The No. 9 ASU baseball team scored 13 runs in the first three innings en route to a 15-3 victory Saturday night over Valparaiso.
The Sun Devils (24-11-1) scored five runs in the first two innings off the Crusaders (14-23) then exploded for eight in the third, highlighted by a grand slam from freshman designated hitter R.J. Ybarra.
The grand slam was the first for the Sun Devils since 2010 and Ybarra's first career home run.
“I was looking for a slider,” Ybarra said. “I had got about five or six sliders prior to that, so I had to sit back on it, and I got the pitch I wanted and crushed it.”
Ybarra finished with a career-high five RBI’s and his performance was equaled by fellow freshman and first baseman Dalton DiNatale, who went 4-4 with a career-high three RBI’s.
“Things went my way tonight,” DiNatale said. “Overall, it was a good night, and I found the holes.”
The Sun Devils scored double digits runs in consecutive games for the first time this season, which Ybarra says is due to an entire team effort.
“We’ve just been swinging the bat well one through nine, and everyone has been driving the ball,” Ybarra said.
Junior third baseman Michael Benjamin and sophomore outfielder Jake Peevyhouse also had two hits apiece for the Sun Devils, who had 15 hits total on the night.
On the pitching side, freshman Ryan Kellogg improved on his already record-setting season, pitching six innings and allowing only three runs to move to 9-0 on the season.
Ybarra praised Kellogg’s efficiency and continued ability to go out and get victories.
“It’s so nice when you can have a guy like Ryan go out there and throw well like he does,” Ybarra said.
The Sun Devils will go for the sweep of the Crusaders tomorrow afternoon at 12:30 p.m.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu or follow on Twitter @Danny__Shapiro
