Ethan Long had the cinematic moment of his freshman season Friday night in a 9-6 Arizona State (29-15, 13-9 Pac-12) victory against Oregon State (31-16, 13-9) when he hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to send the Sun Devils home victorious.
The magnitude of this game, this series, was impossible to ignore as the first pitch was thrown at 6:30 p.m. by Tyler Thornton. Whichever team took this series was going to be within range of a top-three spot in the Pac-12, the loser would be knocked reeling backward into the middle of the standings with two weekend series left.