A dominant opening
Dean Toigo opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first inning, giving Arizona State an early 1‑0 lead.
The fifth inning turned into an offensive explosion, as the Sun Devils plated 11 runs — the second‑most in a Regional or Super Regional inning in NCAA history — fueled by Nu’u Contrades’ and Austen Roellig’s grand slams.
Kole Klecker anchored the effort on the mound, delivering eight shutout innings with a career‑high 13 strikeouts, retiring two batters in each of the first five frames.
Landon Hairston extended his reached‑base streak to 41 games with an RBI single in the fifth, driving in two runs and marking his 80th RBI of the season, the first 80‑RBI campaign for an ASU player since 2008.
Looking ahead
The Sun Devils will next face the loser of the Nebraska versus Ole Miss matchup, carrying a nation‑leading 10th and 11th grand slams of the season and a top‑ranking position.