No. 24 Sun Devils rack up 17 strikeouts in 8-4 win over Arizona

(Photo: Maya Diaz/WCSN)

PHOENIX — When playing at a ballpark like Phoenix Municipal Stadium, there is really only one path to run prevention. With the way it makes a routine fly ball into a home run, keeping the ball inside the bark becomes difficult, but there is one consistent path to pitching success.

Strikeouts. Don’t let the other team put the ball in play, and they can’t hit home runs. Simple.

Over the last three seasons, keeping the ball in the park was a struggle for Willie Bloomquist’s Sun Devils. Three straight postseasons without a Sun Devil appearance, mostly because of the team’s performance on the mound, forced Bloomquist to make some changes.

In comes a new pitching coach, Jeremy Accardo, and a brand new pitching lab to help ASU make an adjustment. So far in 2025, the changes seem to have worked. The 6.70 average era in Bloomquist’s first three seasons has come down to 5.02 in this season. The main reason for the success?

Entering Sunday, ASU led the Big 12 in strikeouts with 328 and was 21st in the country with a 10.1 K/9.

“(Accardo’s) philosophy is win the race and get the punch out,” Bloomquist said. “Especially in our ballpark the less guys can put the ball in play in our ballpark, the better.”

Across ASU’s first two games against rival Arizona, the Sun Devils struck out 28 batters thanks to double-digit strikeout performances from starters junior Ben Jacobs and senior Jack Martinez. Sunday was the best performance of them all as ASU totaled 17 strikeouts on the back of a perfect 4.1 innings from sophomore righty Cole Carlon.

Carlon struck out 10 of the 13 batters he faced, allowing no hits and no walks. It was the pivotal performance, as the No. 24 Sun Devils (21-10, 8-4 Big 12) defeated Arizona (22-9, 8-4 Big 12) 8-4, avoiding a Territorial Cup sweep. The team’s 17 Ks on the night bring the weekend strikeout total to 45, which is the most ASU has had in a weekend series since 2001.

“The more guys we can punch out and not put the ball in play, gives us a better chance, so we have guys with pretty good stuff that they’re able to do it,” Bloomquist said. “We’ll keep attacking the zone, working ahead, and then trying to finish guys off.”

While the Sun Devils are one of the nation’s best at striking teams out, it sometimes isn’t enough, as evidenced by the first two games of this weekend’s series. Despite 14 strikeouts in both games, one bad inning did ASU in both times. With the offense not in rhythm, ASU wasn’t able to mount a comeback.

It looked like it was going to be a repeat of that exact same scenario on Sunday. Sophomore right-hander Jaden Alba had his third start since returning from injury, and it looked like he had his best stuff. Alba took a 109 mph liner off of the thigh in the first inning but was able to fight through it.

He struck out the side in the second and finished with five on the night, but in the fourth, Arizona strung together four straight hits, including a three-run home run from sophomore outfielder Andrew Cain that knocked Alba out of the game.

Enter Carlon, who had everything working tonight. Coming into the game with the bases loaded, Carlon struck out junior center fielder Aaron Walton to strand three runners. It was a sign of what was to come.

Carlon got junior shortstop Mason White to pop out to begin the fifth, but over the next seven batters, not a single one would put the ball in play, and Carlon struck them all out.

“I was really just filling up the zone and trusting all my pitches, mainly my slider,” Carlon said. “Overall, throwing everything with intent over the plate.”

In the eighth, Carlon’s final inning saw him strike out two more before allowing a flyout to junior designated hitter Maddox Mihalakis to end his outing. The final line was perfect. 4.1 innings pitched, zero runs allowed, zero hits allowed, zero walks allowed, and, of course, 10 strikeouts to round it all out.

“Kid was electric tonight,” Bloomquist said. “That’s the best I’ve ever seen him. I think he faced 13 hitters and punched out 10. That was impressive by him. … The kid was rolling, man. I didn’t want to take him out. He was throwing the heck out of it. Everything was working well.”

This season has been a turnaround for the Sun Devil staff as a whole. Over the last three seasons, and particularly in 2024, ASU has had to rely on young arms in order to just make it through games. Pitchers like Carlon and sophomore righty Wyatt Halvorson were forced into situations last season that they probably shouldn’t have been in.

Now, by getting strong innings from their starters and having enough depth in the bullpen, Bloomquist, Accardo and the rest of the staff are finding the right roles for their best arms, and it is paying off as ASU looks to return to the postseason for the first time since 2021.

“We took our lumps the last couple years,” Bloomquist said. “We just didn’t have a lot of depth in those positions, especially on the mound. Some games, I just had to pat (former pitching coach Sam Peraza) on the back last year and say, ‘Dude, it’s alright, man. We’re going through it a little bit, but it’s going to pay off for us in the long run,’

“And it is now. Whether these guys are growing up, they’re getting better, they’re more confident, and we were able to add some nice pieces.”