(Photo: Joshua Eaton/WCSN)
PHOENIX — In the midst of the top of the third inning, a sudden feeling of déjà vu sunk in at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Junior left-handed pitcher Ben Jacobs got off to the best start on the mound imaginable, striking the first six batters that challenged him at the plate while the bats put up an early 3-0 lead behind him.
However, a leadoff double and a hit-by-pitch snowballed into two doubles that drove in a combined three runs that allowed Texas Tech to tie the game. Just like his start against Arizona two weeks ago, Jacobs giving up the lead in a single frame could leave Arizona State on the wrong side of a momentum shift for the remainder of the contest.
Instead, the southpaw rebounded by throwing three scoreless innings and finishing with a season-high strikeout total of 13 on the way to Arizona State (24-14, 10-6 Big 12) taking the home series opener against Texas Tech (11-22, 7-9 Big 12) by a final score of 10-4.
“Every time I give up a crooked inning, I get in the dugout and tell myself, ‘It’s a 0-0 game,” Jacobs said. “I go out every inning with a 0-0 mentality because it’s a way for me to stay confident and stay convicted with all my pitches.”
Jacobs, like a majority of the Sun Devils’ pitching staff, struggles with being consistent, but not in the way most of the team’s arms do. The 2025 season has seen the Huntington Beach native give up at least three runs in seven of his ten starts with a minimum of five strikeouts in all but two of his outings.
Rather than being a wild card from game to game, Jacobs takes an inning-to-inning approach. Case in point is the first two frames on Thursday. The southpaw opened up the match by striking out the side with his blazing fastball before winning prolonged battles through his changeup to collect three more punchouts during the second.
In addition, his control remained flawless for the remainder of his performance to the tune of allowing zero walks.
“I was able to attack the zone, get ahead early, and that’s where I do my best,” Jacobs said. “Just establishing the zone and getting ahead of hitters, so I just executed when I get to two strikes.”
The top of the third became when Jacobs’ season-long Achilles’ heel came into play: contact. A team-leading 46 hits against is the obvious drawback of honing in on pelting the zone, and the Red Raiders made sure their four hits versus Jacobs didn’t go to waste.
Junior second baseman Tracer Lopez rode a fastball right down the plate into right field to bring home two runs. After Jacobs induced a groundout to second to get within one out of escaping the jam, sophomore left fielder Logan Hughes crushed a pitch outside to deep left field for a game-tying RBI ground rule double.
“Giving up a three-spot like that, it sucks, it hurts,” Jacobs said. “But at the end of the day, I have to go back out there and still compete and I can’t bring whatever happens that inning into the next one.”
With the game now tied at three runs apiece, the southpaw stayed true to his word. A throwing error to allow a leadoff base runner in the fourth didn’t phase Jacobs as he relied on soft contact and prevailing in another full count situation. Four additional punchouts and only one more Red Raider reaching base for two more innings saw him fully return to cruise control and end his night on three scoreless frames.
His 13 strikeouts on 100 pitches beats out his previous career high of 11, which he reached twice during his two seasons as a Sun Devil.. The dominance on the mound from the fourth to the sixth inning also couldn’t have come at a better time since ASU’s offense also went cold for four consecutive scoreless innings before adding insurance starting in the seventh.
Arizona State head coach Willie Bloomquist’s job was made much easier after having his starter go six innings. The Sun Devils only needed senior righty Will Koger and sophomore lefty Cole Carlon to lock down the three remaining innings, allowing significantly more breathing room in bullpen management than the team has usually been afforded. While outings like Jacobs’ on Thursday are a rarity, it lays down the blueprint for success for ASU in starters making the most out of their time spent on the mound.
“We have plenty capable arms that are doing great things, but the winning recipe tonight was good starting pitching,” Bloomquist said. “Good bridge, good finish. So, we’ll try to use that more often.”
