Pitching staff flashes in Sun Devils’ series win over Kansas

(Photo: Nickolas Montei/WCSN)

PHOENIX — Carrying a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, Arizona State head coach Willie Bloomquist went with the safest option out of his bullpen to close out the rubber match and pick up the series win over Kansas. Junior right-handed pitcher Lucas Kelly hadn’t given up a run in nine appearances throughout the season and went straight to work once on the mound on Sunday.

Kelly needed only three pitches to strike out graduate designated hitter Jackson Hauge then rebounded after giving up a base hit to junior second baseman Dariel Osoria by inducing a fielder’s choice. Needing just one more out to keep his ERA at triple zeroes, the righty instead watched his 1-1 offering to senior right fielder Tommy Barth sail into the ASU bullpen for a two-run home run.

Despite Kelly surrendering his first earned runs of the season to put his team down a run in the ninth, junior third baseman Nu’u Contrades picked up his teammate and slugged a walk-off two-run home run to give ASU (16-8, 4-2 Big 12) a 7-6 win and home series victory over Kansas (18-6, 3-3 Big 12).

“That one pitch, it’s not even a bad pitch,” senior first baseman Jacob Tobias said. “It’s the game of baseball and that’s what’s so tough about it because I know that obviously not the result he wanted, but at the end of the day, every single other pitch he made today was unbelievable, and just because they got lucky one time, doesn’t mean that he could have done anything differently.”

One blown save opportunity doesn’t erase the stability Kelly has brought to the back end of the Sun Devils’ bullpen. For a team that has struggled over the last three years to come up with reliable arms, the San Francisco native’s body of work thus far has solidified him as the frontrunner for the closing role.

Disregarding his outing on Sunday, Kelly has been lights-out when his name has been called. Pumping a 97 mph fastball, he’s recorded ten strikeouts and two wins while only giving up six hits and five walks.

“(Kelly) has been outstanding all year,” Bloomquist said. “The great part about him is he bounced back and was able to not give up anymore and give our offense a chance in the bottom half. Obviously he doesn’t want to hear that right now, but I look at how a guy bounces back. He came back and attacked the next hitter, and got us back in offensively to give us a chance.”

Rewinding back from the closing spot to the first pitches thrown, sophomore righty Jaden Alba made his first start since being removed during the Minnesota series due to a nerve issue in early March.

Alba was limited to 54 pitches and three innings of work as a result of a pitch count in which he gave up exactly two earned runs for the third time this season. Despite putting five runners on base while only striking out a single batter, the Long Beach native still managed to turn in a solid outing on a short leash and looks to continue his role as a Sunday starter.

“(Alba’s) got a long career hopefully ahead of him and I wanted to be cautious about it and make sure he was healthy before we ran him back out there,” Bloomquist said. “It wasn’t quite as sharp as he had been before he went down for a couple weeks, so this was a good step back for him. Hopefully he can continue to grow and get back to where he was.”

One area of the pitching staff that provided strong performances in each game during the series against Kansas was the middle relief arms.

Redshirt senior righty Jonah Giblin continues to be a reliable veteran after allowing one run on two hits in three innings in game one to pick up the win. Game two saw sophomore righty Josh Butler toss up four no-hit frames immediately after senior righty Jack Martinez surrendered seven runs.

On Sunday, sophomore righty Wyatt Halvorson took the mound in the top of the fourth inning and made his case for a larger role going forward. The Arizona native went two and one-thirds innings, striking out four batters and giving up two earned runs on a passed ball and fielder’s choice.

The key for ASU’s middle relief playing a huge role in picking up needed series wins against in-conference opponents is in bridging the gap between the starters and the back end of the bullpen. Giblin, Butler and Halvorson have combined for 46.2 innings pitched which is more than 20 percent of the team’s total all season.

A trio of arms managing to not only produce when needed but eating up innings while doing so can be a stepping stone for the team’s going forward.

The blown save was a bad mark on what has been a surprisingly consistent Sun Devil bullpen. Bloomquist has yet to iron out which pitchers throw where, but it is clear there is enough talent to meet those big moments.

“We’re trying to find that recipe in the back end of the bullpen where, once we get a lead going into those late innings, we can preserve it and finish games off,” Bloomquist said. “It’s been trying to find the guys that are there stepping up in those situations. But it takes a different breed to be able to close out that ninth inning and just be able to keep executing your pitches one after another. These guys have all the really good stuff back there.”