Sun Devils slow offense against Kansas leads to 7-3 loss

(Photo: Joshua Eaton/WCSN)

PHOENIX – It didn’t take long for Kansas’s junior right-handed starting pitcher Kannon Carr to get into a rhythm during the first inning against Arizona State, attacking hitters early to get quick outs.

The transfer from JUCO Jefferson College needed just seven pitches to get out of the first frame. Sun Devils redshirt junior second baseman Kyle Walker’s aggressive tendencies at the plate came back to bite him as he recorded the first out of the inning on the first pitch he saw. Carr then struck out redshirt sophomore left fielder Brandon Compton after falling behind in the count.

Junior third baseman Nu’u Contrades took his first pitch for a ride to right field but didn’t get enough of it. Senior right fielder Tommy Barth camped underneath the ball and recorded the final out of a rare three up three down inning for the Sun Devil offense.

It wouldn’t be the last time.

Carr would send Arizona State (15-8, 3-2 Big 12 Conference) down in order two more times en route to a great night on the mound in a hitter’s paradise of Phoenix Municipal Stadium, setting the stage for the offense to step up and propel Kansas (18-5, 3-2) to a 7-3 victory Saturday night.

“(Carr) just mixes pitches really good and kind of kept us off balance,” Compton said. “He kind of sneaked some heaters in and got us off balance. That’s just good job by him.”

Carr had his fastball and the rest of his arsenal working well for him. He not only allowed just five hits over his seven innings of work, he also didn’t give anything up for free that the Sun Devils could take advantage of, making things difficult.

The righty pounded the strike zone, 65.2% of his 92 pitches were thrown for strikes, resulting in just one walk compared to five strikeouts, tying his season high in that category. Carr’s success in throwing strikes and getting outs stemmed from his fastball that, despite registering in the low 90 MPH range, the pitch was able to sneak past Sun Devil hitters.

Carr hasn’t been the first pitcher to dominate the ASU lineup with a fastball. It’s been a recurring issue, much to the chagrin of Arizona State’s head coach Willie Bloomquist.

“We weren’t on time for fastballs,” Bloomquist said. “(I) sound like a broken record with these guys. Sometimes, if we can’t get on time for the fastball we’re going to get beat.”

The only damage that the Sun Devils were able to tack against Carr came in the third inning. Freshman right fielder Landon Hairston led off the frame with a single and he came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Walker.

The following at-bat, Compton drove a mistake pitch off the College World Series sign beyond Muni’s right-center field wall, scoring himself and sophomore catcher Brody Briggs.

“He hung a 0-2 pitch, so I was able to take advantage of it,” Compton said. “We weren’t able to continue rolling with it but we’ll get it tomorrow.”

On the flip side of Carr’s minimal mistake outing was a rough start from ASU right-handed senior Jack Martinez. The righty has been the Sun Devils’ most consistent starter this season, and he entered the game with a 2.73 ERA after putting up zeros in his previous two outings. That success didn’t continue against Kansas.

After a damage-free first inning, Martinez started off the second by hanging a 1-1 changeup to senior left fielder Brady Counsell. The son of current Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell didn’t miss the mistake, driving it into the visiting bullpen.

“Jack (Martinez) was uncharacteristically getting barreled a little bit tonight,” Bloomquist said.

Martinez limited the damage in the second inning to just that one run, but his five-run third inning was enough to seal ASU’s fate. Martinez fell behind to leadoff batter junior center fielder Derek Cerda 2-0 before allowing a double down the left field line. From there, the floodgates opened.

He allowed two runs to score on a sacrifice fly and a single to left field before redshirt senior third baseman Michael Brooks hit the exclamation point on the inning. With two runners on base, Brooks hit a ball just over the center field wall and out of reach of junior center fielder Isaiah Jackson for a three-run home run.

“I think (he) fell behind quite a few hitters, which could have led to that,” Bloomquist continued. “I think they picked up on something there later in the fourth, I think they might have had something on his pitches. …(I have a) Pretty good idea they were relaying some signs there.”

Whether or not Martinez was tipping pitches, the Sun Devils offense wasn’t able to return the favor against the Jayhawks and Martinez’s start came back to haunt the team. Even after five one-hit innings from the bullpen to keep the game in striking distance, the ASU bats had no answer for Carr and hard-throwing six-foot-five, 270-pound junior right-handed pitcher Alex Breckheimer who pitched two innings in relief.

It’s been a tale of two games for the Sun Devils in this first home Big 12 weekend series. ASU wasn’t able to carry over the strong offensive performance of the Friday night matchup into Saturday like the team would’ve hoped for. On the flip side, going into the rubber match, they’ll need to forget the offensive struggles of Saturday and come in with a rejuvenated mind and attitude similar to Friday.

“It’s got to be a continuous, consistent mindset when they come through the doors every day,” Bloomquist said. “Right now that’s been a little bit of a challenge. There’s days where (the players) come out and they’re outstanding and there’s days where there seems to be letdowns.”