(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)
PHOENIX — Over its first four games, Arizona State baseball has a lineup that has showcased an ability to light up the scoreboard, but this time it flashed mostly zeros.
ASU starting pitcher Ben Jacobs never pitched more than seven outs in a collegiate game. Ohio State starting pitcher Landon Beidelschies allowed three earned runs in four innings in a loss to Boston College in the season opener. It was a pitcher’s duel that not many people saw coming.
ASU (3-2) lost 11-4 in the series opener to Ohio State (3-2), but the final score does not do the starters justice for how well they performed. The Sun Devils scored 47 combined runs in the first four games of the season against Santa Clara — the reigning West Coast Conference champions — and No. 24 Kansas State, which may have inflated the confidence of hitters like sophomore first baseman Jacob Tobias a little too much.
“I think the biggest thing is a lack of focus,” Tobias said. “I’d say going in there and not taking the team as seriously as we should have. It doesn’t matter if they’re Big 10. Any school, any conference, whether it’s the smallest school in the nation, or the biggest one in the nation. You got to take them as they’re one of the best teams that we’re going to play all year and the biggest show. We went in there and underestimated them and didn’t execute.”
The Sun Devils were on cloud nine after a victory over a ranked Wildcats’ team, but they fell from the heavens as head coach Willie Bloomquist called the offense “embarrassing” in the loss. The lineup is still potent despite redshirt sophomore Nick McLain not playing a game yet, but they were humbled against an OSU squad that just lost by seven runs to Grand Canyon on Tuesday.
Beidelschies topped out at 97 miles per hour and has a nasty slider, so misjudging that was a huge issue for the Sun Devils. Even though the left-handed pitcher had an underwhelming performance against BC, he showcased why Ohio State head coach Bill Mosiello entrusted him to be the team’s top starter.
The Buckeye threw 70 of his 96 pitches for strikes, which resulted in no walks and seven strikeouts in the same amount of innings. Beidelschies was OSU’s closer last season, so he proved with this outing that he can pitch deep into a game against a legitimate lineup. The southpaw had a phenomenal performance, but the lineup needed to be better.
“I think if we would have stuck to the plan that we have implemented going into it and we’ve paid attention to what we had preached to them,” Bloomquist said. “The game plan going in against him, I think we had the pitches to hit that we were expecting. We just weren’t ready. So, when you’re not ready or when you got a guy throwing 94 to 95 miles an hour, you’re going to get owned and that’s what he did.”
On the other side of the mound, Jacobs was nearly untouchable through the first four innings as his first six strikeouts all caught the Buckeyes looking. The left-hander mixed his fastball and off-speed well, as both pitches were utilized to get that third strike, but a misplaced slider resulted in junior left fielder Trey Lipsey sending the ball beyond the fences with a two-run homer to knock the UCLA transfer out of the game.
Despite the rough ending, Jacobs still had one of the best pitching performances for the Sun Devils this season as he finished with eight strikeouts and three earned runs in 4 ⅔ innings. The lefty did not pitch much with the Bruins, but coming to Tempe has clearly made an impact on the pitcher.
“It’s just all mental for me,” Jacobs said. “Coming here, I’ve gotten some coaches that trust me a lot more and I can speak to work on small little details with, but it’s all mental. Just pitching with confidence. Knowing that I have a great defense that’s there to back me up and a great offense as well. It’s there to put up runs if I ever give up anything.”
The offense was not there tonight, but it will be on most nights. Jacobs gave his offense a chance, which is all ASU could have asked for.
When evaluating the other starters, senior left-hander Connor Markl and redshirt sophomore righty Tyler Meyer pitched poorly as the Saturday and Sunday starters against the Broncos, but they have the opportunity to change that narrative this weekend against the Buckeyes. To be fair, Markl just made his Sun Devil debut and Meyer did not play last season due to injury, so it’s difficult to judge them after one start.
If Jacobs demonstrates more potential and the other starters don’t bounce back, don’t be shocked if the former Bruin is a weekend starter — or at the very least a midweek starter — sooner rather than later. Bloomquist does not know where Jacobs fits in the rotation at the moment, but the silver lining of the defeat is that he knows he has a reliable arm.
“Ben is one of our better arms and we knew that going in,” Bloomquist said. “He has all-around really good stuff. He proved that he’s capable of starting whether or not that’s the best thing for our team with trying to get some length at the front end and then being able to have someone to close out a game. We’ll evaluate that moving forward, but he’s certainly an option there on the rotation.”
