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The Sun Devils silenced Berkeley on Saturday night and showed that they are capable of winning the big game.
ASU starter Ryan Kellogg can thank some timely, late inning hitting for keeping him perfect on the season. How about two tacos from Jack in the Box?
Well, that pun didn't work quite like I would've hoped but Kasey Coffman got the hot sauce and gave it a ride for the tying three-run home run in top of the eighth inning. The Sun Devils two-out hitting is possibly the best aspect of their season considering coming into the weekend, 33 percent of the team's runs came with two outs in the books.
After Trever Allen and Drew Stankiewicz reached base with singles in the eighth, Coffman smashed a 2-2 pitch for his sixth home run of the year. He finished the game batting 3-5 with four RBIs.
In the top of the ninth, second baseman James McDonald helped the recent Arizona State graduates to get to bed a little earlier on Saturday night. California relief pitcher Logan Scott made one mistake, and it was all the Sun Devils would need.
McDonald gave the second pitch a ride to right-center field to reclaim the lead for ASU. Ryan Burr closed out the night with a perfect 1-2-3 inning and two strikeouts to pick up the win.
The freshman Kellogg has been worked a lot this season considering he has already tossed 80 innings entering Saturday. Cal hitters jumped on him in the third inning to erase the 6-0 Arizona State lead. The first five Golden Bears reached base safely and they tied the game at six apiece.
The game looked over in the fourth inning when Alex Blackford surrendered three runs (two earned) and couldn't record an out. Eventually Coffman and McDonald put the game back in ASU's control.
Adam McCreery deserves a ton of credit as he came in to relieve Blackford and shut out the Golden Bears for four and one-third innings. He only allowed two hits in that span.
The rubber match will start at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday and Zak Miller is scheduled to take the mound for the Sun Devils.