PHOENIX— It was a beautiful night for ranked collegiate baseball under the lights of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

But as the heat of the day faded and the sky turned to night, a star emerged, shining brighter than any light pollution the city could offer.

That star was Arizona State's sophomore left fielder Landon Hairston, who had his crowning moment Friday night in front of the Sun Devil faithful.

This moment came for Hairston in the bottom of the fourth in a one-run ball game, when the superstar left fielder clobbered his second home run of the night, this time a grand slam deep to right center to blow the game open.

As he rounded the bases, Hairston raised his hands to the sky, embracing the crowd in a performance that won’t be soon forgotten.

“It was a fun night, everything was clicking, and it's rare to have a game like this in (baseball),” Hairston said. “(It's) the hardest game in the world, so having a night like this is pretty fun, and getting involved with the fans is always fun.” 

In a much-anticipated ranked matchup, No. 22 Arizona State defeated No. 17 West Virginia 14-4 in an eight-inning run-rule on Friday March, 17. This matchup was a slugfest from the start; however, Hairston was the difference with an otherworldly performance, prompting many to inquire about his candidacy for end-of-season hardware. 

On the night, Hairston totaled two home runs, two walks and a killer single with the bases loaded to amass eight RBI and cement himself in many award races.

While the season is just beginning to heat up, Hairston is already chasing history. The young outfielder's 13 home runs put him well on pace to tie or surpass the school record for most home runs hit in a season, which is currently held by Mitch Jones' 27 in 2000. 

“I’m honestly not really worried about that one,” Hairston said. “There's no point in really chasing it, if it happens, it happens. Going out there every day and giving it my all, getting good at bats to the team, that's what I’m going to focus on.” 

The Queen Creek native, Hairston, feels pride representing not only his local community but the entire state when he dons the Maroon and Gold, something that gives the outfielder a special connection with the fans and team. 

“If you’re in high school and you’re in Arizona, there's no better place to be, and you’re representing something way bigger than yourself, and your home state, your going to have all your family at your games, all your friends at your games, still be able to hang out with them every day if you want,” Hairston said. “No place I’d rather be than here.”

Head coach Willie Bloomquist and the staff convinced Hairston of the community impact he could have if he remained in the valley for his collegiate career. 

“It's the reason why I came here, when (ASU) sold that pretty early in the recruiting process to me, being able to impact your community at a much bigger level,” Hairston said. “Obviously you go out of state to a different school, you’re going to be a part of that community too. But knowing that you grew up with people around here, and people are already fans of you when you’re in high school, that's huge.” 

Hairston, who leads the nation in grand slams, also made history Friday, tying the ASU record for most grand slams in a season with four in just 26 games played. 

“It's pretty cool, but I think it's more of a team thing than anything,” Hairston said, “hitting a homer is one thing, but having guys get on base all the time for it is another thing.

“I can’t thank them enough for that.” 

The Sun Devils' lineup came to play Friday night, setting up Hairston for an absurd three plate appearances with the bases loaded. 

“Hairy (Hairston) doesn’t get up there with guys on base if the guys at the bottom of the lineup aren’t doing their job and getting on base,” Bloomquist said. “Hats off to those guys, too.”

Outside of Hairston, junior second baseman Nu’u Contrades stood out, hitting two home runs to fuel ASU’s lineup that West Virginia just couldn’t seem to get out after the fourth inning. 

“Energy is contagious; when someone's on, it forces everyone to bring up their competitiveness,” Contrades said. “It's awesome having something like this in lineup.”

Despite Contrades missing a majority of March after suffering an injury against Loyola Marymount, he’s picked up exactly where he left off.

Since returning to the lineup on Wednesday against New Mexico State, Contrades has five hits, three home runs and five RBI over two games.

“You guys see the impact immediately,” Hairston said about Contrades’ return. “He comes back stronger than ever, and it's awesome having him in the lineup.” 

While Contrades isn’t 100%, he said he’s feeling better on the field and at the plate.

“It's more precautionary than anything,” Contrades said, “just giving it a little time.” 

The Sun Devils now look ahead to Saturday for a chance to pick up their third straight series win and secure a tiebreaker over the Mountaineers.

Despite the dominance on Friday, Hairston expects West Virginia to punch back in the following two games and put up a fight.

“They're definitely going to attack the zone tomorrow. They live and die by their philosophy. You kind of could see that tonight with attacking hitters,” Hairston said. “I see no letdown from them. They’re a good team, so we’re going to come with it tomorrow too.”