Kole Klecker pitched 8.0 shutout innings for the Sun Devils, striking out a career high 13 in the rout.
LINCOLN, Neb. – No. 22 Sun Devil Baseball bounced back in a big way from Friday’s tough loss, routing South Dakota State, 17-0, to stay alive in the elimination bracket of the Lincoln Regional on Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.
Having to take the field less than 13 hours after a heartbreaking 14-inning loss, Arizona State (38-20) rode a career game from Valley-native Kole Klecker and one of the most explosive innings in NCAA postseason history en route to tomorrow’s elimination game between the loser of the Ole Miss-Nebraska contest later Saturday evening.
The Sun Devils recorded grand slams in the fifth and sixth innings from Nu’u Contrades and Austen Roellig to blow the game open, taking advantage of nine Jackrabbit walks and three errors to score 17 runs on just 11 hits.
Klecker gave the Sun Devils a career-high 8.0 innings of work, smashing his career high with 13 strikeouts – four more than his previous high of nine set as a freshman in the postseason of the 2023 tournament. The veteran struck out two in each of the first five innings of the game, giving the offense time to wake up before he capped his outing off by striking out the side in the eighth inning.
The bats were quiet early while the team tried to solve SDSU starter Drew McDowell, recording just one hit over the first four innings – a solo shot from Dean Toigo in the first to give ASU a 1-0 lead.
When the bats came alive, they did so in historic fashion with an 11-run fifth inning that represented the second-most runs scored by a team in an NCAA Regional or Super Regional in history, highlighted by Contrades’ grand slam – his third homer of the regional.
Turning point
Kole Klecker set the tone for the contest and allowed for the offense to get its legs under them. Klecker recorded two strikeouts in EACH of his first five innings of the game, recording a career-high 13 strikeouts overall. Klecker’s previous career-high came as a freshman in 2023 in the Fort Worth Super Regional against Indiana State. Klecker’s two hits allowed came by way of an infield single and a bloop shot to shallow right field that found a hole in between ASU defenders.
Big moment
The Sun Devil bats were quiet through four innings with the team’s lone hit coming on Dean Toigo’s two-out solo shot in the first inning. Still, the team held a 1-0 lead through four innings behind Klecker’s gem before erupting in the fifth. Arizona State recorded nine runs before even recording an out in the frame, capitalizing on five South Dakota State outs and two errors. The Jackrabbits had five pitchers face ASU in the frame that lasted 41 minutes. The loudest hit came on Nu’u Contrades’ third grand slam of the season – ASU’s nation-leading 10th of the year – on a line drive opposite field shot that cleared the low right field wall into the SDSU bullpen. The 11 runs tied for the second-most runs in an inning in a Regional or Super Regional game and the most since LSU posted 18 in 1996.
Final straw
One opposite field grand slam into the bullpen wasn’t quite enough for the Sun Devils. ASU again loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning, plating one on McGary’s RBI hit-by-pitch before Roellig took one the other way for his first career grand slam to make it a 17-0 game. Klecker continued to roll through eight innings to save the Sun Devil bullpen for a pivotal elimination doubleheader on Sunday – a new career high – while striking out 13, the most for a Sun Devil pitcher in a postseason game since Mike Leake had 15 against Oral Roberts in 2009.
The big number
11 – Arizona State put up an 11-spot on South Dakota State in the fifth inning that tied for the second-most runs in an inning in a regional/super game and most since LSU posted 18 in 1996. It was ASU’s most-runs in an innings since scoring 10 against Grand Canyon last season. The 11-run fifth inning inning was the first time ASU had plated 11 runs in an inning since April 26, 2015 against Tennessee Tech, when it scored 11.
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