ASU freshman designated hitter R.J. Ybarra continued his tear through Pac-12 pitching, hitting a three-run home run and collecting four RBI’s in No. 8 ASU baseball’s 9-6 victory over Utah Sunday afternoon.
With the victory, the Sun Devils (28-12-1, 11-7 Pac-12) swept the Utes (16-23, 5-16 Pac-12) for their first conference sweep of the season.
Ybarra’s homerun in the fifth tied the game at five after the Sun Devils fell behind early, giving up runs in each of the first four innings.
The Sunday starting pitching struggles continued for the Sun Devils as senior Alex Blackford lasted only three batters before being pulled.
Billy Young came in for Blackford and limited the damage to only two runs in the first, but gave up a run apiece in both the second and third innings.
The Sun Devils struck back with offense of their own in the third on back-to-back RBI singles from junior second baseman James McDonald and senior catcher Max Rossiter.
The Utes added another run in the fourth off senior reliever Matt Dunbar, who replaced Young.
That set the stage in the fifth for Ybarra.
Junior third baseman Michael Benjamin led off with a single, then Rossiter reached on a one-out error before Ybarra crushed his third homerun of the season over the left-field wall.
The Sun Devils took the momentum from Ybarra’s homerun into the sixth inning and took the lead for the first time all game when sophomore shortstop Drew Stankiewicz led off with a single then scored three batters later on a wild pitch.
Dunbar couldn’t hold the lead in the bottom of the inning as Utes junior first baseman Trey Nielsen doubled home the tying run after an error by Stankieiwcz to lead off the inning.
It took the Sun Devils only two innings to regain the lead, though, as Benjamin hit an RBI groundout in the eighth.
Sophomore reliever Darin Gillies replaced Dunbar in the seventh set down the Utes in order.
Gillies ran into trouble in the eighth, loading the bases with two walks and a hit by pitch before being replaced by freshman closer Ryan Burr with two outs.
Burr was able to escape the inning with a groudnout, which gave Gillies his first victory of the season.
The Sun Devils added two insurance runs in the ninth and Burr shut the door on the Utes in the ninth for his ninth save of the season.
With the victory, the Sun Devils moved into a third-place tie in the Pac-12 with UCLA.
The Sun Devils return to action Tuesday in Tucson for a non-conference tilt against rival UA.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Josh_Nacion
