(Photo: Zina Garcia/WCSN)
PHOENIX—The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles are only two years removed from a College World Series trip, achieving a 52-win season and riding a 18-game winning streak into Omaha before losing to the country’s No. 2 and No. 8 teams at the time.
Arizona State baseball hasn’t made it that far since 2010, and they haven’t even been a tournament team under head coach Willie Bloomquist’s leadership. However, a 4-0 start to the season and a “revamped” pitching staff provide some hope that this season will be different, and a series against a team that still has many of the players and coaches from that CWS squad is a matchup that could be another stepping stone for the Sun Devils.
While the Golden Eagles aren’t the same team they once were, they are still far from inexperienced. They looked like that early on, with junior left-handed starter Ben Jacobs tearing up batters left and right and their starting pitcher pumping 88 mph “fastballs”. ASU undoubtedly felt differently following a two-out rally that included both the game-tying and game-winning hit. The Sun Devils’ (4-1) bullpen was unable to close out the game, as they lost to Oral Roberts (4-0) 8–7.
For most of the game, this game felt as promising as any other, Jacobs tied a career high in strikeouts with 11, sophomore outfielder Brandon Compton improved his OBP to.625 after reaching base four times, and ASU tied a program record for stolen bases in a game with ten.
Yet, no Sun Devil left Phoenix Municipal Stadium satisfied tonight.
“Credit to Oral Roberts,” Bloomquist said. “They scrapped, they got down, and they kept coming back at us, and we couldn’t finish the job. One way or another, we got to learn how to finish off those games. If we want to be the team we want to be we have to finish the job.”
That will undoubtedly be the key takeaway from this game, despite what appeared to be enough to win and a solid night from the bullpen in the back third of the game, with two outs in the ninth inning and the bases loaded, junior center fielder Makani Tanaki singled up the middle to tie the game, and junior catcher Wailele Kane-Yates gave the Golden Eagles the lead with his clutch hit.
That save would have tied senior right handed pitcher Will Koger for the country’s lead in saves, instead, it’s back to the drawing board in a disheartening appearance that included two hits, two earned runs, and three walks as Koger struggled to find the strike zone throughout the inning.
“Disappointing,” Bloomquist said. “You know, at the end of the day, we gave too many free passes late, and the bullpen (Sean Fitzpatrick) got us out. Lucas Kelly did okay. Other than that, we gave up some solid contact there, and dug ourselves a little bit of a hole with the free bases.”
Despite the blown lead and eight Oral Robert runs, there were encouraging takeaways from the Sun Devil pitching staff, including Jacobs’ stellar night on the mound. Jacobs tied his career high in strikeouts with 11, striking out every Golden Eagle batter but one at least once.
Jacobs appeared to have improved from his four-earned-run opening day start, reaching 96 mph on his fastball and getting swing and a miss after swing and a miss with his changeup. He is still adjusting to his new personal backstop, senior catcher Josiah Cromwick, who also homered tonight, but the two looked incredibly in sync on Friday.
“I think we just read their swings pretty well, and we knew what they were looking for,” Jacobs said “(Cromwick) did a great job tonight at receiving and stealing some strikes. I think that’s a great trait that he has. I love throwing to catchers like that, we’re very vocal, and we discussed things in the dugout, what we can do better, what we do differently.”
Unfortunately for Jacobs, while he only allowed four hits on the night three of them were home runs. Six of the nine hits he has allowed in his first two starts have been extra base hits. Limiting the “big hit” has been a challenge for Jacobs early this season, but a couple solo homers aren’t anything to stress about, even Jacobs himself thinks they’re “nothing to worry about.”
What will be overlooked as a result of the loss is the Sun Devils’ startling stolen base total tonight. Their ten stolen bases are tied for the most in franchise history, the first time they have reached double digits since 2001, and ASU’s ability to run all over the Golden Eagles was a major reason they dominated the majority of the game.
Their five stolen bases in the bottom of the third inning were more than the Sun Devils had in any single game this season. Bloomquist had been emphasizing how aggressive play, like tonight, can win games, and it was on full display.
“We’ll try to get our keys, and if our keys allow us to run, we will,” Bloomquist said. “Today we had a key on their guy, and we were going to keep running until they stopped us.”
Despite any positive progress from the rotation, bullpen, or lineup, this game still goes down as a loss, a devastating one at that. One that might sting for a few guys in particular, but that’s why you play three games in a series. There’s still a chance for ASU to finish the weekend 6-1 and begin another winning streak.
“This is gonna light a fire under our butt,” Jacobs said. “We all know that we’re keeping our heads up and keeping our chins up, so we’re gonna be ready to go tomorrow. Now we know what we got and we’re gonna take this series.”
