thought his line drive to shortstop was caught and stopped running while Ondina found the ball on the ground and then made the throw to first in time. Mendoza and Williams reached via a walk and single and a Demera deep shot to the right center wall escaped the outfielder's glove and he was able to safely trot to second as Williams raced to third and Mendoza scored. Demera was tagged out on a fielder's choice to shortstop from Ondina and Williams made it home to regain a 7-5 lead. 
 
Fourth Inning
After two fly outs, the Huskies stayed alive with a single to shortstop. A triple bounced off the right center field wall and another single tied the game at seven. One more fly out closed the frame. McLain singled to open the Sun Devil's frame, but he was caught leading off and picked off at second after a strikeout. Now with two outs, Compton made plenty of contact to send a 467-foot solo shot clear out of right center and again give the Sun Devils the lead, 8-7. Three straight walks left the bases loaded and a strong grounder from Ondina got by the third baseman to bring Mendoza in. Campos was then hit by a pitch to spur a pitching change for the Huskies. Vu and McLain welcomed the new arm with two singles before a groundout ended the two-out magic at 13-7. 
 
Fifth Inning
After ASU's six run inning, Washington opened with two singles before a double-play left just one out to go. That out didn't come easy, as a single, walk, and another single scored two and forced a pitching change. Washington continued to hit, with a single, double, and triple bringing in four more runs and tying the game. A walk and one more single gave them the lead at 14-13 before the frame closed on a foul out. After Mendoza doubled, Demera hit a two-out single to right field to tie the game back up. 
 
Sixth Inning
With three straight singles, the Huskies retook the lead by one. Fitzpatrick took the mound and two fly outs brought the Sun Devils back to the plate. After Campos singled up the middle, McLain knocked one over the right field wall to make it 16-15. 
 
Seventh Inning
Fitzpatrick changed the pitching narrative with three straight swinging strikeouts to retire the side. Two singled from Mendoza and Harris Williams put Mendoza in position to score off a fly out, making it 17-15. 
 
Eighth Inning 
After a walk and a single put two runners on, a controversial ball call preceded a three-run homer to put the Huskies back on top, 18-17. Fitzpatrick came in to pitch and forced a groundout and recorded a strikeout to close the frame. McLain hit a double to right field and was batted home by Tobias' single to tie the game. A double from Compton left runners on second and third, and took charge of the opportunity and launched a three-run homer to left center field for the winning runs.
 
Ninth Inning
With runners on first and second and two outs, Jackson dashed for a fly ball to center field and was just able to get his glove under it, securing the series win for the Sun Devils. 
 
ON DECK: 
The Sun Devils host in-state rival Arizona for a midweek on Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. After winning the series in Tucson earlier this season, Arizona State will look to defend their home field at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.