Will Rogers Has Career Day, Drills Walkoff In 6-5 Sun Devil Win

PHOENIX The line drives down the left field line Will Rogers earned Sun Devil Baseball’s season-opening 6-5 victory over the San Diego State Aztecs on Friday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

Rogers accounted for four of ASU’s six runs, going 3-for-5 with a homer, a stolen base, two runs scored and two RBIs. His first inning was ASU’s first long ball of the season. The start was the first season opener for the Phoenix Muni since a 5-4 (10) win on February 13, 2015, the first ever game at the Muni.

Isn’t there a better way to close the grand opening????@willrogers219 /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/MF634VgLAl

Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) February 18, 2023

THE TURNING POINT

After surrendering the lead in the seventh inning, Will Rogers single pushed through the left side. He advanced to second with a sacrifice bunt. Then, without out, on the first pitch of Wyatt Crenshaw’s bat, Rogers was third, avoiding the tag. Crenshaw drove him in with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at four after the eighth.

BIG MOMENT
Kien Vu stepped to the plate as his first collegiate hitter leading off the bottom of the ninth. Vu worked the count full before he singled up the middle to start the rally in the ninth. He went on to score in the tie Luke Keaschal triplicate.

THE LAST WAS
Will Rogers was an exceptional performance. After a first-inning moonshot home run, a sliding catch in left field and a tying run in the eighth, he drove a line drive down the left field line with the bases loaded and no outs in the ninth to put the Sun Devils ahead. to victory.

NOTEWORTHY

• Rogers now has a six-game winning streak dating back to last season.
• Sun Devil Baseball is now 49-15-1 in season openers, including 2-0 under the head coach Willie Bloomquist.
• It was also the first exit of the Bloomquist era.
• Arizona State turned its first double play of the season with a 6-4-3 ground ball, escaping a bases loaded jam. In 2022, the Sun Devils ranked 21st with 50 double plays.
• ASU finished with two double plays on the night.
• The Sun Devils had three doubles on the night and two in the first two innings. That’s 127 doubles in the regular season last year, which is the fifth most at ASU since 1998.
• Four true freshmen earned four hits and all four men reached base.
• Luke Hill’s rocket off the left-field wall went for two bases and earned him his first career hit in the second inning.
• Hill earned his first career RBI with one out in the fourth, hitting an RBI single straight back up the middle.
• Hill’s first inning was immediately followed by his first career hit Nu’u Contradesfrom one straight to midfield. Isaiah Jackson he then became the third Sun Devil freshman to reach base for the first time in his career with a hit in the fourth.
• Kien Vu the pinch-hitter led off the ninth and chose the middle section to the tune of Empire State of Mind as his walk-off song.
• Luke Keaschall He hit to lead off the game, the 33rd of his career and the first for a Sun Devil. He earned his first hit as a Sun Devil in the ninth, a triple to the left field wall. It was his fifth career triple and first since the 2021 season.
• Rogers hit the first Sun Devil home run of the season to lead off the second inning. His nine homers in 2022 were fourth in ASU freshman history. It was a rocket that took off the bat at 111 mph and traveled 448 feet.
• Christian Bodlovich singled to third for Dunn and inherited the runner on second. Bodlovich forced a pop fly to second to end the third. It was the 60th runner Bodlovich inherited in his career. He has allowed just 16-of-60 goals, including 11-of-37 in 2022.
• With his two hits on the night, Ryan Campos is now on a four game winning streak dating back to last season.
• ASU drew 3,180 fans to Phoenix Muni. It’s the first time in back-to-back years more than 3,000 fans have drawn on opening night in the Muni era. It also has the third-highest number of visitors in the Muni era for the opening (3,193, 2022).
• Will Rogers eighth third, Fifth steal of his career and second sweep third. He scored the match-tying fourth set. Rogers is a perfect 5-0 in stolen bases in his career.
• ASU and SDSU were tied at four after eight innings. The Sun Devils were 0-3 in 2022 in ties after eight innings and 1-7 in one-run games, which already equaled a win in the first game of the season.

INSIDE DAY INSIDE

First inning
Ross Dunn opened with a heavy combination of fastballs. Against the first hitter of his Sun Devil Baseball career, he caught the inside edge of the plate against the right-handed hitter before forcing a swing-and-miss strikeout at three. A series of errors forced the bases to load, but ASU escaped the frame with no blood in a 6-4-3 double play.

At the bottom, Luke Keaschall was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat as a Sun Devil. Initially after picking Ryan Campos laced double down the right field line. Then when two out, Jacob Tobias singled in Campos for a 1-0 Arizona State lead. Tobias was struck out at second to end the inning.

Second inning

Dunn fell to his side on eight pitches. After throwing seven straight fastballs to open the game, he registered his second strikeout of the game on a slider to cut the outside corner. It was his first career 1-2-3 inning as a Sun Devil.

In the first Sun Devil hit of the second inning, Will Rogers blasted into deep left field for the Sun Devils’ first home run of the 2023 season and 10th of his career. After two quick outs, the freshman Luke Hill registered his first career hit with a double off the left field wall.Next at bat, freshman Nu’u Contrades added his first career hit with a single to shallow center field to give ASU a 2-0 lead entering the third inning.

Third inning
Ross Dunn worked around a double conclusion with two consecutive ground balls, ending his night at 45 over the desired pitch limit. Christian Bodlovich stepped on the mound and forced a butterfly to second, ending the third.

Ethan Long found his way on base for the first time in 2023 with a two-out walk, but nothing came of it for the Sun Devils.

Fourth inning

Rogers caught a line drive with sliding effort on the first pitch of the inning. Owen Stevenson started his Sun Devil career with 1-2-3 innings on 11 pitches.

Rogers hit a 77 MPH breaking ball to open the bottom of the inning. Next at bat, freshman Isaiah Jackson reached base for the first time in his career while being hit by a pitch. Hill recorded his first career RBI with a line drive up the middle to score Jackson’s first career run.

Fifth inning

Stevenson faced the minimum 13 pitches in his second inning, forcing a 5-4-3 double play ball to end the fifth inning. In the bottom half, ASU was unable to take advantage of Campos’ lead.

Sixth inning

Stevenson allowed two runs on three walks and a hit to cut the Sun Devil lead to 3-2. He stranded two runners with a line drive to Hill to end the inning.

Wyatt Crenshaw reached base a second time with a double to right-center, but Luke Keaschall stranded runners on second and third ground to shortstop.

Seventh inning

Stevenson worked his fourth inning of the night and navigated a two-run single to get out of the frame with no runs. San Diego State also forced the minimum in the home half of the seventh.

Eighth inning
Nolan Lebamoff started the eighth but was pulled after recording one out and loading the bases. Jesse Wainscott allowed two inherited runners to score without allowing a hit and recorded the final two outs. ASU made it to the bottom half of the eighth inning 4-3.

Will Rogers started the Sun Devil rally with a hit through the left side. He was 1-2 behind on the count. Isaiah Jackson got him second. Rogers swiped third on a gutsy call, putting him on a sacrifice fly with one down. Wyatt Crenshaw delivered the game-tying RBI. The Aztecs and Sun Devils went into the ninth tied at four.

Ninth inning

The Aztecs took a 5-4 lead after E3 allowed a run to score in the third of two outs. Brock Peery threw three pitches on sliders to get ASU out of the jam.

A squeezer Kien Vu recorded his first career hit with a walk-off single to open the ninth. Four strokes later, Luke Keaschal The first hit as a Sun Devil was the game-tying triple, a run in Kussa. After the Aztecs deliberately walked Ryan Campos and Ethan LongRogers lined a single to left field to drive in the winning run.

ON DECK

Sun Devil Baseball looks to build on its opening day win with two more games against San Diego State. The Sun Devils will face the Aztecs on Saturday at 1 PM MST in the second game of a three-game series. The game can be heard on KDUS 1060 AM and seen on the ASU live broadcast.

QUOTATIONS
Arizona State Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening remarks
“What a way to start.Guys fought. We had every chance to cash that one in. We played very sloppy in many ways, but it’s hard to win. (It’s) hard to win games and they fought hard towards the end. Some guys got high, Kien Vu with that at bat in the ninth. The child is basseball player and ready for his opportunity and made the most of it.”

On Will Rogers…
“He’s a great kid. Couldn’t have happened to a better kid. Will really gives us an opportunity to stretch the lineup. Obviously he’s got power, he’s got it, but he’s worked very hard to become a well-rounded hitter.”

Arizona State Sophomore Catcher Will Rogers
From the fresh list…

“I have a feeling in my heart right now that something is out there, and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of.”