ASU Baseball: Sun Devils stay hot with walk-off win over GCU

Arizona State extended its winning streak to five with a 9-8 win

TEMPE, Ariz.— After taking the series against Arizona in on the Wildcats’ home turf, the Sun Devils wilted away on a four-game skid that included a loss to Utah Valley and sweep by a lowly Washington State who was slated to finish last in the conference in the coaches preseason poll.

Head coach Willie Bloomquist and Arizona State (15-14, 6-6 Pac-12) knew they had to get off the schneid.

And after a gutsy, come-from-behind victory in Las Vegas, which saw the Sun Devils overcome a six-run deficit after the first inning against UNLV and rattle off a four-run inning, they rode the momentum to swing their season around. Now after taking down Grand Canyon University, the Sun Devils have catapulted back into the playoff bubble thanks to a five-game win streak.

Tuesday night’s walk-off win versus crosstown rival GCU proved the fight that Bloomquist and others see in the team despite the .500 record. ASU now carries the hot hand heading into the series with No. 5 Oregon State (23-4) in Corvallis, Oregon.

Richard Martinez/ House of Sparky

A five-spot in the fifth inning from ASU, capped off by the two-RBI double from senior catcher Josiah Cromwick, gave them a 5-3 advantage after three frames of play. But the lead wouldn’t last long for the home side as GCU responded with two runs of their own in the sixth inning.

After a seventh-inning grand slam from the Lopes to make it an 8-6 ballgame, Arizona State climbed back into the ballgame with a run in the bottom half of the seventh. A scoreless eighth led the way to the Devils’ fourth win when trailing in the eighth inning or later this season.

In the ninth, it was sophomore outfielder Kien Vu who had his second hit of the game that led to the two-run rally to win the game. Subsequent walks to freshman pinch-hitter Brandon Compton and senior third baseman Mario Demera loaded the bases for senior left-fielder Harris Williams who played hero in the game.

Harris drove the 1-1 offering out to left-center field and past the airborne GCU centerfielder, down for extra bases. Vu, who was on second base, raced around third and scored as the Sun Devil dugout spilled out to mob Williams between first and second base.

Sophomore right fielder Nick McLain was 3-for-5 on the night, extending his hitting streak, along with his teammate junior catcher Ryan Campos, to eight games. In fact, in the eight games that McLain has recorded a hit, he is 14-for-32 with eight extra-base hits while slugging a blistering .906.

With the win, ASU is now 7-3 in one-run ballgames so far this season. The Sun Devils have been superb when trailing in games this season and are no strangers to the comeback. In 16 of the ASU wins, Bloomquist’s boys have trailed in 14 of those.

ASU will now hit the road to take on No. 5 Oregon State. The Beavers currently sit second in the conference and have a 5-3 record in Pac-12 play and have yet to lose a game at Goss Stadium this season. With three Pac-12 Player of the Week awards already this season, OSU’s junior second baseman Travis Bazzana is a bona fide first-round draft pick this year.

In the last week, the Sun Devils have jumped from No. 117 to No. 69 in the latest D1Baseball reports. ASU now sits on the playoff bubble, but with series against the No. 5 Beavers will test the grit and resiliency of Bloomquist’s squad.