Winthrop fell to No. 4 Arizona State 14-3 late Friday in the first game of a three-game series Packard Stadium.
The Eagles fall to 30-19 on the season, while the Sun Devils improve to 36-11.
Mike Leake (12-1) picked up the victory after pitching seven innings allowing one run on six hits with eight strikeouts. Wade Newman (5-4) took the loss after surrendering seven runs on 10 hits, three walks and three strikeouts in 4 1-3 innings of work.
“It's tough to win a ballgame against probably one of the best pitchers in the country,”
coach Joe Hudak said. “Wade did not throw that poorly tonight.”
Arizona State sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and scored five runs take a 5-0 lead over Winthrop, highlighted by Johnny Ruettiger's three-run triple down the right field line, scoring Carlos Ramirez, Matt Newman and Abe Ruiz. Ramirez would drive home Jason Kipnis with his RBI single to center field, while Newman and Ruiz both singled. Kipnis got the scoring started for the Sun Devils in the first with his RBI triple that scored Drew Maggi, who led off the inning by reaching on an error by Kevin Nolan.
Arizona State added another run in the second to increase its lead to 6-0 on an RBI double to center field by Ramirez that brought home Kipnis from second base. Kipnis began the inning with a single to right field and went to second on a balk by Newman.
The Sun Devils made it a 7-0 game in the third inning on a RBI groundout to first base by Jared McDonald. Ruettiger scored on the groundout after starting the inning with a triple to the right-center field gap.
Kole Calhoun scored on a Austin Stuart wild pitch in the sixth inning to put Arizona State ahead 8-0. Calhoun led off the inning with a walk, stole second base and then went to third on a groundout by Newman.
Winthrop struck for its first run of the game on an RBI double to left-center field by Bryn Henderson to cut the deficit to 8-1 in the seventh inning. Matt Thielepape came home on the double after he started the inning with a single to right field and moved to second on an error by the second baseman.
The Sun Devils made it 11-1 after answering back to score three runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh. Zack MacPhee got things started with his single, then McDonald drove in MacPhee on an RBI triple down the right field line. McDonald scored in the next at-bat after Drew Maggi grounded out to second base. Calhoun later drove in Kipnis on a RBI double to center field after Kipnis walked and stole second base.
Kipnis highlighted a three-run eighth inning for Arizona State with his two-run home run to right-center field that also scored Maggi. Maggi was hit by a pitch prior to the Kipnis homer. McDonald also drove in a run during the inning with his RBI sacrifice fly to right field that scored Brandon Magee, who was also hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. The three runs scored put the Sun Devils ahead 14-1.
The Eagles would score two runs in the ninth courtesy of a two-run home run by Aaron Bonomi to right field. The homer was Bonomi's second of the season. Sullivan scored on the blast after he walked to start the inning.
“Aaron has really worked hard and he had a good game today,”
Hudak said.
Thielepape and Eddie Tisdale had two hits apiece, while Bonomi had two RBIs. Kipnis led the Sun Devils offensively with a 4-for-5 performance with three RBIs. Ruettiger also drove in three runs.
After a late Game 2 on Saturday, the teams will close out the series today at 4 p.m.
