The 19th-ranked Arizona State baseball team secured its 50th straight 30-win season with a 4-2 victory over Gonzaga on Friday night.
Trever Allen and Deven Marrero each hit a home run and right-hander Brady Rodgers struck out four in eight innings to lead the Sun Devils (30-17).
Rodgers (9-2) collected his ninth win of the season by scattering seven hits. He did not allow a run after the first inning and ended his outing with consecutive swinging strikeouts in the eighth. He has pitched at least eight innings in nine of his starts this season.
Right-hander Jake Barrett pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his 10th save of the year.
Marco Gonzalez, the probable starter for the Bulldogs (29-18) Saturday, hit a leadoff double in the first inning and scored on an RBI triple two batters later. The Zags added a run later in the frame on an RBI groundout to take an early 2-0 lead.
In the top of the second, Abe Ruiz collected the first base hit of the game for the Sun Devils with a single to right-center field and later reached home on an error to put ASU on the board. Ruiz had advanced to second on James McDonald's walk before Max Rossiter hit a grounder to the Zags' shortstop, who misplayed the ball to allow Ruiz to score.
The score remained 2-1 until the top of the fifth, when Allen hit a two-run homer over the left-field wall to give the Devils their first lead of the game at 3-2. Nathaniel Causey had led off with a single through the left side.
Marrero added a solo home run to left-center with two outs in the seventh inning to extend ASU’s advantage to 4-2.
Starting left-hander Jeff Olson (4-3) took the loss, giving up four runs, including three earned, on five hits in 7 1/3 innings.
