Sun Devils cruise to 11-1 victory on back of dominant Jacobs

(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)

PHOENIX — Arizona State baseball’s Friday night starter, junior Ben Jacobs, has all the makings of an elite starting pitcher. A fastball that tops out at 95 is paired with a splitter and slider combination made his arsenal lethal. To top it off, the lefty delivers it all from a deceptive left-handed release.

He was unquestionably head coach Willie Bloomquist’s only decision to start Friday’s for the Sun Devils. But, the best of Jacobs had not appeared through three starts, allowing at least three earned runs and one home run in all three starts.

Whether it be Phoenix Muni’s tendency to be a launchpad or just knocking off the early season rust, Jacobs had not yet delivered a performance of the caliber that put him inside MLB.com’s top-75 draft prospects.

He has now.

In a masterful 6.0 innings of work, Jacobs dominated, flashing each of his four pitches at an elite level. He got five runs of support in the first inning and never looked back, heating up on an uncharacteristically cold and rainy night in Phoenix as ASU (9-4) beat Gonzaga (2-9) 11-1.

“I felt good, just a normal day at the ballpark,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs’ final line was 6.0 innings pitched, surrendering just one hit while striking out six, walking none and allowing zero runs. The Gonzaga lineup is not the strongest, with three players entering Friday’s game and three players hitting under the Mendoza line, but the dominant performance is an indicator of where Jacobs can be when he is totally in control of his game.

“He attacked the zone pretty well,” Bloomquist said. “He was just able to keep them off balance and did a great job doing that. Tough to be critical over that outing, but I think there’s better command in there for him. I think down the road as well. All in all, he threw the ball outstanding.”

This game was the type of game that ASU has struggled to put together all season. The Sun Devils have gotten multiple early leads this season, scoring at least one run in eight of their 14 games, but it seems like each time it is never enough, creating nail-biter game after nail-biter game.

Against Gonzaga sophomore righty Gabe Brabec, who entered the game with a 9.00 ERA, the Sun Devils sent all nine batters to the plate. Four doubles in the inning gave Jacobs a five-run cushion, but that doesn’t mean ASU was out of danger, as we have seen larger blown leads already this season.

But Jacobs took that lead and said it was enough, delivering exactly the performance that the Sun Devils have lacked all season. He faced the minimum 15 batters through five innings, tearing through the below-average Bulldog lineup.

“I just had so much confidence in the guys,” Jacobs said. “We were swinging it well, and we were just having fun. That’s all that matters. Energy was up all game. We trusted each other, and good things just happen. It goes our way when we play our game, and that was our game.”

After the first-inning outburst, the Sun Devil offense went totally quiet, not scoring a run for the following four innings. But as Jacobs finished his final inning in the top half of the sixth, junior outfielder Kien Vu blew the game open in the bottom of the inning, slugging a three-run homer over the right field wall to put ASU up 8-0.

Vu is starting to catch fire like he did at the end of last season. Since moving to the leadoff spot in ASU’s midweek shutout of UNLV last Tuesday, Vu has exploded, slugging three homers, five extra-base hits, and tallying seven RBI.

“Vu was the guy that I’m confident hitting at the top of the order in that lead-off spot,” Bloomquist said. “We have a couple other guys that could do it too, but I like him up there.”

Vu wasn’t the only lineup change that Bloomquist made as he also moved senior shortstop Matt King up to the two hole and for good reason. Entering Friday’s game, King had not struck out a single time in 34 at-bats this season. King makes a lot of contact and doesn’t waste too many of his outs, making him the ideal candidate for that two-hole.

With Vu setting the table at the top of the order and King making consistent contact right behind him, it opens up some interesting possibilities for Bloomquist and gives the sluggers behind King even more RBI opportunities.

On Friday, King went 2-for-3 with two walks and came around to score twice.

“We got to be able to do those things and put balls, and (King’s) been our best guy at it,” Bloomquist said. “He’s kind of been able to shorten up and give productive outs when they’re called for, so that’s been great.”

With a new look lineup leading the way, the Sun Devils are clearly the stronger and more talented team than Gonzaga. But it is crucial that ASU takes the success they had on Friday and repeat it throughout the rest of the weekend. When the Sun Devils have the lead they need to make it sure they stay in front.

If they can do that consistently the rest of the season, it might finally be the team that returns ASU to the postseason after three long years.

“When you do have early success, you can’t take your foot off the gas,” Bloomquist said. “Those are the things we’re trying to really hammer down. We left a lot of runners on base where we could have really blown that thing open earlier, I’m being critical, but at the end of the day we have high expectations. We need to get better in those situations.”