The Cougs only needed two innings to score their eight runs to beat Arizona State in the series opener. Six of the eight runs came in their electric bottom of the fifth inning, while the final two to secure their win came in the bottom of the eighth inning. 

With big innings, WSU baseball (13-8, 3-4 Pac-12) beat the Arizona State Sun Devils (10-12, 3-4) Friday by a final score of 8-7.

Grant Taylor got the start, throwing 5.1 innings and giving up four runs on four walks, 10 hits and one batter. Getting that far into his start is exceptionally impressive, as his first inning of work took a lot to get out of. 

He struck out the first batter on three pitches, but after getting the second batter to an 0-2 count, gave up a double. Another double scored the first run of the game, he gave up a single to score another run. After catching a runner stealing, he walked his first two batters of the game on subsequent at-bats before forcing a flyout to limit the damage to two runs.  

Although he got a no-decision, he fought to put his team in a position, especially since he came out for the top of the sixth after WSU took the lead.

After falling to get a run across the board in the first four innings, the fifth completely swung their fortunes. 

Logan Johnstone walked to get the inning started, and with Nate Swarts doubling, he scored to get WSU on the board. Swarts finished 1-for-3 with a double and walk, extending his on-base streak to a team-leading 20 games. 

That was not all the offense the Cougs had in the inning. Crew Parke hit a sacrifice fly and Max Hartman flew out. Then, in order, the Cougs walked, hit a home run, singled and hit the inning’s second home run to take a 6-4 lead. 

“It was a good team win. We were down early and we put up competitive AB’s,” Jacob Morrow said. 

Two more full innings passed without the WSU offense scoring. Entering the bottom of the sixth inning tied at 6-6, the Cougs loaded the bases and scored a pair of runs from a Hartman single and Kyle Russell reaching on an error. 

“Next man up. That is our motto. Just keep on going, making quality at-bats,” Morrow said. 

Four different batters had multi-hit games, with the back-to-back-to-back trio of Casen Taggart, Joey Kramer and Morrow all finishing with two hits in the 3–5 spots in the order. 

Out of the bullpen, Duke Brotherton earned his third consecutive win in WSU victories, bringing his season total to four wins and career total at Wazzu to seven.

Chase Grillo earned the save, pitching the final inning and securing the win despite giving up a run. The save is his 11th of his career, tying him for eighth all-time in WSU history. 

WSU and ASU are back in action at 2:05 p.m. Saturday, with the Cougs having two opportunities to secure their first Pac-12 series win of 2024.