Baseball Cruises Past UCSD in Seven For Second-Straight Night

PHOENIX - Sun Devil Baseball overpowered the UC San Diego Tritons (26-15, 13-8 Big West) Wednesday night with an emphatic run-rule 19-8 victory at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
 
Arizona State (24-22, 12-12 Pac-12) smacked 18-hits and had a season high five home runs in the victory. Kien Vu ushered his ninth home run of the year - a tape measure 480-foot grand slam in the fourth inning and finishing 3-for-4 on the night with four RBIs. Freshman Ethan Mendoza continued to swing a hot strick with his sixth-straight game registering a hit, going 3-for-4 with a double and his first collegiate home run in the second inning.
 
Steven Ondina tallied his third home run of the year, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Nick McLain also utilized the long ball, notching a two-run bomb in the second inning to extend the Sun Devil lead as the sophomore went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a double. Jacob Tobias also added his team-leading 12th home run of the season as he went 2-for-4 with two RBIs as well. 
 
Ten different Sun Devils registered a hit in the contest with Ryan Kroepel also picking up his first career knock, an RBI double in the seventh inning to cap off the offensive show. 
 
ASU got scoreless innings of relief from Wyatt Halvorson, Bradyn Barnes and Hunter Omlid with Barnes picking up his first collegiate victory. 
 
TURNING POINT
After allowing a run in the top half of the opening inning the Sun Devils responded emphatically with seven runs in the bottom half of the frame. The offensive explosion featured four doubles by Kien Vu, Jacob Tobias, Ethan Mendoza and Mario Demera that produced four runs. The cherry on top for the Maroon & Gold was a three-run bomb by Steven Ondina to give ASU an early 7-1 lead and his third home run of the season.
 
BIG MOMENT
The Sun Devils were already holding a 12-run lead, but entering the fourth frame, ASU managed to put another five-spot on the Tritons after Kieu Vu unleashed a 480-foot grand slam over the right-centerfield wall after the Sun Devils managed three straight walks to load the bases for the sophomore. Jacob Tobias followed that with a solo shot of his own - ASU's fifth homer of the day - to give ASU an insurmountable 18-1 advantage. 
 
FINAL STRAW
An Isaiah Jackson single through the hole into left set up freshman pinch-hitter Ryan Kroepel for his first career hit as he laced the first ball he saw for a double off the right-center field wall to score Jackson from first and registered his first career RBI in the process. and RBI, in which he smoked a double to the left-field wall in the gap to extend the Sun Devil lead to 15 at 19-4.
 
QUOTABLES
Arizona State Head Coach Willie Bloomquist 
On the offensive performance tonight compared to last night:
"We swung the bats a lot better tonight. A lot harder contact and good swings with runners in scoring position so all-in-all that felt like we had 18 hits tonight versus last night where I couldn't believe we had 13 (hits). But felt much better, more productive offense tonight and I guess louder runs if that makes sense but they swung the bat very well."
 
On Steven Ondina's bat developing when he's mostly known for his defense:
"It's big. Not only from the stsandpoint of team contributing but having him in the bottom of the order, setting up the table for the guys at the top. That's one of the negatives of Campy hitting in the leadoff hole is that the first time he comes up there's no one on base but it's important for those bottom guys to get on base later in the game so when he comes up, he's usually pretty productive with guys in scoring position. With how he's been getting on and those guys at the bottom have been doing a good job getting on base and setting the table for those guys at the top has been big."
 
Arizona State Second Baseman Ethan Mendoza:
On the dynamic of working with a defensive specialist in Steven Ondina:
"It's been great. He know's a lot about what he's doing and you can see on the field that he know's what he's talking about and he's helped me a lot in knowing what balls to charge and what balls to not and the timing of the game definitely feels different from high school and he's helped me by telling me how to adjust myself in the game."
 
On having the advantage of getting good at-bats and getting back to the plate quickly:
"The second inning that Cole (Carlon) pitched, that was like seven or eight pitches. I mean that is a game changer. You're hitting, you want to get back to hitting and that can help us in the future win a bunch of ball games. If our pitching is out there and attacks them and lets our defense work, we will win a lot of ball games."
 
Arizona State left-fielder Kien Vu:
On what it's like earning his spot and being an every-day starter:
"It feels good. I just want to win. It feels good that I can be in there every day and we all love playing baseball so it's nice to get that opportunity to play every day but at the end of the day I just want to win. So whatever spot i'm in is the spot that I'm going to try to make the most out of."
 
On if he saw this type of offensive surge coming and what his expectations were:
"These weren't my expectations and I've definately exceeded my expectations but I think I'm just trying to have quality at-bats and the attitude I've had is what set me up for the results that I'm getting. This could happen to anyone. I don't know how to put into words other than it feels great and it's a crazy feeling, and it's kind of surreal. I think I'm just trying to stay focused and not let myself get wrapped up in those numbers,"
 
NOTABLES 

• Ryan Campos' fourth inning walk means he has now reached base safely in 125-of-135 career games (92.6 percent) with the Sun Devils and all but one game this season.
• ASU's 19 runs were the most allowed by UCSD this season, which entered the midweek series with a team 4.64 ERA. It was tied for the most the Tritons have allowed since April 30, 2021 (20 vs. UC Riverside).
• ASU's 19 runs were the most it has scored this season and the most the team has had since scoring 21 against Santa Clara on April 11, 2022. 
• ASU has scored 10 or more runs in five of its last six games.
• ASU's five homers were the most in a game this season and it posted 11 extra base hit by adding six doubles as well - four of those coming in the first inning. 
• This season, ASU has posted 44 3+ run innings and 28 4+ run innings following its seven-run first, four-run second and five-run fourth. It was the 11th and 12th times this year ASU plated 5 or more runs in an inning.
• ASU reached double-digit hits for the 29th time in 46 games this season..
• With another three hits tonight, Kien Vu extended his impressive 22-game stretch since entering the starting lineup against UNLV where he is batting .468 with nine homers, five doubles, a triple and a team-best 31 RBIs - eight more than any other player in that stretch. 
• Vu's grand slam tonight gives him 37 RBIs overall on the season - good for second on the team despite starting between 10-23 games less than the team's eight primary starters. 
• He extended his active hitting streak to 12 games today, the longest by a Sun Devil this season.
• Ethan Mendoza (three hits tonight) and Vu now have five games this season with three or more hits, tied with Brandon Compton for the team lead.
• Steven Ondina has put together a quiet stretch in ASU's last ten games, posting a .405 average that is third on the team in that stretch with nine RBIs, which are also tied for third.  
• ASU has trailed at some point in 33 of the team's last 45 victories dating back to last season. 

 
INNING BY INNING 
First Inning
The Tritons utilzed a lead-off double to score the games first run off of a sacrifice fly, taking a 1-0 advantage. 
 
The Sun Devils responded with a double of their own from Vu, then a walk from Nick McLain. Both would be scored after Tobias doubled down the left-field line to give ASU a 2-1 lead. Isaiah Jackson was walked to load the bases with only one out in the frame. Demera then doubled to score Mendoza and Tobias, taking a 4-1 advantage. Then with runners on second and third, Ondina torked a fastball to left-center with his third home run of the season to give the Sun Devils a 7-1 lead after the opening inning.
 
Second Inning
Carlon forced the Triton offense to go down the order, scoring a 1-2-3 inning to bring the Sun Devil offense back into action.
 
The bats remained hot for the Sun Devils, after a Vu single, McLain unleashed his sixth home run to straight-away centerfield to extend the lead by two, then after Tobias was walked, Ethan Mendoza knocked his first collegiate home run to give the Sun Devils a 11-1 lead through two innings.
 
Third Inning
Halvorson entered the game for Carlon and forced the Tritons to ground into a double-play after allowing a walk, sending the maroon & gold back to the plate.
 
McLain remained relentless at the plate with a double down the right-field line. After an error by the first baseman, Tobias was safe at first and scored McLain. Mendoza was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat, then Jackson reached base off another error by the Triton. Tobias scored off of a fielders choice, giving the Sun Devils a 13-1 lead after three innings.
 
Fourth Inning
Despite allowing two baserunners, Halvorson struck out the final Triton batter to strand two and keep the 12-run for the Sun Devils.
 
Three straight walks for the Sun Devils  loaded the bases to open the inning, which led to a Kien Vu 480-foot grand slam to clear the bases. Then, Tobias got ahold of his 12th home run of the year to give the Sun Devils a commanding 18-1 lead.
 
Fifth Inning
The Trition responded with three runs in the fifth frame after back-to-back walks, and then aided by a fielding error which put runners in scoring position. They also took advantage of a sacrifice fly, but still were down 18-4 
 
ASU had their first scoreless inning of the game and was able to muster only two singles, but left both Sun Devil runner's stranded as they held a 14-run lead going into the sixth.
 
Sixth Inning
Hunter Omlid entered the game for the Sun Devils where he went down the Triton order, involving two strikeouts to keep the Triton off the board.
 
With two outs, Isaiah Jackson singled through the left gap, setting up Ryan Kroepel who lined his first career hit for a double, that scored Jackson to give the Sun Devils a 19-4 lead.
 
Seventh Inning
Tyler Meyer entered the game in relief where he struck out two batters and then Jonah Giblin cleaned up the final out of the game, stranding the runner on second to secure the run-rule victory after the Triton spotted four in the inning.
 
ON DECK: 
The Sun Devils will remain at Phoenix Municipal Stadium for a three-game tilt against Washington starting Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. AZT. The game will be available to stream on Pac-12 Network.