ASU wraps up series sweep of Washington
The 16th-ranked Arizona State baseball team completed its fourth consecutive home series sweep with a 9-6 victory over Washington on Sunday at Packard Stadium.
The Sun Devils (35-18, 17-10) have won 13 consecutive Pac-12 games at Packard Stadium and finished the regular season with a 23-6 home record, including 14-1 in conference play.
Deven Marrero went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, finishing just a home run short of the cycle, and Joey DeMichele also drove in three runs in an impressive offensive performance in which all nine ASU starters recorded at least one hit.
Right-hander Robert Ravago (4-0) earned the win after escaping a jam in the seventh inning, and right-hander Jake Barrett threw a perfect eighth and ninth inning to collect his 11th save of the season.
Abe Ruiz, right-hander Joseph Lopez and left-hander Adrian Gomez were honored before the game during a Senior Day ceremony. Lopez gave up no runs and no hits with one walk in 2/3 innings, and Ruiz went 1 for 4 with an RBI.
The Devils struck first on an RBI sacrifice fly by DeMichele in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead. Andrew Aplin reached base on a single and advanced to third on a base hit by Marrero before sliding into home to score the game's first run.
Washington responded in the middle innings, as Branden Barry notched a two-run triple in the fourth and Caleb Brown added an RBI single in the fifth to put the Huskies ahead 3-1. ASU answered quickly in the bottom of the fifth, as a triple by Marrero and an RBI sacrifice fly by DeMichele cut the deficit to 3-2.
Washington (27-24, 11-6) added a run in the sixth inning on an RBI double to make it 4-2.
ASU regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning behind a bases-clearing three-run double by Marrero and an RBI single by Kasey Coffman. Michael Benjamin walked, Coffman singled and Aplin reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases for Marrero, who came through with his seventh hit of the series.
Washington got back-to-back two-out RBI singles in the top of the seventh to tie the score at 6-6, but a triple by James McDonald and an RBI sacrifice fly by Nathaniel Causey in the bottom of the frame put the Devils back on top 7-6.
DeMichele and Ruiz each recorded an RBI in the eighth inning to give ASU a pair of insurance runs and push the lead to 9-6.
Starting right-hander Alex Blackford gave up three runs on two hits and struck out five in 4 1/3 innings. Left-hander Adam McCreery replaced him in the fifth and allowed one run on four hits in 2/3 innings.
Huskies right-hander Tyler Kane (5-2) took the loss after conceding four runs, one earned, on four hits in two innings. Starting right-hander Aaron West lasted five innings and gave up two runs on five walks.