Pitching Shines in Sun Devils’ Big 12 Home Opener, defeating Kansas 9-2

(Photo: Joshua Eaton/WCSN)

PHOENIX – It appeared it was going to be a first-inning disaster for junior lefty Ben Jacobs. The southpaw had walked the first three batters on twenty pitches.

Jacobs had a huge weight on his shoulders and struck out senior left fielder Brady Counsell. He then got senior right fielder Tommy Barth to hit into a 5-2 fielder’s choice. Jacobs then struck out redshirt senior Michael Brooks to end the inning.

“He’s come a long way mentally,” ASU manager Willie Bloomquist said. “It was a huge momentum shift.

Arizona State baseball (15-7, 3-1 Big 12) eased to win its first-ever Big 12 home conference game 9-2 over Kansas, (17-5, 2-2 Big 12) in front of a large crowd of 5,834.

“I have envisioned this place being like this,” Bloomquist said. “Tonight was really one of the few nights that I’ve come out of the tunnel to go out in the dugout and just have the fans already there.”

In the offseason, Arizona State added a state of the art pitching lab and brought in former minor league instructor Jeremy Accardo as a pitching coach. Those improvements have helped ASU pitchers make strides in the offseason with visualizations of their pitches.

Jacobs had an odd start going 4+ innings and only allowing one run, which was unearned. Jacobs only allowed one hit but struggled with command allowing seven walks, one shy of his season total entering the game. Jacobs sent eight batters down on strikes, his second-highest on the season.

“Jeremy’s really helped us in that lab find our strengths,” Jacobs said. “Using our strengths is just gonna find us a lot more success rather than trying to pick and choose different pitches.”

Jacobs entered the fifth with 92 pitches thrown. His exhaustion showed as he gave up two walks before being pulled for Giblin. Jacobs has struggled going deep into games only completing six innings twice.

Giblin has been an innings-eater for the Sun Devils, pitching over an inning in eight of nine of his appearances including this game. Giblin pitched three solid innings allowing an earned run off of two hits.

Sophomore lefty Cole Carlon finished the game giving ASU two quality innings. Carlon recorded five strikeouts fooling the Jayhawk batters and allowed a hit and a walk. Giblin and Carlon have emerged as two stable pieces for the Sun Devils bullpen. Giblin has a 2.91 ERA and Carlon has 3.15, improving from last year’s 4.29 and 7.52, respectively.

“Now we’re able to show them whatever bells and whistles they want,” Bloomquist said. “You’re able to show them and tweak their grip on a pitch and see the result immediately on how it’s affecting their, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but their spin rates or they’re vertical angles.”

ASU rebounded offensively from its midweek let down against USC as the Sun Devils had eight of their nine batters reach base safely. The offense was headlined by redshirt junior second baseman Kyle Walker and graduate catcher Josiah Cromwick.

Kyle Walker continues to have a great March, raising his batting average in every game this month as he is settling into his leadoff role. Walker went 3-4 with two runs scored. Entering March, he had a sub.100 batting average but is now currently is up to .328 and on a ten-game hitting streak.

“I had to get it started with an infield single,” Walker said. “I think we could be the best in the country.”

Cromwick continued hitting the long ball, hitting two home runs off of sophomore righty Dominic Voegele. Cromwicks two blasts put him with a team-leading eight home runs.

Freshman right fielder Landon Hairston played well in the absence of junior outfielder Kien Vu who is dealing with a lingering injury. Hairston roped two singles and scored a run in his first campaign which sees him with a batting average of .333 on the year and an OPS of .792. Vu is progressing in his return to injury, but Hairston has filled that massive hole in the lineup.

“He’s swinging the bat great,” Bloomqusit said. “I’m extremely excited for him.”

Redshirt sophomore left fielder Brandon Compton went 2-4 with a walk. Compton’s bat has stayed warm with his average around .300 in March. Junior third baseman Nu’u Contrades drove in three runs in the game. Contrades has made strides in the last week raising his average nearly 50 points.

Senior first baseman Jacob Tobias added two hits to his team-leading 27. Tobias’ bat has found a little heat in the past week raising his batting average nearly 40 points in the past four games.

The Sun Devil pitchers key the pitching lab and Accardo to their improvements. It will be key to keep ASU pitchers ahead of their opponents and continue improvements from their pitchers.

“(Pitching coach) Jeremy (Accardo) is a guy that you’ll never see stiff or worried about anything,” Jacobs said. “That gives us pitchers so much confidence.”