ASU Baseball: Sun Devils split first two games of Cal series, rubber match to come Sunday

Arizona State (18-9, 6-2 Pac-12) split its first two games against Cal (11-11, 3-8 Pac-12) this weekend in Berkeley. Heading into Sunday’s rubber match, ASU now sits at No. 3 in the Pac-12.

Game One, 4-1 ASU

Sun Devil ace Ross Dun (4-1, 2.97 ERA) worked his best start of the season since the Irvine series. Dunn completed five full innings of work before allowing his first run. He finished the night with 5.1 innings of work, eight strikeouts, three hits and two walks.

Leading into the home half of the six, the Sun Devils scored all their runs in the fifth and sixth innings, earning Dunn the win. Outfielder Wyatt Crenshaw broke the 0-0 tie in the fifth when he scored on a single-turned-error on a base hit by freshman Nu’u Contrades. Campos scored Contrades on an RBI-single for the 2-0 lead.

Outfielder Kien Vu and designated hitter Willie Cano each added an RBI. The score was 4-0 before Cal plated its first, and only, run.

Relievers Nolan Lebamoff, Blake Pivaroff and Owen Stevenson each threw one scoreless inning. Stevenson recorded his second save of the season.

Game Two, 5-4 Cal

The Golden Bears earned a quick 3-0 lead with a homer in the home-half of the first inning. Only two of those runs were earned due to a throwing error by shortstop Luke Hill that allowed the leadoff-man to get on base.

Starter Khristian Curtis settled-in nicely and didn’t allow another run on the evening. Curtis finished the night with 5.1 innings-pitched, nine strikeouts, three runs (two earned) and four hits.

The Sun Devils gained the lead in the fifth inning. Crenshaw singled to score Cano, then Contrades unloaded for his sixth bomb of the year, and his second go-ahead, three-run homer in as many weeks. ASU held a 4-3 lead.

In the last 14 games, Contrades is hitting .476 with six homers, five doubles and a team-high 24 RBI.

Campos added another two hits. He is hitting .519 in the last 14 games.

The Golden Bears tallied a run off Timmy Manning and Matt Tieding each, with the latter being a walkoff-homer with no outs in the ninth.

Game three will take place Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. AZ time in Berkeley.