(Photo Courtesy of Cincinnati Athletics)
Following a series where head coach Willie Bloomquist said the team hit “rock bottom”, Arizona State Baseball (22-11, 8-4 Big 12) heads to the Queen City for a weekend series with fellow conference newcomer, the Cincinnati Bearcats (19-13, 6-6 Big 12).
The aforementioned “rock bottom” series against in-state rival, No. 24 Arizona was one in which the bats went quiet for ASU in its pair of losses. The Sun Devils squandered quality starts from their top two starters, junior left-handed pitcher Ben Jacobs and senior right-handed pitcher Jack Martinez.
Jacobs fanned ten Wildcat batters Friday but struggled with traffic on the basepaths, allowing five runs. Not to be outdone, Martinez delivered seven strong innings of work, including an impressive 12 strikes out which would not be enough after he only got a mere three runs of run support.
After the two crushing defeats, the ASU bats finally woke up, delivering eight runs in the Sunday series finale. That combined with a monster performance from the sophomore left-handed pitcher, Cole Carlon would allow the Sun Devils to avoid the sweep and get back in the win column. Carlon gave ASU 4.1 innings of elite work out of the bullpen, punching out ten Wildcats and not allowing a single baserunner.
Following the series loss, ASU fell out of the Top 25 with its No. 24 ranking being taken by the team who defeated took a series from them on the road the prior weekend, Arizona. Familiar foe No. 22 Kansas jumped into the ranking for the first time, a team ASU took two out of three from when the Jayhawks visited Tempe in March.
In the Big 12, the Sun Devils dropped to a tie for third place with the previously mentioned No. 24 Arizona Wildcats and the TCU Horned Frogs. However, because of tiebreakers, ASU defacto sits in fifth place if the Big 12 tournament were to start tomorrow. On the bright side, the Sun Devils will not face off with a team ranked above them in the conference standings for the rest of the regular season.
Cincinnati’s season started with promise when they took a series from then-No. 11 Duke in Durham, giving the fans much to be excited about. Since then, however, the Bearcats season has stagnated with Big 12 play thwarting some positive momentum built in non-conference play. A sweep at the hands of the No. 24 Arizona Wildcats in Tuscon made the memories of a huge midweek win over No. 14 Louisville feel like ages ago.
When breaking down this Cincinnati team, one name jumps off the page, fifth-year infielder Kerrington Cross. Cross leads the Big 12 with a .429 AVG and his 1.269 OPS is the second-best in the Big 12. Cross is the definition of a modern-day leadoff hitter, he can slap the ball around the park for average but also can deposit a ball over the fence as well if need be.
Junior outfielder Landyn Vidourek has taken a huge step forward cementing himself in the three-hole. Vidourek carries an OPS up over 1.000 and leads the team in homers with eight. He also is a problem on the base paths picking up steals for fun. Vidourek has only been thrown out once all year and is 20-21 when attempting to snag a free bag. He will force some difficult problems for the ASU catchers.
As for the pitching staff, the Bearcats are a mixed bag. ASU should expect to see sophomore right-hander Nathan Taylor Friday night, one of the best arms they will face all season. Taylor has been dominant, something his 3.02 ERA makes quite obvious. For as great as he has been, his numbers have continued to rise as Big 12 play continued and the Sun Devils will be the best line-up he has seen this season.
Saturday and Sunday are where it will get interesting for the Bearcats. The presumptive Saturday starter would be fifth-year left-handed pitcher Kellen O’Connor who possesses the lowest WHIP on the team, 1.14. O’Connor is coming off his best start of the year when he tossed a complete game allowing just a single run against Texas Tech, but has the tendency to not work deep into games and aside the from that start has only been past the fifth inning once this year.
Like the Sun Devils, the Bearcats have shuffled pitchers on Sunday this season and head coach Jordan Bischel seems quite fond of using an opener in season finales. The penciled-in No. 3 starter for Cinncinatti was supposed to be senior left-handed pitcher Adam Mrakitsch but he has struggled mightily this year and his ERA has ballooned to above six. Mrakitsch was lit up early against Wright State Tuesday getting chased after 4.2 innings, making his status for this series up in the air.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams and the first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. AZT with the following two games both being mid-day clashes.
