No. 24 ASU’s pitching allows two Crooked Numbers in loss to Arizona

(Photo: Austin Hurst/WCSN)

PHOENIX – Junior lefty Ben Jacobs had two outs in the fifth with a four-run lead. It took Jacobs six batters to record the final out in a disastrous fifth, letting the Wildcats back into the ballgame.

“We left a couple pitches over the plate tonight that they didn’t miss,” ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “The only glaring thing is just the two-out focus in the fifth inning.”

No. 24 Arizona State baseball (20-10, 7-3 Big 12) could not avoid the big inning as they fell, 8-5, to Arizona (21-8, 7-3 Big 12) with seven of the eight Wildcat runs coming in two innings.

Jacobs was cruising through the Arizona lineup through the first four innings, only allowing one run off of junior center fielder Aaron Walton’s home run in the first. He allowed five baserunners and recorded ten strikeouts in those innings.

“I thought he was throwing the ball outstanding, up until kind of like I said that two out, two outs in the fifth,” Bloomquist said.

Then, in the fifth, the wheels fell off for the southpaw. He recorded two outs, then allowed six baserunners before catching a break on a pickoff play, stopping the bleeding.

“How it started was the only discouraging part,” Bloomquist said. “I don’t know if he lost a little bit of focus there or what happened.”

What happened was the Wildcats started the rally with a Walton walk before Jacobs hit junior shortstop Mason White with a pitch. Jacobs then allowed four straight singles that scored four runs, his season highest, replacing a three-run inning against Utah on March 28.

“Every once in a while, I mean, rallies happen against you,” Bloomquist said. “The disappointing part of it was that this one came with two outs and (he) seemed to be cruising along.”

Jacobs has struggled with walks on the year, averaging a little less than 4.5 per nine innings. 15 of his walks have come in his last four starts as compared to five in the first four.

“They found a couple holes that was unfortunate,” senior first baseman Jacob Tobias said. “I didn’t feel like they hit him too hard.”

It was a similar story for sophomore righty Wyatt Halvorson. Halvorson cruised through his first inning of work before allowing a rally that had Arizona score three runs.

Halvorson started the seventh with an out before allowing a single to junior catcher Adonys Guzman, which was followed by junior designated hitter Maddox Mihalakis’s home run. Halvorson got an out before junior third baseman Mathis Meurant doubled, which was followed by a freshman right fielder Gunner Geile triple. Halvorson was gifted the final out of the inning when Geile went for home on a play that was not close.

Halvorson had his worst outing of the year, as he doubled his total of earned runs against him on the year. Halvorson came into the game with three extra base hits allowed, which was the same total he had today.

“He has been throwing the ball pretty well,” Bloomquist said.

This is the third time this year that the ASU pitching staff has given up three or more runs in multiple innings. The first time it happened was on opening weekend against Ohio State on Feb. 16, where ASU won 17-10. The second time it happened was on Feb. 15 in an 8-4 loss at UCLA. Neither Jacobs nor Halvorson pitched in those games.

“They’ve been fine all year,” Bloomquist said. “I have no complaints with our pitching staff.”

The fifth inning changed the plan of how Bloomquist was going to use the bullpen. He wanted to stretch Jacobs if he got the final out in the fifth and get him through six.

“If there was any trouble in the sixth, I probably would have gone a different route in the ‘pen there,” Bloomquist said. “I felt really confident through the fifth with Benny with the lead that we had pretty good shot at that one.”

Bloomquist would have likely pitched some combination of junior righty Lucas Kelly, sophomore lefty Cole Carlon, redshirt senior right hander Jonah Giblin and sophomore righty Derek Schaefer. All of the four have a sub-four ERA out of the bullpen on the season, with the first three all being below 3.2.

This is ASU’s second loss of the year to Arizona, as they lost 3-2 on March 11. The two pitchers responsible for runs did not play in that game.

“This is one of those games that I’m not gonna scream and yell, but about their performance,” Bloomquist said. “They gave up a couple of home runs and left a couple pitches up and really that was the story.”