ASU baseball earned a weekend sweep over Fresno State in an 8-3 victory on Sunday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium thanks to a two-home-run day from junior third baseman Gage Workman.
A switch hitter, Workman left the yard from both sides of the plate. The junior drove one to right-center field from the left-handed batter's box in the fourth and did the same to left-center field as a right-handed hitter in the fifth.
Sunday marked the first time Workman has ever homered from each side of the plate.
"It was pretty cool," Workman said. "That was a first for me. I'm just lucky the wind was blowing out."
Workman finished the day 2-4 with three RBIs and those two home runs.
Junior lefty Justin Fall earned the start for ASU (13-4) Sunday, coming into his fourth appearance with a 6.92 earned run average. Fall ran into trouble early, but found his groove after a mound visit from ASU pitching coach Jason Kelly.
"He gets emotional at times," Kelly said. "I just had to settle him a bit and get him to focus on what we were trying to accomplish, which was pounding the zone and throwing strikes."
Following the visit with one out and runners on first and second in the third, Fall did not allow a hit until he was pulled following the sixth inning.
"Last week, I wasn't really able to get through (the third inning)," Fall said. "I feel like I was more myself out there today."
Fall earned his first victory of the season, allowing just four hits and two earned runs in six innings pitched.
The Sun Devils pulled away from the Bulldogs (8-7) with a four-run fifth inning. A pair of doubles, a hit by pitch and the second Workman home run plated all four runs before Fresno State pitching could even record an out.
"Its just a good lineup all the way up and down," Workman said. "Its just who's going to get it done that day."
ASU has won five in a row and 11 of its last 12.
The Sun Devils will host UA on Tuesday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in what will count as a non-conference matchup before welcoming Utah to Phoenix on Friday to open Pac-12 play.
While ASU's starting pitcher has not been named for Tuesday, Kelly said it will be a combined effort from sophomore pitcher Erik Tolman and junior pitcher Boyd Vander Kooi against the Wildcats.
Vander Kooi pitched a scoreless, nine-pitch eighth inning in a would-be tune up for the Territorial Cup mid-week showdown.
"It was his day to get work, so I wanted to get him in there," Kelly said. "We are going to sit down as a coaching staff right now and evaluate what Tuesday is going to look like for us."
Reach the reporter at ancoil@asu.edu or follow @anc2018 on Twitter.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
