ASU baseball proved clutch late Friday night, scoring the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Fresno State 4-3 in Phoenix.
Junior outfielder Hunter Jump saved the day, as the lefty hit a ball into center field, scoring junior first baseman Spencer Torkelson to give the Sun Devils (11-4) the win.
"(Jump) is going to fight until the very end," head coach Tracy Smith said. "With two strikes, he ends up getting a big hit for us."
Junior shortstop Alika Williams and Torkelson drew back-to-back walks to begin the eighth. A strikeout from junior left fielder Trevor Hauver and a fielder's choice with the infield in off the bat of junior second baseman Drew Swift found the Sun Devils in need of a go-ahead run.
Jump came to the plate and immediately fell behind 0-2. The junior then did what he and ASU hitting coach Michael Earley work on in practice.
"I've been in situations like that before," Jump said. "(I) just try to keep things as simple as possible and move the ball. It is what we do in practice every day."
The Sun Devils jumped out early on the Bulldogs (8-5), scoring two runs in the first and another in the third.
Two of those three runs scored on a pair of sacrifice flies off the barrel of Swift.
"He has an awareness of what he is supposed to do in different situations," Smith said. "It's not always about getting a hit, its about lifting a fly ball when you need to."
Fresno State charged back to tie the game with two runs in the fifth off of freshman starting pitcher Cooper Benson and a run in the seventh against freshman pitcher Cam Dennie.
Benson struck out nine batters in 5.2 innings pitched while allowing six hits and two earned runs. The freshman also worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning.
"After (the first inning), I got my confidence up and started throwing strikes with the fastball," Benson said. "I thought my breaking ball was the best it had been so far this season."
Dennie earned the win in relief with help from junior pitcher RJ Dabovich, who recorded his fourth save of the young season.
Dabovich weaved in and out of trouble after an error began the top of the ninth. A walk two batters later put the tying run in scoring position with one out, which was then squandered following consecutive strikeouts.
Torkelson walked twice more on Friday, bringing his season total to 29 free passes.
The Sun Devils and Bulldogs will play game two of the three-game series Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. MST at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Sophomore pitcher Tyler Thornton will get the start on the mound for ASU to duel with Fresno State's junior pitcher Jamison Hill.
Reach the reporter at ancoil@asu.edu or follow @anc2018 on Twitter.
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