When reliever Connor Higgins struck out Arizona’s leading hitter, JJ Matijevic, with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh inning Thursday night, Arizona State had hope of escaping a major jam in a tie game.
Instead, No. 19 UA scored two runs on a sacrifice bunt and another on the inning's second error to take a three-run lead in a 6-5 victory at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
By winning the Pac-12 rivalry series opener, the Wildcats (34-17, 13-12 Pac-12) took a 2-1 season series lead over ASU (23-27, 8-17).
The top of the seventh started badly for ASU with a fielding error by shortstop Andrew Snow.