Guy, Smaldino lead ASU past host Nebraska to force Ole Miss rematch

Nebraska had lost just once at home all season. The Cornhuskers entered as the regional’s No. 1 seed, enjoying their best season in nearly two decades and looking every bit the favorite on their home field.

None of that mattered.

With its season on the line, without junior left hander Cole Carlon, without senior right hander Kole Klecker and, by the fourth inning, without Golden Spikes semifinalist Landon Hairston, Arizona State walked into a hostile Haymarket Park and found a way yet again.

The Sun Devils refused to go quietly.

Behind another standout pitching performance from graduate right-hander Colby Guy, ASU stayed in the fight with an 11-7 victory over Nebraska. Guy delivered a season-high six innings, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out a season-best seven. That was more than enough time for the offense to capitalize on Nebraska’s mistakes. Junior infielder Dominic Smaldino launched two home runs, including a grand slam, junior outfielder Dominic Longo homered, and junior infielder Nu’u Contrades added his fourth home run of the tournament as ASU earned a rematch with Ole Miss and kept its regional run going.

For ASU, every game in Lincoln has required a different pitching hero.

First it was junior right-hander Jaden Alba delivering four scoreless innings of extra-inning relief against Ole Miss. Then it was Klecker striking out 13 across eight dominant innings to eliminate South Dakota State.

Sunday, the baton passed to Guy.

With Nebraska’s season-high crowd roaring behind him, Guy turned in the best start of his season. Working with tempo and conviction, he attacked the strike zone early, lived ahead in counts and repeatedly finished hitters with a sharp slider. Seven of his first 12 outs came via strikeout as Nebraska struggled to generate anything resembling sustained offense.

The only damage against Guy came in the third inning when senior infielder Joshua Overbeek lined an opposite-field solo homer to tie the game at 1-1. It proved to be little more than a brief interruption.

Guy quickly settled back in and never allowed Nebraska to build on it. He capped his season-high six-inning performance by navigating around two sixth-inning singles, stranding both runners and walking off the mound with ASU firmly in control.

After Contrades opened the scoring with a first-inning solo blast, his fourth homer of the regional and third in as many games, ASU immediately responded. Junior infielder PJ Moutzouridis singled and Contrades walked to open the third before graduate outfielder Dean Toigo chopped a routine grounder to second. Nebraska failed to record an out when senior infielder Rhett Stokes’ throw sailed into center field, allowing Moutzouridis to score.

ASU made the Cornhuskers pay.

Smaldino followed with a sacrifice fly before Longo launched a two-run homer to left-center, his first home run since March 8. The swing pushed the lead to 5-1 and continued a relentless offensive afternoon.

The Sun Devils finished with 13 hits, went 5-for-15 with runners in scoring position and delivered repeatedly in two-out situations.

Then came the moment that threatened to change everything.

Leading off the fourth inning, Hairston appeared to believe he had drawn a full-count walk. Instead, the home plate umpire called strike three. Hairston reacted by launching his bat high into the air before briefly arguing his case. After a conference, the umpiring crew ejected him from the game.

The consequences extended beyond Sunday afternoon.

Not only was ASU suddenly without its best hitter, Hairston’s ejection also triggered a suspension for the Sun Devils’ second game Sunday against Ole Miss. It was a costly emotional mistake at the worst possible time.

For a moment, the ejection breathed life back into the Nebraska crowd.

ASU’s response was immediate.

Smaldino crushed a solo homer to right in the fifth, then the Sun Devils effectively put the game away an inning later. Five hits and a walk fueled a six-run sixth inning. Sophomore outfielder Ky McGary, inserted after Hairston’s ejection, contributed a run-scoring double before Smaldino delivered the knockout punch, launching an opposite-field grand slam for his second homer of the day and 18th of the season. By the end of the inning, ASU led 11-1.

Smaldino finished with six RBIs.

The only drama left was whether ASU could preserve bullpen arms for the nightcap. Instead, the bullpen turned a rout into a tense finish.

Junior right hander Josh Butler entered in the seventh but recorded only one out while allowing five runs, forcing head coach Willie Bloomquist to summon sophomore right hander Taylor Penn much earlier than planned. Penn escaped the inning and carried the game into the ninth, but a walk and three hits, including an RBI single, trimmed the lead to four and pushed his pitch count to 43.

That forced Bloomquist to call on closer junior right handed pitcher Derek Schaefer.

Suddenly, an 11-1 blowout had become an 11-7 game with the tying run stepping to the plate. Schaefer hit the first batter he faced, bringing even more tension to the ballpark. But the right-hander steadied himself, retiring the next three hitters on a flyout, sacrifice fly and lineout to finally close the door on an 11-8 victory and keep ASU’s regional run alive heading into its rematch with Ole Miss later Sunday evening.