The Sun Devils staged a rally against USC at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Friday night, giving up a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning before coming back in the eighth and gliding to a 3-2 victory.
ASU (34-19, 16-12 Pac-12) barely pulled out a win against USC's Trojans (26-28, 13-15 Pac-12), though the odds were stacked in their favor.
Junior pitcher Seth Martinez earned his team some momentum early in the game by closing out the opening inning with his first of five strikeouts of the night. Freshman right fielder Gage Canning quickly followed up with a home run for the Sun Devils' first at-bat.
Martinez took a hit to the ankle in the top of the third inning, but played through the seventh inning before freshman pitcher Chris Isbell relieved him in the eighth and junior pitcher Eder Erives in the ninth.
Martinez said the Sun Devils' fielding was essential to their victory.
"Each pitch I just had to throw with as much conviction as I could," he said after the game. "Our defense is good enough ... most of the time, they're gonna make the play."
Martinez also said the Sun Devils will have to stay focused if they want to win the last two games in the season.
Timmy Robinson, the Trojans' senior center fielder, stole second after being walked at the top of the fourth inning. Martinez walked USC junior catcher Jimmy Martinez next, allowing senior first baseman AJ Ramirez to gain the lead by hitting a 2-RBI double.
Trojans junior catcher Jeremy Martinez helped lead his team for the majority of Friday night by going 1-3 in addition to two walks for the night — in keeping with his .373 season batting average. His first at-bat of the night resulted in an early second-inning out with a shallow pop fly to center field.
Martinez flied out to right field in the top of the ninth with two outs and loaded bases, costing the Trojans the game.
The Sun Devils rallied off a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning from junior first baseman David Greer, taking them to a 3-2 lead.
Although the Sun Devils trailed for the majority of the game, they finished the night with three runs and eight hits.
USC's starting pitcher, freshman Joe Navilhon, ultimately prevented the Sun Devils from catching up to his season 3.38 ERA. However, ASU's lineup featuring two batters with averages over .300 proved too much for Navilhon.
ASU head coach Tracy Smith said he knew the game would be a close one, and is looking forward to the rest of the series.
"Both teams I thought played well, it was probably going to come down to a one-run game, somehow, someway," Smith said.
The NCAA Regionals will start on June 3, with the possibility of ASU hosting. Smith said the key to the regionals lies in his players being honest with one another and continuing to work hard.
"Your group is going to be as good as and as motivated as those that are doing it themselves," he said. "If we really care about winning, we need to take care of some things internally — hold each other accountable."
Crowd goes wild as .@ASU #SunDevils pull out a win over .@USC #Trojans. #NCAA pic.twitter.com/P8a3zlJWoV
— Joshua Bowling (@MrJoshuaBowling) May 28, 2016
The Sun Devils will take the field against the Trojans again on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Reach the reporter at jwbowlin@asu.edu or follow @mrjoshuabowling on Twitter.
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