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ASU baseball wins second straight walk-off against Oregon

The bats came alive for another night on Saturday, erasing a deficit.

Sophomore pitcher Eli Lingos pitches during the second of two games against Xavier at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. The Sun Devils won the matchup, 8-2.
Sophomore pitcher Eli Lingos pitches during the second of two games against Xavier at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. The Sun Devils won the matchup, 8-2.

A night after the Sun Devils traded runs with the Ducks and finally won on a 12th-inning walk-off, Saturday’s back-and-forth match was another comeback victory for ASU — winning 9-8.

The Sun Devils (28-15, 11-9 Pac-12) came back, despite being down 4-0, 7-3, and 8-7. They nibbled away at deficits with explosive offense on Saturday after doing the same on Friday, scoring two in the ninth to get their third straight series win and fifth straight victory overall.

“What you look for is a genuine belief that they can (come back),” said ASU Head Coach Tracy Smith. “You keep charging. If you do that enough, you’re probably going to break through, as witnessed by tonight.”

The walk-off started in the ninth when sophomore center fielder Andrew Shaps drew a one-out walk and advanced to third on a double by Ryan Lillard. Chris Beall then grounded out to score Shaps and send Lillard to third, tying the game at 8-8.

Senior infielder Jordan Aboites’ single down the left field line allowed Lillard to trot home for the walk-off win.

“It’s easy in that situation to be really excited," Aboites said. "Obviously, I was excited, really caught up that we tied the game. But the inning wasn’t over and I know I still had a job to do, scoring the winning run. I really try to not get too caught up in that moment.”

Although Aboites got the winning hit, junior infielder David Greer finished the day 3-for-5 with two doubles and a career-high five RBIs. His teammate, Gage Canning, was 2-for-3 with a walk and hit-by-pitch, and has now reached safely in 21 straight games.

The offense picked up the win for the Sun Devils, but pitching woes early on were what kept ASU trailing. Sophomore Eli Lingos was on the hill for the Sun Devils, but labored through 3 1/3 innings with four runs allowed on five hits and three walks.

Of 18 hitters faced, nine reached safely with Lingos on the mound.

“We weren’t particularly sharp on the mound to start, walking some guys,” Smith said. “But I think what you look for in your team is a belief.”

Smith called upon freshman James Ryan, sophomore Ryan Hingst and freshman Chris Isbell, in that order, in relief of Lingos.

The bullpen combined for 5 2/3 innings pitched, four runs, six hits and four walks. ASU’s final reliever, Isbell, went three strong with just one run allowed, earning the win.

“I think that was really critical,” Smith said. “We were in a position where we didn’t want to go to Eder (Erives) if we didn’t have to, and as long as we were in that hold situation, it put us in a chance to win – which is exactly what he did. …I thought that was one of the biggest things for us tonight.”

ASU will look for the series sweep on Sunday at 12:30.


Reach the reporter at matt.layman@asu.edu or follow @Mattjlayman on Twitter.

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