(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN)
After being dominated by Oklahoma State in an 18-4 loss on Tuesday afternoon, the Sun Devils of Arizona State traveled to Fort Worth, Texas for their only road series of the non-conference slate against Texas Christian. In the series opener, ASU topped the No. 1 team in the country with a whopping final score of 13-9.
The Horned Frogs took an early lead in the game, putting a single run on the scoreboard in the second inning. However, that lead did not last long, as the tone shifted in the fifth inning, when Tyler Williams crushed his second home run of the season, his second in as many games, to tie the game at one run. ASU did not look back, scoring two more runs in the inning, the first of five straight Sun Devil innings with a run scored.
ASU scored again in the 6th on a bases-loaded walk, giving the Sun Devils a three-run lead. TCU inched closer in the bottom half of the inning, as starting pitcher Eli Lingos gave up a home run on a 2-0 pitch, but settled back into his groove, concluding the inning with a strikeout, his eighth of the game.
Eight strikeouts was a career-high for the southpaw, breaking a personal record he set back on April 8th against Washington, where he struck out seven batters in seven innings. In his six innings against TCU, Lingos allowed only two hits, along with two runs and walked three en route to his second victory of the season.
The ASU bats did not let up after the first six innings; the Devils continued to work their magic at the plate, scoring two more runs in the 7th and three in the 8th. The two 7th-inning runs for ASU were both unearned, the only two unearned runs in the game, despite four TCU errors.
After a 1-2-3 inning from Reagan Todd in the 7th inning, the redshirt sophomore was unable to record an out in the 8th and the Horned Frogs showed why they are ranked as the best team in the country, scoring three runs on two hits to lessen their deficit from 9-2 to 9-5. However, James Ryan was able to come in with the bases loaded and minimize the damage and give ASU one more chance to further pad its lead.
Neither team wanted the game to end in the 9th, as both ASU and TCU scored four runs in the inning for a total of 22 runs crossing the plate in the game between the two teams. ASU made it five straight innings with a run scored, as Carter Aldrete ripped a 2-run double to left-center field and Lyle Lin connected for his third single of the game immediately after, giving the Sun Devils a short-lived 8-run lead.
TCU failed to give up in the 9th, as Michael Landestoy and Austen Wade ripped back-to-back home runs with one out in the 9th, then Luken Baker crushed a 2-run homer of his own. Ryan was removed from the game after allowing the four ninth-inning runs, but Chaz Montoya entered the game and shut things down, dominating with two quick strikeouts.
Four Sun Devils drove in two or more runs in the game and four players recorded a multi-hit game as well. Gage Canning, Jeremy McCuin and Williams each had two hits, with the latter driving in two runs as well. Andrew Snow had two RBIS and Aldrete drove in three runs of his own. Lin had his second three-hit game of the season, recording three singles on the night and tallying two runs batted in as well. Through his first five games and 21 at-bats, the Taiwanese freshman has ten hits and five RBI.
The last time the Sun Devils topped a team ranked No. 1 in the country was also against the TCU Horned Frogs, back in 2015 at home, a game started by Ryan Kellogg.
13 hits allowed ASU’s record to improve to 4-1, while TCU’s record fell to 4-1. The two teams will face off again tomorrow in Texas, first pitch is scheduled for 4:00 PM MST. Ryan Hingst is the scheduled starter for the Sun Devils.
Nicholas Badders is a baseball beat reporter for the Walter Cronkite Sports Network. You can follow him on Twitter @BadderUpSports.
