ASU baseball defeated Washington State 5-4 Saturday afternoon in Phoenix despite being outhit. Two runs in the eighth inning proved to be the deciding factor after being held scoreless for six consecutive innings.
ASU recorded eight hits to WSU's 14. However, ASU stranded 15 runners on base throughout the game.
Similar to Friday's game, the Sun Devils took the lead with an early scoring flurry, recording three runs to start the game.
After redshirt freshman center fielder Joe Lampe grounded out to begin the first inning, ASU recorded four straight hits, including three straight run-scoring doubles from redshirt junior designated hitter Hunter Jump, redshirt freshman second baseman Sean McLain and freshman first baseman Ethan Long.
ASU redshirt sophomore pitcher Tyler Thornton held WSU scoreless and surrendered just four hits on 90 pitches through the first five innings.
"Our pitchers today did a really good job of minimizing runs," Thornton said. "Overall, it was a great team win. Pitchers did their jobs."
After ASU's three-run first inning, neither team scored again until the top of the sixth, where WSU recorded five hits to score four runs to take a 4-3 lead. Freshman pitcher Jared Glenn surrendered three runs in the inning and redshirt freshman Graham Osman allowed the other.
ASU took advantage of sloppy play by WSU to score two runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Redshirt freshman right fielder Kai Murphy advanced from first base to third on two wild pitches early in the inning. After freshman third baseman Hunter Haas walked, freshman Jack Moss singled to center field. The center fielder subsequently missed the ball attempting to field it, allowing both Murphy and Haas to score.
Redshirt junior pitcher Brady Corrigan and redshirt sophomore pitcher Will Levine combined to pitch the final two innings without allowing a run, with the latter pitcher earning the win.
ASU hosts WSU in the final game of the series on March 28 at 12:05 p.m. MST in Phoenix.
Reach the reporter at aklatsky@asu.edu and follow @averyklatsky on Twitter.
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