On Sunday morning at Bailey-Brayton Field, Spencer Jones took the mound amidst a rain and wind storm, looking to close out the sweep over Arizona State for the WSU Cougars. Jones’ strong start, combined with an offense that put up eight runs, helped Wazzu withstand a late-inning comeback from the Sun Devils, to win 8-6, their fifth straight victory.
The Sun Devils struck first, in the top of the first. ASU’s leadoff man, Harris Williams, got the game going with a single and was moved over to second courtesy of a Cole Cramer error. With two outs, freshman Ethan Mendoza knocked an RBI double to give the Sun Devils what would be their first and only lead of the ballgame.
WSU immediately responded. Max Hartman led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk, and Kyle Russell doubled, giving the Cougs two runners in scoring position with nobody out. At first, it looked as though they might blow the scoring chance when both Cassen Taggert and Joey Kramer went down looking, but Jacob Morrow delivered, crushing a two-run double down the left field line, and giving the Cougars a 2-1 lead.
The Cougs added on to their lead in the second inning. After a Hartman RBI single to score Logan Johnstone, who had been hit by a pitch, Russell continued his stellar day. The senior shortstop ripped a triple off the wall in right field, scoring Hartman, and increasing the Cougars lead to 4-1. Joey Kramer added on, going deep to lead off the bottom of the third inning. His second longball in as many days had the Cougars sitting comfortably with a four-run lead through three innings.
On the mound, Jones was on point. After allowing the unearned run in the first inning, he settled in well, allowing just one base runner in the next three innings. He did allow two runs in the fifth inning, but finished the day with a stat line of 5.0 innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits, while compiling five strikeouts. A strong start from the Wazzu southpaw.
WSU added more insurance runs in the fifth inning. Cramer reached on an error to start the inning. Then Johnstone got his first base hit of the season, putting the lead two runners aboard. Second baseman Crew Parke knocked them both in on a two-run double into the left-center gap, and Parke scored on a fielders-choice RBI from Russell. With the score 8-3, the Cougars went to the bullpen in the sixth inning.
Andrew Baughn put together a clean sixth inning, however, was blemished in the seventh by Nick McClain. The ASU center fielder launched a two-run home run that sailed well over the head of Hartman in right field. That put ASU within striking distance, and Wazzu turned to Ryan Orr to pitch the eighth inning. Orr was lights out in the eighth, but trouble came in the top of the ninth.
The Sun Devils took advantage of poor WSU defense, as Parke made an error allowing Isaiah Jackson to reach base at the top of the inning. Then pinch-hitter Kien Vu also reached base on an error, this time from Russell. With both of the Cougars’ second-baseman and shortstop having committed errors, the Sun Devils had runners at the corners and nobody out. They brought one run in on a sacrifice fly from Williams, and that prompted WSU head coach Nathan Choate to bring in closer Chase Grillo. Grillo finished out the inning for the Cougs, striking out McClain to seal the sweep and notch his fourth save of the season.
With the win, the Cougars are now 5-4 in Pac-12 play and 15-8 overall. The Sun Devils, meanwhile, fell to 3-6 in the Pac, and 10-14 overall. Washington State now prepares for its series next weekend in Seattle against the rival Huskies, with a midweek stop for one game at University of Portland in between. The Cougs have continued to defy expectations, with their starting pitching and strong offensive attack helping them to a winning record one month into the season.
