ASU Baseball: Sun Devils take series at Cal after 19-hit performance

Arizona State (19-9, 7-2 Pac-12) defeated Cal (11-12, 3-9 Pac-12) 15-10 in Berkeley Sunday afternoon to win the series. Nine of ASU’s 15 runs came in the eighth inning.

All nine Sun Devils in the starting lineup recorded at least one RBI.

The Sun Devils found themselves trailing most of the game after initially falling down 3-0 early. ASU starter Jonah Giblin threw three innings and allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits.

Jacob Tobias and Wyatt Crenshaw each provided a two-RBI single to put ASU on the board and narrow the Cal lead to 5-4, but the Golden Bears added insurance in the sixth and seventh innings.

ASU chipped-away, and found itself down 8-6 heading into the visiting half of the eighth inning. The Sun Devils took 13 plate appearances, and went 9-for-12 with eight singles, a double and a walk. The nine total runs gave ASU a 15-8 lead.

Nu’u Contrades led the attack with a 4-for-6 performance. Luke Keaschall added three hits of his own. Contrades is hitting .493 in the last 15 games.

Blake Pivaroff earned the win after recording two outs in the eighth inning. Brock Peery and Timmy Manning combined for one inning of scoreless relief. They were the only ASU pitchers to not allow runs.

Seattle University will visit Phoenix for a mid-week matchup Tuesday evening. ASU will then host Washington State next weekend. The Sun Devils trail Stanford by a half-game for the top spot in the Pac-12 standings.