ASU baseball just inched itself closer to hosting a regional.
The No. 12 Sun Devils found their offense early and got just enough pitching before finding their groove again late Friday night, dominating for a crucial 11-3 over No. 12 USC at Dedeaux Field.
ASU (33-19, 18-10 Pac-12) entered this weekend's series likely needing to take at least the first two out of three games from the Trojans (35-19, 16-12 Pac-12) to improve their hosting chances before regional hosts are announced Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
In addition, a strong weekend in Los Angeles would help the Sun Devils finish in second place in the Pac-12 during the regular season.
ASU head coach Tracy Smith wasn't afraid of change before the big series, announcing Wednesday that junior left-hander Brett Lilek would move back to the No. 1 starting pitcher slot and start Friday against the Trojans.
Before ASU's game Friday, Smith made another lineup change — he moved redshirt senior right fielder Trever Allen from the No. 6 spot to the No. 4 spot.
The move, a necessity after sophomore catcher Brian Serven reportedly did not make the trip to Los Angeles with a bulging disk in his back, paid off immediately.
Wow. ASU loses their top power hitter for one of the biggest series of the year. https://t.co/CRjlbPudQN
— Fabian Ardaya (@fardaya15) May 23, 2015
Sophomore shortstop Colby Woodmansee and senior first baseman Joey Bielek each had huge days, hitting back-to-back home runs in the first and each going 3-for-5 on the day.
ASU jumped out to a five-run lead in the first, giving Lilek insurance in the opening frame.
Junior center fielder Johnny Sewald got the ball rolling with a leadoff triple off USC junior right-hander Kyle Davis. Sewald would score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of sophomore third baseman David Greer, giving ASU the 1-0 lead.
Two batters later, Woodmansee extended the lead to 4-0 with a three-run blast to left field, scoring senior left fielder Jake Peevyhouse and Allen. It was Woodmansee's fifth home run of the season, as he finished the game with four RBIs.
On the very next at-bat, Bielek launched a solo home run to left to make it 5-0 Sun Devils.
It was the first time ASU had hit back-to-back home runs since Drew Stankiewicz and Dalton DiNatale hit back-to-back jacks on May 21, 2013 against BYU at Packard Stadium.
Davis would last six innings, giving up five runs on eight hits while walking three and striking out six on 112 pitches.
The Trojans responded in the bottom half of the second inning, as junior center fielder Timmy Robinson led off the inning with a solo shot to left field off of Lilek that cut the lead to 5-1.
ASU threatened to score again in the fourth inning off of back-to-back singles from freshman second baseman Andrew Snow and Sewald, but made nothing of it after Snow was tagged out trying to score on a wild pitch.
Lilek's night came to an end with one out in the fourth inning, as he walked the bases loaded and forced Smith to remove him in favor of senior right-hander Darin Gillies.
Lilek lasted just 3.1 innings on Smith's short leash, giving up two runs on two hits while walking four and striking out one on 58 pitches.
USC junior third baseman Blake Lacey capitalized, taking Gillies' first pitch to center field for an RBI sacrifice fly that cut ASU's lead to 5-2.
Gillies got out of it, striking out junior right fielder AJ Ramirez on a 3-2 count to keep the lead at 5-2.
After Gillies struck out the side in the fifth inning, ASU's offense came back out with a chance to score again in the sixth.
Gillies was excellent in relief Friday, going five innings and giving up one run on six hits while walking three and striking out six before being relieved by junior right-hander Eric Melbostad with one out in the ninth inning. The outing was a career-high in innings pitched out of the bullpen for Gillies.
Woodmansee and Bielek hit back-to-back singles to open the inning, followed by a bunt from pinch-hitter DiNatale to put runners on second and third base with one out. The Sun Devils got nothing out of the opportunity after Robinson's shoestring catch in center and Snow's strikeout.
USC took advantage of the stop, as senior second baseman Dante Flores led off the following frame with a no-doubter over the right field fence to cut the ASU lead to 5-3.
ASU's offense finally arose in the seventh, as Peevyhouse was driven home off Greer's RBI double into the left-center field gap to make it 6-3 Sun Devils.
Bielek, DiNatale and sophomore catcher Zach Cerbo hit back-to-back-to-back singles to open the eighth inning, and were driven home to make it 7-3 after Sewald hit an RBI sacrifice fly to left field.
Peevyhouse broke the game open with the next at-bat, driving home DiNatale and Cerbo with a two-RBI double to right to make it 9-3 in the eighth inning.
Woodmansee added another insurance run in the ninth with an RBI single up the middle to bring home Allen, who hit a double to lead off the inning. Woodmansee advanced to second on the play.
DiNatale kept the run going in the ninth inning, driving home Woodmansee with a single to make it 11-3 as the Sun Devils cruised.
Oregon State defeated Cal 4-0 Friday night, moving the Beavers to 18-9-1 in conference play and dropping the Golden Bears to 17-11 in conference play, putting ASU in sole possession of third place in the conference.
ASU sends junior-left hander Ryan Kellogg (8-1) to the mound Saturday night, needing a win to keep their regional hosting odds alive. First pitch is expected at 4 p.m.
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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