(Photo: Aiden Longbrake/WCSN)
PHOENIX – Arizona State sophomore left fielder Landon Hairston approached home plate in the bottom of the third inning with one thing on his mind: hit the ball hard.
With two outs and the bases loaded, there was no point in, as he put it, “trying to hit a sac-fly.”
Hairston dug into the left-handed batter’s box, awaiting the first pitch from TCU’s sophomore right-handed reliever Ethan Thomas. When it came, he kicked up his front leg, uncorked his swing and hit nothing but air, falling to one knee.
Thomas’ next pitch didn’t earn a swing from Hairston, but instead a strike call from home plate umpire Mike Fichter. The powerful lefty was quickly down 0-2.
Hairston had to battle, shortening his swing, fouling off pitches and taking a ball before Thomas left something over the heart of the plate that the sophomore could do damage with.
And damage was exactly what Hairston did.
The satisfying ping of metal hitting baseball rang through the night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium as everyone in attendance turned to watch the ball fly through the sky and off the center of the National Champions sign beyond the right field wall.
Hairston had launched his third grand slam of the season, and seventh home run overall, putting the finishing touches on Arizona State’s (13-5, 1-1 Big 12) season-high nine-run frame that the team rode to a series-tying 15-8 victory against No. 17 TCU (11-7, 1-1) on Saturday night.
“I’ve been saying it for a year and a half now,” ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “Landon is going to hit for more power as he continues to get older and stronger. He’s done a good job putting some strength on in the weight room this offseason.”
Hairston’s slam gave him sole control of first place on the team in that category, breaking the tie he held with redshirt junior second baseman Nu’u Contrades, who hasn’t appeared in a game since seemingly injuring his hamstring on March 8.
While Hairston is the one coming up clutch in big moments, he wouldn’t be able to experience them in the first place without his teammates setting him up.
“That doesn’t happen if they don’t get on,” Hairston said. “So it’s really a team stat, if you ask me.”
Hairston’s blast was preceded by seven singles, a fielder’s choice and a walk. He himself was the second of those singles, as the Sun Devils brought 12 hitters up in the third after only managing two base runners across the first two frames.
Sophomore second baseman Beckett Zavorek got the party started with a single to left-center field, Hairston followed it up with a single to right and shortstop PJ Moutzouridis triggered the scoring on a fielder’s choice that drove in his double play partner.
From there, eight more runs followed as ASU feasted with runners on, going 11-for-24 in those scenarios and 5-for-14 with runners in scoring position over the course of the game.
“Good things happen when you get the leadoff man on,” fifth-year right fielder Dean Toigo, who recorded an RBI knock and scored on Hairston’s slam, said. “You string two knocks behind that, then you’re rolling.”
Toigo’s single was the sixth of the inning and fourth after Moutzouridis’ fielder’s choice, making the score 4-1 and driving redshirt freshman right-handed starter Lance Davis from the game.
The knock was also just one of five that Toigo would record, becoming the first Sun Devil to register five hits in a game since Nick McLain – who’s now a member of the Chicago White Sox organization – did it on May 5, 2024, against Washington.
Friday night was one to forget for Toigo, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. After Saturday, however, his then .250 batting average is up to .308, the sixth highest on the team among hitters with at least 50 at-bats.
“S— happens,” Toigo said. “You’re going to have bad games, so it’s just how you bounce back off those.”
The loudest of Toigo’s hits came in the sixth inning, when he drove a 1-0 pitch from Horned Frogs freshman RHP Cade Nelson 400 feet to left field and over the wall near the farthest right retired numbers sign for his seventh of the year, tying him with Hairston once again for the team lead.
Hairston, Toigo and junior center fielder Dominic Longo all entered the day with six blasts, but Longo, despite going 2-for-5, was left behind. The three claim they don’t go to the plate trying to hit home runs, but they’ll still take full advantage of bragging rights.
“We talk about it all the time (lifting) weights in the morning,” Longo said. “It’s a big of a funny competition type of thing. We definitely mess around with it.”
There was a third Sun Devil that left the yard Saturday, however, as redshirt junior designated hitter Garrett Michel hit a two-run home run to left-center field, smacking the middle of the three retired number signs beyond the wall. It was his second of the season, and provided insurance after the Horned Frogs were able to put five runs on the board in the fourth inning off the back of three singles and three walks.
ASU’s starter, junior RHP Alex Overbay, cruised through the first three frames, striking out two, and only experiencing a small hiccup in the second inning, where an infield single he had surrendered scored on a base knock up the middle.
It was in the fourth inning, after sitting on the bench for an extended period of time while watching his offense put up a nine-spot, that trouble began. The righty ultimately exited having given up six runs, four of which were earned.
“He was throwing the ball outstanding,” Bloomquist said. “(The) ball was coming out really hot and sharp, you just hit that fourth inning. … Sometimes that long sit-down there can sometimes do that.”
Fortunately for Bloomquist, his offense was more than able to hold off the Horned Frogs to secure the second game of the weekend series, something it could very well have to do in Sunday’s anything-goes rubber match.
“Day game at Muni, button your chinstrap,” Bloomquist said with a chuckle.
