ASU completes opening series sweep in 17-10 win over Ohio State

(Photo: Bryan Ross/WCSN)

PHOENIX — With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, senior first baseman Jacob Tobias drove in a run on a base hit that gave ASU a commanding 10-2 lead. Little did anyone in the dugouts and stands know that the true offensive marathon was about to begin.

27 total runs crossed the plate while 17 pitchers took the mound. The game became a comedy of errors four hours in length that ended with the Sun Devils remaining undefeated to start the season while also highlighting areas that need improvement.

Arizona State (3-0) relied on an explosive offensive performance to outlast Ohio State (0-3) for a grueling 17-10 win and opening series sweep on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

“The thing I’ll say about Ohio State is they had plenty of chances to roll over and die, and they didn’t,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “They got some scrappers over there that refused to give in. On the flip side of things, for us getting three wins this weekend. You always celebrate wins and especially a sweep against a team that battles like that, but I wasn’t too overly pleased with our performance today. Especially on the mound.”

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jaden Alba’s season debut got off to a rough start, allowing three straight hits and two earned runs in the top of the first inning. However, the righty eventually found his groove with three straight scoreless innings and two strikeouts to give Bloomquist hope that he may have a reliable starting option going forward.

“I mean, I felt pretty good,” Alba said. “I knew the plan was just go right after them, attack them and just whatever happens happens. Let your defense work and so that’s pretty much what I was just trying to do. Just get ahead, get right after them, and defense made plays for me all day so it feels really good.”

Alba was relieved in the fifth inning for sophomore right-handed pitcher Josh Butler who also made the most out of his time on the bump, striking out three batters and only surrendering one earned run in two innings of work.

“Josh Butler came in, gave up a run, but I was really pleased with how he threw the ball,” Bloomquist said. “It was great to see him come back from everything he’s been through here at this program and step up.”

The top of the seventh inning is when the wheels began to fall off the wagon for ASU’s pitching staff. Freshman right-handed pitcher Jake Neely’s relief appearance was brief, giving up two walks and an RBI single before being taken out for sophomore left-handed pitcher Bradyn Barnes.

It only took two pitches for the lefty to let up a RBI single before two wild pitches and a ground out let two more runs cross the plate for the Buckeyes in the seventh. Bloomquist allowed Barnes to stay on for the eighth inning; a move he would later regret as Ohio State tagged the pitcher for two home runs to score three runs.

With an eight run lead being cut down to just three, the Sun Devils received much-needed stability in the final two innings in the form of junior right-hander Lucas Kelly and sophomore right-hander Derek Schaefer.

Kelly came into the eight with no outs to work with and eventually produced a ground out, a strikeout and a fielder’s choice while Schaefer collected three straight outs on twelve pitches to close the game. While the two pitchers’ contributions were greatly appreciated, having to use up so many arms in one game will have its ramifications on who will throw going into tomorrow.

“We’ve got to see who’s available and who can throw strikes,” Bloomquist said. “I think we’ll start with Rohan Lettow. We stayed away from him today. I wanted to stay away from Derek Schaefer as well because I was kind of debating between one of those two.”

The mantra for ASU throughout this series was the offense coming through when the team needed it the most, and Sunday’s finale saw the group’s finest performance yet.

Senior catcher Josiah Cromwick matched his performance in the season opener on Friday with a solo bomb to left-center field in the first inning. However, he wasn’t done, as he drove in two on a double down the left field line with the bases loaded in the fourth.

“I think just keeping it easy and not trying to get out of ourselves,” Cromwick said. “I think sometimes there’s a few innings where we kind of got out of our approach a little bit, but once we just stayed within ourselves, kept it easy. We were swinging it really well.”

Redshirt sophomore left fielder Brandon Compton added to his red-hot start to the season by mashing a two-run home run over the center field wall in the first inning in the spot before Cromwick. The Buckeyes’ infield botching an infield fly with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth to score two runners gives Compton an end-of-series stat line of five hits, two home runs and seven RBI.

“Brandon’s Brandon; he carries that little bit of swag when he goes up to the plate and I think there’s a little bit of fear factor when guys are pitching to him, and rightfully so, he’s earned it,” Bloomquist said. “Kid can hit the ball a long way and if you make a mistake, he’s gonna punish it.”

The offense’s production from start to end was only matched by the Buckeyes’ managing to beat themselves at every turn. On top of allowing two runs to cross home on a routine infield fly, Ohio State constantly made errant throws and hit four different ASU batters. The six errors, four unearned runs and 14 walks next to the Buckeyes’ stat line are just as important to consider as what the Sun Devils’ bats were able to do.

“We got some gift-wrapped runs in there which I’m not gonna complain about, but at the end of the day we got to do a better job on our end defensively and on the mound,” Bloomquist said.