The No. 8 ASU baseball team defeated Nebraska 13-5 in the first of a three-game series at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Friday night.
ASU's victory was in large part due to an outburst of offensive success in the bottom of the fourth inning, in which the Sun Devils piled on eight runs on three hits, five walks, three HBP and one wild pitch.
"(Nebraska was) struggling with the strike zone," head coach Tracy Smith said. "Our guys put together some good ABs, were patient, took walks we needed to take. It was good to stretch one out because we wanted to get some other guys in there. I was glad to see that."
Back-to-back singles in the second inning from ASU junior designated hitter Hunter Jump and junior second baseman Drew Swift helped ASU set the tone early on offense.
"I thought we did great as a team," Jump said. "We came out really strong...and attacked early. (We) put some runs on the board and (were) way more aggressive."
Another single to left from freshman right fielder Seth Nager was able to score Jump to give ASU (7-3) a 1-0 lead.
Two wild pitches by Cornhuskers' pitcher Max Schreiber proved to be costly early in the game and allowed both Swift and Nager to score to give the Sun Devils a 3-0 buffer.
"Every 90 feet is important," Smith said. "When you do that, it increases your chance to win. This is just one of those games."
Nebraska right fielder Aaron Palensky launched a solo home run over the left field fence to get the Cornhuskers (1-6) on the board in the top of the fourth inning.
ASU's onslaught began in the fourth, where the Sun Devils contributed eight runs with just one out. Junior infielder Gage Workman, Jump and Swift all added hits in the inning. Junior first baseman Spencer Torkelson, junior outfielder Trevor Hauver, Nager and Workman were all walked in the inning to add to the fire.
"Our main thing is just playing throughout the game," Swift said. "We're always trying to make ourselves as good as we can be and play the best that we can."
Following two more walks and another hit by pitch, a wild pitch from Nebraska's Braxton Bragg allowed Torkelson to score in the bottom of the sixth.
A pair of singles and one double from the Nebraska bats were able to notch two runs in the top of the eighth inning to give the Cornhuskers their second and third runs.
The Sun Devils added their 13th run of the game on back-to-back doubles from Hauver and Workman in the bottom of the eighth.
Nebraska tallied two more runs in the top of the ninth to pull within eight.
ASU freshman starter Cooper Benson ended the night with six strikeouts, three hits and one earned run through six innings pitched.
"He commanded the strike zone," Smith said. "I thought the improvement of pitching aggressively in the zone was probably the biggest thing for him tonight."
Nebraska, on the other hand, struggled on the mound, accumulating 194 total pitches from six different arms.
"It's not going to be that easy tomorrow," Smith said. "We have plenty of things we can work on coming out of this thing ... we have to refocus and get ready for what I anticipate will be a much better performance by them on the mound."
ASU hosts Nebraska on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. MST and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. MST at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in hopes of extending its win streak to six and seven games, respectively.
Reach the reporter at aklatsky@asu.edu and follow @averyklatsky on Twitter.
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