Baseball rallies to take series from Oregon
After a five and a half hour, 12-inning loss the night before, the #1 Sun Devils faced a short turnaround and bad weather once again in Eugene for the series finale on Saturday. After spotting the Ducks a 3-0 lead in the first, ASU battled back to earn a 7-3 win over Oregon and clinch the Pac-10 series at PK Park. The win boosts the Sun Devils to 25-1 on the year, 5-1 in Pac-10 play.
As has been his pattern all season long, Sun Devil starter Jake Borup struggled in the first inning, only to shut down the Ducks for the next six innings and earn his sixth win of the year. Borup went seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out four to improve to 6-0. Jake Barrett threw the final two innings, allowing only one hit to earn his first career save.
A walk, an RBI single, an RBI double and a run scoring ground out gave the Ducks the early advantage off Borup, but the Devils answered right back. Arizona State would get two runs in the top of the second thanks to RBI singles by Jordan Swagerty and Drew Maggi. They would tie the game in the sixth when Kole Calhoun scored on a Matt Newman double play.
The Sun Devils would finally break through and grab the lead in the top of the seventh inning, scoring three times to take a 6-3 edge. Raoul Torrez brought home Swagerty with a double to center, then Calhoun provided some two out lightning with a two-run two out single down the left field line that scored Maggi and Torrez to make it 6-3. The Devils would add an insurance run in the ninth on a Zack MacPhee RBI single that scored Maggi.
Maggi, Calhoun and Swagerty all went 2-4 in the win, with Calhoun driving in two and Swagerty and Maggi each driving in one.
The Sun Devils return home Monday night for a match-up with the San Diego Toreros. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. from Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.