SURPRISE– Despite the tournament being moved from Texas, things were bigger Thursday night in Arizona State’s 10-2 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats.
King Hairy
That proved especially true in the fourth inning, when sophomore outfielder Landon Hairston drove a 0-1 fastball 113 miles per hour to right field, landing in Cincinnati’s bullpen for his 28th home run of the season, a new single-season record for the program.
The record had stood since 2000, owned by Mitch Jones. The home run made the score 7-1.
“It feels amazing,” Hairston said. “To be a part of something in such a storied program, it means the world to me. No words to describe it.”
Hairston talked earlier in the week about how there was a weight lifted off his shoulders when he tied the record last weekend in Houston, and it showed with a multi-hit day.
“Now it’s just go out and play,” Hairston added. “Give it your all and not worry about external things anymore, what’s done is done and now it’s just focus on one at bat at a time.”
In addition, junior infielder Dominic Smaldino and graduate infielder Matt Polk both homered. For Smaldino, it was his seventh home run in six games and his second game in a row with a homer.
“He’s (Polk) got an edge,” ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “He’s got something to prove…he’s been at a big-time program, he’s experienced the postseason. All those things are why he’s in there, and he continues to come through in big moments and continues to be a spark for us.”
On top of the power from Arizona State, the Bearcats did themselves no favors, recording four errors, although Cincinnati head coach Jordan Bischel believed there were seven outs surrendered.
Pitching does its job
Despite six walks from senior right-hander Kole Klecker, the Arizona-native kept Cincy at bay, allowing just one run through his four innings of work.
Sophomore right-hander Taylor Penn relieved Klecker and was nails, allowing just a single base runner over three scoreless innings, striking out five.
“He epitomizes the word out-getter,” Bloomquist said. “You can plug him if a guy can’t get out of the first inning of a start, you can plug him in, you can start him, obviously. You can put him in the back-end when you need outs and need strikes. Just the guy you can count on to be ready at all times.”
The win was also the first tournament win in the Big 12 for the program in its second season in the conference. Last season, they were eliminated in their first game by the 12th-seeded BYU, 2-0.
The Sun Devils will face off against West Virginia Friday at 8:00 p.m., once again from Surprise Stadium.
“We had a dog fight at our place earlier in the year,” Bloomquist said. “They’re extremely talented, a good team.”
Bloomquist said that a starter had not been fully decided yet, but that Carlon has been feeling good all week. In the event Carlon is not available, Bloomquist said junior right-hander Jaden Alba and graduate right-hander Colby Guy were options to go for the Sun Devils.
