PHOENIX – For just the third time in program history, the No. 10 Sun Devil Baseball program improved to 20-0 to start a season following a dominant offensive performance in a 15-9 victory over Cal Baptist on Wednesday evening at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Sun Devil offense was on full display on Wednesday, recording 15 runs on 15 hits. Ten different Sun Devils recorded at least one hit in the contest with five of them recording multi-hit efforts. ASU jumped out to a 13-0 lead early in this one and pulled most if its starters and went
deep into its bullpen after the fifth inning, which allowed CBU to make the final score appear closer than the game actually played out.
With the victory, ASU moved to 20-0 for the third time in program history. It marks the third best start in ASU history behind only a school and Pac-12 record 24-0 start in 2010 and a 21-0 start in 1961.
Hunter Bishop led the charge with yet another multi-home run game, recording two in the first three innings to finish the day 2-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored.
Spencer Torkelson added three RBIs on 2-of-4 hitting with a run scored.
Alika Williams and
Carter Aldrete each added two RBIs in the effort as well.
Sam Romero gave the Sun Devils five exceptional innings, allowing no runs with a season-high five strikeouts, scattering four hits with just one walk allowed. The effort earned Romero his first victory of the season while allowing the Sun Devils to give some experience to some less-used players out of the bullpen after the offense built up a 13-0 through five innings.
As a team, the Sun Devils struck out 10 Lancer batters and stranded double-digit base runners for the second consecutive game, leaving 11 CBU players on the base bath after a season-high 16 in the series finale against Washington State.
Cal Baptist salvaged several runs down the stretch against a mish-mash of Sun Devil bullpen and position players, including the return of
Colby Davis after missing the first month and the first career appearance on the mound for
Carter Aldrete to try and spell the main players out of the Sun Devil bullpen.
Bishop opened the scoring right out the gates with a monster 452-foot shot off the batter's eye in center field in the bottom of the first inning.
ASU opened the game up in the bottom of the third with an RBI double from Torkelson followed by a two-run homer from Bishop to make it 4-0. RBI hits from
Lyle Lin and
Gage Workman extended the lead to 6-0 and ASU never looked back.
The Devils put up a crooked number in four consecutive frames from the third through sixth innings to take a commanding 15-1 lead before giving the majority of their starters the hook.
The Sun Devils will continue Pac-12 play on the road this weekend, traveling to the Pacific Northwest for a scheduled three-game series against Oregon in Eugene, beginning on Friday. All three games will be broadcast by the Oregon Pac-12 Network live stream. Weather may play a role with scheduling so fans are encouraged to follow along the Sun Devil Baseball Twitter account (@ASU_Baseball) throughout the weekend for any schedule updates.
