The No. 10 ASU baseball team swept Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday and Wednesday, winning 12-2 and 9-3, respectively, to improve to 10-4 on the season.
Tuesday
After a series win against Nebraska the previous weekend, ASU suffered early on in the bottom of the first, allowing Fullerton to score twice in the opening inning on a double to right-center and a sacrifice fly to center field.
However, ASU woke up in the third inning, after junior outfielder Trevor Hauver was walked with the bases loaded to send senior catcher Nick Cheema home. Junior second baseman Drew Swift singled to the right side, scoring two additional runs in the inning to quickly erase Fullerton's lead.
Following two scoreless innings in the fourth and the fifth, ASU's offense continued to hit the nail on the head, adding five runs in the top of the sixth. Freshman designated hitter Nathan Baez, sophomore center fielder Dusty Garcia, Hauver and Swift all recorded hits to bring home base runners to extend the Sun Devils' lead to 8-2.
ASU added four more runs in the final two innings, with junior first baseman Spencer Torkelson launching a two-run home run to left-center field in the eighth, and two wild pitches in the ninth allowed Baez and Cheema to trot home.
ASU junior starting pitcher Boyd Vander Kooi recorded six strikeouts and allowed just eight hits on 31 batters faced through the first eight innings. Freshman reliever Christian Bodlovich recorded three strikeouts in the final inning to help seal the win for Vander Kooi.
Wednesday
The Sun Devils continued to chip away at the Titan's defense the following evening, getting on the scoreboard in the top of the second on an error by Fullerton during junior third-baseman Gage Workman's at-bat, which allowed Swift to score.
Fullerton tagged back with two runs in the following half-inning on a single and sacrifice fly to center field.
ASU scored six unanswered runs from the top of the fourth to the top of the seventh; Workman singled to bring home Swift and Hauver in the fourth, Hauver doubled to right to bring home junior shortstop Alika Williams and Garcia, and Swift added one RBI the fifth and one in the seventh on singles to give ASU a 7-2 advantage.
Swift finished the night 4-5 at the plate.
Baez homered to left field to add to the Sun Devils' lead in the top of the eighth.
Fullerton scored their third run of the game on an infield single in the bottom of the eighth, but Hauver homered to right for ASU's second blast of the night in the top of the ninth.
Sophomore starter Erik Tolman recorded eight strikeouts and threw 62 strikes on 105 pitches through six innings.
No. 10 ASU returns home to host Fresno State in a three-game series that begins at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Friday.
Reach the reporter at aklatsky@asu.edu and follow @averyklatsky on Twitter.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
