Coffman powers Sun Devils past UCLA 7-4

He may have given up a hit this time, but the outcome was the same: Sun Devils win.

“It may not look good on the score sheet, but a win is a win,” freshman left-hander Ryan Kellogg said, after making his first start since the no-hitter at Oregon State last Saturday.

Arizona State (15-7-1, 4-4 Pac-12) clinched the weekend series against UCLA (17-6, 5-3) Friday night with a 7-4 victory, behind two home runs from junior outfielder Kasey Coffman and eight innings of work from Kellogg.

Coffman led the team offensively and was responsible for plating five Sun Devils via the long ball, leading the team to its third win in four games.

Despite giving up four earned runs, Kellogg earned his sixth win of the year, in what head coach Tim Esmay claimed was a harder start than at Oregon State.

“I was more impressed with him tonight than I was against Oregon State because now he’s a got a little target,” Esmay said. “Now there’s a little more preparation against him.”

The Sun Devils also added production from the bottom third of the lineup, with Causey, Dinatale and Sewald combining for two RBI and three runs.

After UCLA strung together two singles and a sacrifice bunt in the top frame of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead, ASU rebounded when designated hitter Nate Causey doubled to bring home left fielder Jake Peevyhouse from third, tying the game at one.

With Causey on second, freshman center fielder Johnny Sewald worked UCLA starter Nick Vander Tuig through a 10-pitch at-bat, resulting in a game-changing walk that Esmay described as “one of the best at-bats of the night.”

The base on balls brought up Coffman, who cranked out his first home run of the evening to deep right field, giving his squad a 4-1 lead.

UCLA catcher Shane Zeile cut the deficit to two in the fifth inning on a solo home run that Kellogg left over the plate.

“That was a fast ball that was supposed to be away and ended up belt-high down the middle,” Kellogg said. “Eighty-five down the middle in college baseball isn’t going to get the job done.”

The Bruins tied the game the following inning after RBI base hits from both shortstop Kevin Kramer and designated hitter Kevin Williams.

In the bottom half of the sixth, however, the Sun Devils capitalized when reliever Cody Poteet took over for Vander Tuig. The three-run inning was capped off by Coffman’s second home run, which brought home first baseman Dalton Dinatale, giving ASU the 7-4 lead.

Freshman right hander and closer Ryan Burr earned his fifth save of the year after closing out the ninth, much to the chagrin of Kellogg.

“I was hoping I would get the ninth but they went to Burr and I have all the confidence in the world in Burr so I was really happy that he was able to come in and get the save,” Kellogg said. “I think any pitcher will always tell you they want to go back out there but pitch count didn’t really allow that.”

Sophomore left-hander Adam McCreery goes for the sweep tomorrow, with first pitch at 12:30 p.m.

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post