(Photo: Karli Matthias/WCSN)
As the then-No. 9 Arizona State Sun Devils opening weekend drew to a close, lots of early indications of the team’s potential started to surface. Head coach Tracy Smith made it clear that the Sun Devils are using the early part of the season to find out the identity of this team.
Through the first full weekend, it’s clear that the pitching staff is going to be a big part of that identity.
“I like what I’ve seen so far,” Smith said on Sunday in regards to the staff’s weekend performance. “If we pitch it like that, we’re going to win a lot of baseball games.
“If you’re looking at the facets of the game that you’d say are your question marks, offense was not one of them… The question marks were more on the pitching side.”
Despite going 2-2 on the weekend, all four ASU starters went six or more innings while giving up two or less earned runs. This proved to be a huge tone setter for the Devils, who struggled to string runs together after dominating the offensive circuit last season.
Junior transfer Justin Fall had an impressive debut in which he went six strong innings without giving up a run in a 4-1 ASU win on Friday night against the Villanova Wildcats. Fall is expected to be a big part in the Devil’s rotation this season, and his first start does nothing but confirm that.
Saturday afternoon went almost identical for junior Boyd Vander Kooi, who had a team low 2.25 ERA in his last three starts of the 2019 season. Vander Kooi picked up right where he left off, going 7.2 innings while only allowing one run on six hits against the Wildcats. The Devils failed to provide ample run-support for Vander Kooi and ended up suffering the 2-1 loss.
Freshman Cooper Benson had a similar fate on Saturday night against then-No. 13 Michigan Wolverines. Benson went 6.1 innings and gave up two earned while punching out eight. Once more, the offense struggled to pose a threat at the plate as they dropped the second game of the Saturday doubleheader.
Sunday was more of a step in the right direction for the Devils, as sophomore transfer Tyler Thornton pieced together a quality start going 6.2 innings. Thornton only gave up one hit despite allowing two earned runs. ASU took the 6-4 win, claiming the weekend series over Villanova.
Thornton, Fall, Benson, and Vander Kooi all have attributed loads of credit to pitching coach Jason Kelly who has already made an impact on the players and the rest of the coaching staff. Kelly came to ASU after being highly sought after this past off-season after finishing up a seven-year stint as the pitching coach for the Washington Huskies.
It’s worth noting that three of the four Devils starters who took the mound this weekend had never pitched in an ASU uniform.
Aside from the starting pitching, the bullpen also looked to be much improved from last season as well. Closer RJ Dabovich in particular looked extra sharp in his new role at the back-end of the bullpen. In two appearances, Dabovich went three innings without allowing a single run. He also only walked one while striking out three and going two-for-two in save opportunities.
A handful of freshman arms came out of the bullpen to make their collegiate debut this weekend as well. Graham Osman, Bryce Barnett, Christian Bodlovich and Cam Dennie picked up the majority of the relief work for ASU, including three appearances from the lefty Osman. Smith said that there was a reason these freshmen got the call on opening weekend rather than some returners, noting that they all should have a valuable impact on a bullpen that really struggled last season.
Erik Tolman is the scheduled starter for the Devils on Tuesday for their mid-week matchup against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The two-way player was one of just two lefties on the team and was one of the few bright spots on the ASU staff last season after posting a team second-best 3.38 ERA and going 3-1 with 49 strikeouts and 36 walks in 24 appearances for 48.0 total innings pitched.
With all of the attention and focus on how the pitching staff would fare after bringing in a new pitching coach along with a plethora of new arms, it’s safe to say that the Sun Devils are doing just fine on the mound. The focus will likely be turned to how the offense will try to bounce back after a tough weekend at the dish.
“If we throw strikes and pitch consistently, overtime with our offense clicking and the way I think we’re going to play defense too, I think it bodes puts us in a much better position than last year because we’ve got a lot more options,” Smith said.
