PHOENIX - No. 19 Sun Devil Baseball had an outstanding bounceback weekend performance after a heartbreaking midweek loss to New Mexico State in extra innings on Wednesday. They responded by sweeping the Baylor Bears, outscoring them 26-8 in the three games played. This was the first time this season that Arizona State has swept a conference series. This was also the first time that Baylor had been swept in a conference series since 2024.
The week got started with a midweek matchup with New Mexico State. The game immediately went back and forth, with ASU hanging on to a 6-5 lead after Landon Hairston hit his 25th home run of the season as his astonishing career year continues. Trailing 8-7 going into the bottom of the ninth, ASU had one last opportunity to tie or take the lead. Dean Toigo capitalized with a shot to deep center field to tie the game. The game headed to extra innings, with no one able to score through the 10th. New Mexico State got two runs in the top of the eleventh, leading ASU 10-8. The Sun Devils tried to come back off a Nu'u Contrades RBI double to bring the deficit down to one, but they weren't able to add more to the scoreboard, losing 10-9 in 11 innings.
The Sun Devils remained at home for a conference series with the Baylor Bears. On Friday, Cole Carlon delivered his second consecutive dominant outing. He struckout 12 through six innings while only allowing two runs. The offense backed him up by racking up five home runs and 16 hits. Hairston extended his hitting streak to 26 games, which is the fifth-longest streak in program history. Beckett Zavorek had two home runs despite only having one career homer entering the game. Nu'u Contrades, Dominic Smaldino and Dean Toigo all had home runs as well as the Sun Devils took the first game of the series, 11-2.
The Sun Devil pitching continued to shine in Saturday's matchup, as the outings from Taylor Penn, Colin Linder, Alex Overbay and Derek Schaefer were all efficient as they combined for 14 strikeouts. Contrades helped out on the offensive side, going 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a home run to deep left field. Zavorek added some insurance in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly to get Smaldino home. Schaefer collected his seventh save of the season as Arizona State held on and took the 4-2 win to clinch the series.
On Sunday, Kole Klecker had a resilient performance, tossing six innings, allowing only four hits and a walk. He also struck out eight Baylor batters in the process. ASU had a 3-2 lead going into the fifth and that's when the offense started to click in. Austen Roellig got it started with a two-run homer to deep right field, his second of the season. Zavorek notched an RBI-double and Brody Briggs hit an RBI-single to bring in another run, as the Sun Devils had four runs in the fifth and added three more in the sixth. Smaldino iced the game, hitting his ninth home run of the season as the Sun Devils won the game, 11-4, to earn the series sweep over the Bears.
Arizona State will look to keep up their winning ways when they head to Orlando for a weekend series matchup with UCF.
The Knights are coming off a sweep themselves, winning all three games in their road series against Utah. They recorded 34 total runs offensively in the series and currently share the second best conference record with Arizona State at 14-7. They will head to Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida, to take on Stetson before returning home for a series with the Sun Devils.
All games this week can be streamed on ESPN+. All games this week can also be heard on KDUS AM 1060.
No. 19 ASU (31-14, 14-7 Big 12) | UCF (25-15, 14-7 Big 12)
This week
Friday, May 1, 3:00 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State at. UCF (Orlando) | Watch live: ESPN+ | Listen on KDUS AM 1060
Saturday, May 2, 3:00 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State at. UCF (Orlando) | Watch live: ESPN+ | Listen on KDUS AM 1060
Sunday, May 3, 10:00 a.m. | No. 19 Arizona State at. UCF (Orlando) | Watch live: ESPN+ | Listen on KDUS AM 1060
Next week
Tuesday, May 5, 5:00 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State at. Missouri (Columbia)
Friday, May 8, 6:05 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State vs. Oklahoma State (Phoenix)
Saturday, May 9, 6:05 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State vs. Oklahoma State (Phoenix)
Sunday, May 10, 1:05 p.m. | No. 19 Arizona State vs. Oklahoma State (Phoenix)
Last week
Monday, April 22, 6:35 p.m. | No. 25 Arizona State vs. New Mexico State (Phoenix) | L, 10-9 (11 inn.)
Thursday, April 24, 6:35 p.m. | No. 25 Arizona State vs. Baylor (Phoenix) | W, 11-2
Friday, April 25, 6:35 p.m. | No. 25 Arizona State vs. Baylor (Phoenix) | W, 4-2
Saturday, April 26, 1:05 p.m. | No. 25 Arizona State vs. Baylor (Phoenix) | W, 11-4
All times MST
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