ASU Baseball: Romero’s big start spoiled in 11-6 loss at No. 2 Stanford

The Arizona State Sun Devils (14-21, 6-8 Pac-12) led 4-2 going into the bottom of the eighth inning, before the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal (27-5, 9-4) poured nine runs on the Sun Devils to eventually win 11-6 on Saturday evening.

Junior starting right-hander Sam Romero went a career-best 7 ¹⁄₃ innings with eight strikeouts on two hits and three earned runs.

He left the game up 4-2 with one out in the eighth when everything unraveled.

Left-handed sophomore Chaz Montoya allowed a walk and a hit that scored a run, but was pulled for senior righty Jake Godfrey. Freshman third baseman Gage Workman suffered an error that scored a run. The costly miscue was followed by an intentional walk and a grand slam that put the Cardinal ahead, 8-4.

Junior left-hander Connor Higgins then came in to get the final two outs, but not before allowing three more runs on an 2-RBI double and a base hit that scored a run.

The Sun Devils outhit the Cardinal 11-6 and homered thrice — two coming from freshman first baseman Spencer Torkelson who now has 18 home runs on the season. Workman hit a two-run jack in the top of the ninth and senior Taylor Lane knocked a 2-RBI double in the fourth inning to take a 3-0 lead at the time.

Arizona State looks to avoid a sweep in its Sunday matchup with Stanford where senior left-hander Eli Lingos (5-2, 2.36 ERA) is slated to get the start. First pitch from Klein Field is set for 1:05 p.m. and can be watched on the Pac-12 Plus live stream.