The Tritons faced off against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the first series of the spring quarter. On the mound for the Tritons was ace pitcher Finn Daecher, coming off of a complete game shutout in his previous start. The Tritons would get off to a hot start in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to a two-run single by Kai Christman. Then in the bottom of the second inning, the Tritons would add another run on an error to make the score 3-0. Three runs would be more than enough for Daecher, who threw his second consecutive complete game shutout, with a pitching line of 7 innings pitched and 9 strikeouts, surrendering 6 hits and just 1 walk. Then on the back of this brilliant outing, the Tritons would win 3-0 to take game 1 of the series.

Both offenses in game 2 would get off to a slow start, with the first two innings being scoreless. However, in the home half of the third inning, the Tritons would get a lot of traffic on the bases, cashing in on two wild pitches and an RBI single by Connor Price, bringing the score to 3-0. In the bottom of the fifth inning, with the bases loaded, second baseman Erick Osuna would single, scoring two more to widen the score to 5-0. Starting pitcher Ethan Adamson held the Sun Devils scoreless for 5 innings, while only allowing 3 hits and 1 walk, without striking out a single batter. In the sixth inning, the Sun Devils’ bats would finally wake up, scoring three times to narrow the lead to two runs. Despite giving up another run in the seventh, closer Caleb Galdston would bare down, striking out two hitters to close out the game, earning the save and giving the Tritons their second straight win and guaranteeing them the series win.

As per usual, game 3 was a nine-inning affair. Both sides would be held scoreless through the first four innings of the game, until the Tritons once again drew first blood, scoring three times to the tune of four singles, a walk, and an error. Starting pitcher Ethan Ou would maintain the dominance of the Triton starting rotation as he would pitch 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 5 and leaving the game with a 3-0 lead. The Tritons would add another run on an Alex Margules RBI single to bring the score to 4-0 after seven innings. The bullpen would finish the seventh inning before running into trouble in the eighth where the Sun Devils offense would explode for six runs on a triple, a double, three singles, two walks, and two hit batters. The Sun Devils would add another run in the ninth, as the Tritons’ offense failed to respond in the final two innings, losing by a score of 7-4. Kai Christman had a great series, going 6 for 8 with 3 RBI. The starting rotation had another dominant series, tallying 18.1 innings and not giving up a single run.

Additional Notes:

Finn Daecher has a 21IP straight scoreless inning streak

Tritons are in a prime position for their first playoff berth in almost 10 years