It took everything it had, but the No. 15 ASU baseball team picked up its third consecutive Pac-12 series win, squeaking by USC 6-5 Sunday afternoon.
After a five-run second inning and an insurance run in the sixth, the Sun Devils (22-10-1, 8-7 Pac-12) and senior pitcher Alex Blackford seemed to be in control.
Blackford (4-0), making his first start of the season, didn’t allow a hit through 4.2 innings but ran into trouble in the fifth.
USC freshman outfielder Timmy Robinson struck first off Blackford with an RBI single, then Blackford struck out the next Trojan batter. Freshman catcher R.J. Ybarra threw away the dropped third strike to extend the inning and allow Robinson to score.
The Trojans (13-22, 6-9 Pac-12) made Ybarra and Blackford pay for the error, as redshirt freshman designated hitter Bobby Stahel doubled home two more runs to make it 6-4 Sun Devils after five innings.
Senior Matt Dunbar came in to replace Blackford in the seventh and struggled, allowing two walks a double to load the bases with no outs.
Dunbar struck out the next batter he faced, then was pulled for sophomore Darin Gillies.
Gillies did the job, allowing a run to score on a sacrifice fly, but he preserved the Sun Devil lead at 6-5.
After a scoreless eighth, freshman Ryan Burr came in to close out the game and got into a bit of trouble himself, allowing a single and hitting a batter.
Burr was able to induce a popout to end the game for his seventh save of the season.
Redshirt sophomore outfielder Trever Allen led the way offensively for the Sun Devils, smacking his team-leading sixth homerun of the season.
The Sun Devils now travel to Tucson for a non-conference matchup with UA on Tuesday before returning home for a weekend series with Valparaiso.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Danny__Shapiro
