Disastrous Sixth Inning Derails ASU in Series Opening Loss to Houston

(Photo: Joshua Eaton/WCSN)

PHOENIX – Junior lefty Ben Jacobs had been cruising through the first five innings, only allowing one hit. On his first pitch of the sixth, he hit Houston senior catcher Kenneth Jimenez. Jimenez had something to say to Jacobs, who then made a hand signal to say “take your base.” Jimenez had even more words for Jacobs, who then lost his touch on the mound.

Arizona State baseball (32-18, 16-9 Big 12) lost its second consecutive weekend series opener to a Texas team, this time Houston (27-20, 11-13 Big 12), by a score of 6-5. Jacobs only allowed two hits on the day, as it was four walks and two hit batters that derailed his outing. Jacobs had half of his eight baserunners reach in the sixth as Houston had five batters score in the inning.

“Ben was throwing the ball great and let the emotions get the best of him,” ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “He got Ben out of his game plan, and Ben took the bait.”

Jacobs looked like he had the Cougar batters in control through the first five innings as he had limited traffic on the bases to four batters with only 72 pitches thrown. He notched eight strikeouts and was on pace to have his fourth consecutive game where he would reach double digits. 

The command he had over the first two cycles of the lineup immediately disappeared as he threw 12 of his 21 pitches were balls, walking two and hitting another. Walks have been a problem for Jacobs this season as he walks 4.67 batters per nine innings, although he has lowered that number from last year’s 4.88 per nine innings.

Jacobs has struggled with hitting batters lately, as he has had all seven of his hit batters on the season come in his last seven games. Jacobs did not struggle with this last year, as he only had two on the season. Positively, Jacobs hit 100 strikeouts on the season in the game, and only gave up two hits, which is his third-lowest allowed on the season.

Junior right-hander Lucas Kelly came in with the bases loaded and one out, and he did not fare much better. He walked in a run with the bases loaded before allowing a pair of hits that scored three for Houston. Kelly allowed all of his inherited runners to score, as well as one of his own.

Kelly has walked 2.42 per nine innings. He has given up runs in his last three appearances, and had only given up runs in two appearances before this stretch. Sitting at a 2.42 ERA, the concern should be low for him, though.

Redshirt senior Jonah Giblin only allowed one hit in the final three innings on his senior night. This is Giblin’s second straight appearance of three shutout innings, as in his previous three appearances, he gave up 10 runs in 2.1 innings.

“Every time I go out, I want to fill up the zone,” Giblin said.

Bloomquist often talks about a scoring lull for ASU in the middle to back end of games, and his team only had one total baserunner from the fifth to eighth innings. Junior center fielder Isaiah Jackson was the baserunner, and he was caught stealing second to end the seventh, ending the chance of momentum in the inning.

The offensive lit up Houston junior lefty starter Chris Scinta, scoring four in three innings. The bats fell silent against senior righty Andres Perez and Alex Solis, who each pitched a scoreless inning. Senior lefty Antoine Jean stopped the Sun Devil offense, facing the minimum batters in his first three innings, before allowing a rally in the ninth.

“That was the most polished pitcher we’ve seen all year long,” Bloomquist said of Jean. “He’s gonna be a big leaguer soon, in my opinion.”

The top three batters in the lineup went 0-for-12, with senior shortstop Matt King’s walk being the only baserunner of the bunch. Kyle Walker snapped his 37-game on-base streak, and this was the first game he failed to reach base batting leadoff.

Jackson reached base in all four of his plate appearances, with two hits on the day. Junior right fielder Kien Vu had two hits and scored both times he reached. Vu rides a 14-game on-base streak as he continues to recover from his ankle injury.

Bloomquist broke some news about junior third baseman Nu’u Contrades, who had missed the final two games at Baylor. Contrades is out for the season with a hand injury but could appear as a pinch runner.  In his place, sophomore Jax Ryan, who Bloomquist said will play third from here on out, had two hits and had an RBI.

Graduate catcher Josiah Cromwick had a solo homer on his senior night. He now has a team-leading 12 home runs.

Despite a frustrating loss, the Sun Devils almost won the game with a ninth-inning rally. The team will look to build on that in tomorrow’s game.

“That last inning we showed some fight,” Cromwick said. “Hopefully that continues into tomorrow’s game.”

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