In college baseball, there are rarely must-win games in the early days of March. Sitting at 3-6 through nine games with a handful of ugly losses defining the first two weeks of the Willie Bloomquist era, Arizona State found themselves needing a win in the worst way in Friday’s series opener at San Diego State.

Power pitching and power hitting got them just that.

The Sun Devils rode a dominant Adam Tulloch outing and an offensive power barrage to a 13-5 victory at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

Tulloch set the tone early, as the starters often have. The West Virginia transfer went seven innings, allowing one run on five hits and striking out eight. It was his third straight quality start to open the year. Even with a big lead in the eighth and ninth innings, Sun Devil fans had every right to be nervous with the way the bullpen has performed. Brock Peery delivered with an 11 pitch eighth before ASU blew it open in the ninth. Four late runs came without consequence, and Dom Cacchione shut the door to end the losing streak at five.

At the plate, the freshman flexed their muscles in the early innings. Will Rogers teed off on his third bomb of the season to lead off the second, and Ivan Brethowr hit his first of his collegiate career later in the inning.

Brethowr, a freshman out of Kansas, didn’t stop there. He hit an RBI double in the sixth and belted his second homer of the night in the eighth.

The late insurance runs are something ASU has desperately needed but seldom gotten thus far this season. The offense’s ability to add on will be tremendous for a struggling bullpen and for the morale of a group that has lacked the big hit numerous times.

Sean McLain and Joe Lampe were back in the lineup after being banged up during the midweek tilt with Oklahoma State. McLain showed signs of heating up as he collected three hits, and Lampe got a base knock and drew a walk. Ethan Long had his best game of the season Thursday, picking up three hits, including a run-scoring double.

The Sun Devils racked up 19 total hits and blasted four home runs. The final shot came courtesy of Conor Davis, as he retook the team lead on his fourth homer of the year. Without the bat of Davis, the 4-5 record might be a lot worse.

ASU will look to take the series on Saturday at 7:00 pm MST.