Landon Hairston hit his record breaking 28th home run as the Sun Devils took care of business against Cincinnati to move on
Alyssa Colwell
Landon Hairston hit his 28th home run of the season, giving him the record for most home runs in a single season in school history.
SURPRISE, Ariz. – No. 21 Sun Devil Baseball applied pressure out the gates and never took its foot off the pedal, advancing to the semifinals of the 2026 Big 12 Baseball Tournament presented by Allstate behind a 10-2 rout over No. 25 Cincinnati late Thursday evening at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Ariz.
Landon Hairston became Arizona State’s all-time single season home run leader with his 28th of the season to break the game open in the fourth inning as the Sun Devils (37-18) will take part in their first conference semifinal in program history against ninth-ranked West Virginia tomorrow at 8 p.m AZT.
Dominic Smaldino and Matt Polk also homered for an ASU offense that recorded 12 hits and didn’t let the Bearcats (37-20) off the hook for their four errors and poor fielding throughout the game. ASU recorded four two-out RBIs, had the leadoff runner reach in four of eight innings and successfully advanced runners at a .522 clip. In addition to taking advantage of the four errors, ASU stole three bags and struck out just five times as it never gave Cincinnati a chance to get back into the game.
After the start time to the game was delayed nearly 45 minutes due to the earlier games in the day, Kole Klecker battled through 4.0 tough innings and allowed just one run despite walking six and striking out five – twice stranding the bases loaded. Taylor Penn moved to 6-0 on the season as he came out of the bullpen and dominated the potent Bearcat line, allowing just one hit and striking out five – the second-lowest total of its season – with no walks in his scoreless outing. The two runs scored by UC were tied for the fourth-lowest of the season and lowest since April 17 at UCF (L, 1-7).
Turning point
It wasn’t a pretty first inning for starter Kole Klecker as he walked three, gave up a double and had a wild pitch. But the veteran somehow got out of all of that with just one run allowed and stranded the bases loaded. After a quick quick double play in the bottom half of the inning, Dean Toigo got the two-out rally started with a base knock and Dominic Smaldino delivered with a big boy homer to deep opposite right center for a two-run shot and a 2-1 ASU lead that it would not relinquish the remainder of the game. Klecker battled through his control issues to get through three more innings of scoreless baseball, allowing ASU to creep ahead in the contest.
Big moment
After Klecker posted his first 1-2-3 inning of the game with the Sun Devils holding on to a 5-1 lead through the top of the fourth, Landon Hairston effectively put the game away in historic fashion. After PJ Moutzouridis led the frame off with a triple, Hairston ripped a 113 MPH line drive into the Cincinnati bullpen for his 28th home run of the season – a two-run shot to give ASU a 7-1 lead while also putting Hairston alone at the top of the Arizona State archives for the most single-season homers in program history.
Final straw
Taylor Penn spelled Klecker in the fifth inning and absolutely dominated the Bearcat lineup with 3.0 scoreless innings of work with just one hit allowed. Penn struck out five and allowed no walks. Alex Overbay, Sean Fitzpatrick and Eli Buxton handled the rest and the garrison of pitchers struck out 15 UC batters. It was the 11th time ASU has struck out 15 or more batters in a game, though the team bizarrely has just a 5-6 record in those games. Matt Polk added an insurance homer in the seventh and Dean Toigo tacked on a two-RBI double in the eighth as the offense pulled away down the stretch.
The big number
6 – The Sun Devils got top-to-bottom production out of its lineup today, keyed by six hits out of its 7-9 hitters. Matt Polk’s three-hit day flew under the radar but the veteran was the catalyst for ASU’s offense throughout the night. Polk singled in the second and took second on a passed ball before scoring later in the inning on an error to give ASU a 3-1 lead. In the third, his RBI single plated another run and he added a stolen base. He capped the day off with his fourth homer of the season in the seventh after the ASU offense had stagnated for a couple innings to give the team an 8-1 lead. Brody Briggs recorded two hits but had two lasers on a rope robbed from him as well while PJ Moutzouridis’ leadoff triple in the fourth set the table for Hairston’s heroic blast.
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