After trailing through five innings and tied through eight, freshman infielder Ethan Long made the difference with a solo knock to the right field corner that put his team ahead by one run in the top of the 9th inning. The Arizona State Sun Devils (21-12, 9-7 Pac-12) would hold on to that 5-4 lead to defeat the University of Utah Utes (9-22, 4-12) for the Sun Devils’ third-straight Friday-night win.

After back-to-back strikeouts Long took a 2-2 pitch for a ride as Utah right fielder Shea Kramer could only watch. Freshman infielder Jack Moss followed with a standup triple to straightaway centerfield, but classmate Hunter Haas flew out next, leaving the Sun Devils with a one-run lead entering the home half of the 9th.

Redshirt sophomore righty Will Levine entered the game in the bottom of the 9th, slated to face three hitters his team had wrestled to contain all night. Three quick outs thwarted any dreams of a Utah walk-off, including back-to-back strikeouts to secure the save and a Sun Devil win.

The ASU pitching staff combined to throw a scoreless final three frames against the Utes, allowing two singles as the only hits in that span. Redshirt freshmen righty Cam Dennie, lefty Graham Osman; and Levine were able to quiet a Utes lineup that caused problems all night by hitting base hits and drawing walks.

The two teams combined for 21 singles in 26 hits, the mark of a battle won by attrition. Shea Kramer of Utah was the only player to bring in more than one RBI––surprisingly, he collected his two RBI on two singles. Shortstop Matt Richardson hit Utah’s only extra-base hit, a leadoff double in the 4th.

In the final three innings, Sun Devil pitchers, walked one batter, compared to five in the previous innings.

Following a hitless appearance Wednesday night versus Grand Canyon University, Jack Moss returned in prime form Friday night, with four hits in five plate appearances. The Englewood, Colorado native collected two doubles and one triple.

The middle infield showed out again, tallying three double plays from junior SS Drew Swift, to redshirt freshman 2B Sean McLain, to Moss at first. Moss led all players with seven putouts.

Redshirt junior Rykker Tom led Utah batters with a perfect, three-hit game. Tom’s single in the bottom of the 7th inning gave the Utes a runner in scoring position, but a(nother) double play from the Swift-McLain-Moss connection stymied a rally.

That was part of a larger theme for the home team Friday night, as the Utes struggled to bring in runners from scoring positions. The team batted .250 (3-12) with runners on second or third base, finishing the evening stranding ten runners on base. The Sun Devils were plagued by similar issues, batting .313 (5-16) with RISP and stranding the same number of runners as the opponent.

Following Wednesday’s 12-pitcher affair at GCU, Pitching Coach Jason Kelly allowed his starter, redshirt sophomore righty Tyler Thornton to stay on the mound for 4.1 IP before using four bullpen pitchers to complete the job. Thornton struck out six and walked four while allowing three earned runs. Friday night was the fifth time this season Thornton has allowed three or more earned runs in a start.

The one-run victory keeps the Sun Devils ranked sixth in the Pac-12 standings, as the team flirts with an in-conference .500 record. The Friday night win in Salt Lake City affirms a season win in the series versus the Utes after a sweep in Tempe in early March. The two teams will meet twice more this weekend for the final games of the season series, Saturday at 3 pm MST and Sunday at 12 pm MST.