SURPRISE, Ariz. – The third-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils convincingly beat sixth-seeded Cincinnati 10-2 on the field and by attendance in the stands Thursday night.
Given the program plays in the state, Thursday night’s finale of the Big 12 Conference Tournament drew the largest crowd of the week thus far.
That’s judging based on an easy eye test. “ASU!, ASU!, ASU!” chanted the crowd after the game’s starting lineups were announced.
They did the same in the bottom of the first inning when Dominic Smaldino responded to the Bearcats’ 1-0 lead with a two-run blast to right field off Cincinnati starting pitcher Nathan Taylor, who watched three unearned runs cross home plate in his three innings on the mound. Cincinnati’s defense committed four errors on the night.
In the third, the Bearcats loaded the bases for centerfielder Daniel Conlan, who swung at an 0-2 pitch in the dirt for the third out of the inning. That was probably Cincinnati’s best chance to make a loud statement on offense.
The game’s most anticipated at-bats came when Big 12 Player of the Year Landon Hairston stepped up to the plate. Sitting on 27 home runs, the sophomore outfielder needed just one more to set the single-season Arizona State record.
Hairston didn’t waste any time, taking a trip around the bases on a two-run homer to extend ASU’s lead to 7-1 in the fourth.
“It was a big weight off my shoulders, that’s for sure, just super excited,” Hairston said about his record-breaking home run. “I knew right when it left the bat, and it was going. No better feeling in the world when you square up a ball like that and you know it’s gone.”
Left fielder Matt Polk added a solo homer for the Sun Devils in the seventh, just his fourth of the year. The Bearcats tallied a run in the eighth, but their deficit was too large to stage a comeback, and the Sun Devils’ bats were too much to handle.
“Yeah, I mean it’s one of the top ones, obviously,” Cincinnati head coach Jordan Bischel said about Arizona State’s lineup. “First time we saw them this year, but that was no secret to us.
“I think they did an amazing job tonight of moving the baseball, and didn’t strike out. Obviously, Nate [Taylor] punches a lot of guys out. We left a lot of outs on the field, but strikeouts are pretty easy to defend. Hard ground balls are not. They pressured us. We didn’t handle it well.”
Arizona State will play No. 2 West Virginia under the lights tonight at 8 p.m. MDT at Surprise Stadium for an opportunity to advance to the Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship Game.
Where to Watch – The first two days of the tournament will be broadcast on ESPN+. The quarterfinals on Thursday, May 21, will air live on ESPNU. The semifinals will be available on ESPN+, and you can watch Saturday’s championship game on ESPN2.
Big 12 Tournament Schedule
All Games at Surprise Stadium, Surprise, Ariz.
All Times Mountain Daylight Time
Friday, May 22
4:30 p.m. – No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 1 Kansas
8 p.m. – No. 2 West Virginia vs. No. 3 Arizona State
Saturday, May 23
4:30 p.m. – Championship Game
Photo: Landon Hairston set the program record for homers in a season in a 10-2 win against Cincinnati at the Big 12 tournament. (Photo: Arizona State Baseball)
