Hairston matches ASU home run record, powers Sun Devils past Houston

For most of the season, sophomore outfielder Landon Hairston made the unbelievable feel routine. Tape-measure home runs, towering bat flips and a breakout year unlike anything Arizona State has seen in decades turned every at-bat into an event. Still, one final piece of history lingered just out of reach.

Hairston entered the weekend stuck on 25 home runs, two shy of Mitch Jones’ program record of 27 set in 2000. After homering at a historic pace most of the season, Hairston suddenly went 10 straight games without one, easily his longest drought of the year.

At one point, Hairston’s power surge had become so outrageous that even the BBCOR-era national record of 37 home runs felt possible. By May, though, even 27 no longer felt certain. Questions started creeping in. Had the magic faded?

Then came Friday.

One swing brought Hairston back within one of the record with No. 26. A night later, he finished it. Hairston crushed his 27th home run Saturday, matching Jones atop ASU’s single-season leaderboard and cementing his place in program history.

The bat flip said the rest. Sun Devil fans had seen it all season, but this one carried a different weight. No. 27 was history.

Alongside Hairston’s historic weekend, ASU closed the regular season by taking a series at Houston to secure the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 tournament. It was not always pretty, but the Sun Devils found enough late offense when they needed it most.

In Friday’s opener, ASU rallied in the eighth inning for a 4-3 win as junior infielder Dominic Smaldino tied the game with a double before sophomore infielder Austin Roellig delivered the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice.

Saturday followed a similar script, but ASU could not overcome a junior left-handed pitcher Cole Carlon injury in a 5-3 loss. Hairston homered, Nu’u Contrades launched two home runs, but Houston answered late to even the series.

With a potential collapse looming in the finale, ASU responded. A four-run sixth inning helped the Sun Devils pull away for an 8-3 win behind five strong innings from junior right-hander Jaden Alba, while Hairston’s record-tying blast sealed both the series victory and his place in ASU history.

ASU allowed just 11 runs across the three-game series, a needed response after last weekend’s collapse against Oklahoma State. That effort started Thursday with graduate right-hander Colby Guy. Making his first start of the season after the series shifted up a day, Guy delivered his longest and most efficient outing of the year.

Guy tossed five innings, allowing five hits with three strikeouts. The only damage came on a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer in the fifth.

The offense, meanwhile, continued searching for timely hits. Junior infielder Dominic Smaldino drove in a run with a first-inning single and graduate outfielder Dean Toigo added a sacrifice fly in the third, but ASU struggled to capitalize throughout the night.

That issue has haunted the Sun Devils throughout conference play. Despite entering the weekend ranked fifth nationally in batting average, ASU’s losses have often stemmed from missed opportunities with runners in scoring position.

Thursday followed the same script. The Sun Devils finished just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, keeping a game that should have been comfortable far tighter than necessary.

That led directly into the eighth inning with ASU trailing by a run. Toigo and Smaldino opened the frame with back-to-back doubles, Smaldino tying the game at three. After graduate outfielder Matt Polk laid down a bunt to move Smaldino over, sophomore infielder Austin Roellig delivered the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice, with a throwing error helping ASU escape with a 4-3 win.

Then came Friday.

Carlon took the mound looking to secure the series, but trouble surfaced quickly. Despite three early strikeouts and no hits allowed, Carlon’s velocity started to dip in the second inning. After a four-pitch walk, ASU’s coaching staff pulled the junior left-hander from the game.

Head coach Willie Bloomquist said during the broadcast the move was precautionary.

“That’s our horse, we gotta make sure we take care of him,” Bloomquist said. “He said he was a little achy there, nothing painful, but better to be safe than sorry.”

Still, the early exit left ASU in a difficult spot. Junior right-hander Colin Linder was forced into extended work out of the bullpen while the offense tried to compensate early.

Hairston opened the game with his 26th home run of the season before Contrades followed with a blast of his own as ASU went back-to-back. Contrades added another in his next at-bat, crushing a 3-2 pitch 410 feet to right field.

Those were the only runs ASU would score.

The Sun Devils finished with seven hits, but went just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-11 with runners on base as the same offensive issues resurfaced.

Houston answered in the third inning, stringing together three hits off Linder to tie the game at three, highlighted by a triple and double. Freshman infielder Blake Fields later delivered the go-ahead hit as Houston secured a 5-3 win to even the series.

The loss put ASU in an uncomfortable spot. Houston entered the weekend with just six conference wins, and a series defeat would have raised concerns about ASU’s NCAA Tournament outlook.

Saturday erased those doubts.

ASU delivered its most complete performance of the weekend, finishing with eight runs, 11 hits and a 4-for-9 mark with runners in scoring position. After a slow start, the Sun Devils broke through with a four-run sixth inning. Junior infielder PJ Moutzouridis ripped a two-run single to put ASU ahead before Hairston launched his 27th home run of the season, tying the ASU single-season record with a two-run shot.

Alba got a last-minute start after senior right-hander Kole Klecker was scratched with an illness, and delivered exactly what ASU needed. After allowing seven earned runs against Oklahoma State last weekend, he bounced back with 5.2 innings, five hits, one earned run and seven strikeouts, helping ASU pull away for an 8-3 win and the series victory.

No. 3 seed ASU will face No. 6 seed Cincinnati in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals Thursday at 8 p.m. MST in Surprise.