Senior right-hander Kole Klecker threw the forks up to the sky as he walked off the mound, embracing the crowd at Phoenix Municipal Stadium at the end of the seventh inning, finishing a dominant outing with seven shutout innings and seven strikeouts.
The TCU transfer's outing led ASU to a series-clinching 4-0 victory in a pivotal rubber match against his former program, the No. 17 team in the country. The Sun Devils start conference play 2-1 with a crucial series win against the team that was picked to win the Big 12 in the preseason.
The shutout was the Sun Devils' first against a ranked team since 2018.
"It was a unique feeling for sure," Klecker said on facing his former team per SunDevilSource. "(I) still have a lot of love for a lot of people over there, but at the end of the day, I got maroon and gold on my chest."
Klecker, a Chandler native, was head coach Willie Bloomquist's first recruit when he arrived at ASU. Though he originally went a different direction, his Arizona roots never outgrew him.
"I wake up and thank God every morning for being here at ASU, and getting the opportunity to play this amazing game," he said per SunDevilSource. "Both my parents went to ASU, they got degrees here. I grew up going to baseball games, football games (at ASU) ... I feel like I've played four years here and it's only my first."
Outfielders fifth-year Dean Toigo and sophomore Landon Hairston both tallied solo shots as part of their two-hit days to continue their hot streaks in the victory.
The pair lead the club with eight home runs on the season.
Toigo's weekend performance earned him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors. He went 7-12 with two home runs and three RBIs in the three-game set against TCU.
"Dean's had a heck of a series and kind of came out of his little bit of a funk," Bloomquist said per SunDevilSource. "If we can get that, we're pretty dangerous."
The March 14 matchup proved to be a slugfest as the Sun Devils singled TCU to death en route to a 15-8 victory.
Twelve of ASU's 16 hits were singles, and Hairston capped off a nine-run third inning with a grand slam.
Toigo also homered and had two RBIs, going 5-5 on the night.
"Everybody really had good at-bats," Hairston said. "Even our outs were good. If everyone continues to have good at-bats, good things will happen."
Sophomore right-hander Taylor Penn, who relieved junior right-hander Alex Overbay, tossed four scoreless innings, striking out four, and only surrendering one hit, collecting his third win this season.
The series opener proved to be the lone stain on the weekend for the Sun Devils as they dropped a back-and-forth ballgame 5-4, with the tying run being gunned down at home plate to end the game.
Junior outfielder Sam Myers attempted to tag up from third on a shallow fly out to left field from sophomore infielder Beckett Zavorek, but was thrown out on a bang, bang play at home.
The play ended the game and took the bat out of arguably ASU's best hitter's hands, Hairston, who was left on deck.
"We lost a tough one (on Friday)," Bloomquist said per SunDevilSource. "But the way our guys stayed resilient and bounced back Saturday and Sunday was impressive."
ASU left-hander junior Cole Carlon continued his strong start to the year, extending his career high in strikeouts with 11 across five innings, allowing one run.
Out of the bullpen, redshirt junior right-hander Colin Linder and sophomore right-hander Finn Edwards each allowed two runs in short stints in relief.
At the plate, redshirt sophomore infielder Austen Roellig led the way with three hits. Junior infielder PJ Moutzouridis homered and reached base three times in the loss.
Bloomquist provided an update on team captain redshirt junior infielder Nu'u Contrades, who missed the series after leaving the finale of the LMU series, where he got a muscle injury running the bases.
"I think we're close to seeing him back," Bloomquist said per SunDevilSource. "I don't want to say when ... but barring no setbacks, I think he's recovered very well from that tweak that he had. We're cautiously very optimistic."
Coming off the huge series, ASU has now won six of its last seven as they head on the road to the Midwest to take on Kansas State after a quick midweek game against cross-town rival GCU on March 17 in Tempe.
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Henry Smardo and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at eapache3@asu.edu.
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