Territorial Cup baseball hasn't been very close in recent years, Saturday night's game being the exception.
With an average margin of victory of four runs over the last six meetings between No. 5 ASU baseball and Arizona and just three of those decided by one run, the winner has typically been comfortably ahead in the late innings.
Both teams were held scoreless through the first three innings Saturday, but it didn't take long for the Sun Devils to reverse that trend, unloading four runs in the first and pounding out 16 total hits en route to a 13-7 win Sunday night.
"Sometimes, you have to win like that," head coach Tracy Smith said. "When we jumped up on them, they got it close, we answered and put more runs up. That's what you have to do. Keep extending."
Ryan Kellogg (6-1) tossed 5.2 innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on 10 hits, walking just one batter while striking out six in the win.
The junior lefty threw 100 pitches, 63 of which were strikes, and picked up the win despite allowing two home runs and four extra base hits.
"He was behind every hitter," Smith said. "All I said was, 'concentrate on strike one.' Don't try to be too fine, because they're a very good hitting team. He had to go to his fastball, and they did some damage with it."
Junior center fielder Johnny Sewald was hit by junior right-hander Xavier Borde to lead off the game for the ninth-time, a team high for the Sun Devils (23-9, 11-3 Pac-12).
A single from senior left fielder Jake Peevyhouse, followed by an RBI double to right center from sophomore shortstop Colby Woodmansee opened the floodgates for a four-run burst, capped by an RBI double down the left field line from sophomore third baseman David Greer.
"It's always nice to play with a little less stress," Woodmansee said. "They were chipping away the whole game, and that shows you that they're not going to give up. But we're not going to give in either."
This was enough for Arizona head coach Andy Lopez to pull the plug on Borde, who tossed just 16 pitches and was removed before recording a single out in the bottom of the first. Lopez would eventually use seven different pitchers in Sunday's game.
The Wildcats (22-11,7-7 Pac-12) were down by as many as six in the second, but clawed back with a solo home run from sophomore third baseman Bobby Dalbec in the second inning and a two-run shot from shortstop Kevin Newman in the third.
In the third, Sewald tracked a deep fly ball off the bat of senior catcher Riley Moore and leaped at the wall to prevent it from leaving the yard to end the inning.
.@ASU_Baseball's Johnny Sewald has reservations for this week's #12Best, tomorrow at 10 PT on Pac-12 Networks! pic.twitter.com/zjzoqlWIjK
— Pac-12 Networks (@Pac12Networks) April 13, 2015
Arizona tacked on two more runs on an RBI single from junior right fielder Zach Gibbons (his 14th run driven in) in the fourth and rallied to within two to trail ASU 7-5 in the fifth when Moore doubled to right center, but didn't score again until the ninth off Eric Melbostad.
The junior right-hander has been used sparingly this season, but recently underwent a mechanical change – a sidearm delivery.
"Coming in with the sidearm motion, I'm just trying to get a lot of movement on the ball," Melbostad said. "I try to fill up the strike zone, get a ground ball and make them put in in play."
While Melbostad's struggles in the fall have limited his usage this season, Smith went with Melbostad because of his willingness to adjust and experience pitching in conference games.
"I thought he did a really good job of controlling the game and giving them a different look," Smith said. "He got under their barrels with the sidearm stuff."
Despite having wrapped up five Pac-12 series, Smith remains focused on catching up with the top dogs of the conference.
"We've got to do a good job of closing out this weekend," Smith said. "UCLA is playing really well, and there's not going to be much margin for error if you want to win a Pac-12 championship.
Junior left-hander Brett Lilek will go for a series win against (4-2, 4.33 ERA) against Arizona's Bobby Dalbec (2-3, 4.34 ERA) Monday at 7 p.m.
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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