PHOENIX – For the third-straight game, Sun Devil baseball gave up runs to opponent in just one inning, pulling ahead down the stretch en route to an 11-4 victory and series sweep over Gonzaga on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Six different Sun Devils recorded two hits, five of which posted two RBIs as well. Kien Vu capped off his exceptional well with a 2-for-3 outing with a homer, double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Landon Hairston, Jacob Tobias, Isaiah Jackson and Jax Ryan all recorded two hits and two RBIs.
ASU put eight zeroes on the board for the fourth straight game (nine against UNLV on Tuesday), holding Gonzaga to just six hits and striking out 11 batters - the 11th time in 16 games the team has struck out double digit batters.
Rohan Lettow got the start and pitched out of several jams en route to 3.0 scoreless innings. Lucas Kelly went multiple innings for the first time this season, earning the win with 2.0 scoreless innings of work with three strikeouts. Wyatt Halvorson made his return to the bump with 2.0 innings and three strikeouts. Sean Fitzpatrick struck out the side in his inning of work and Eli Buxton closed things down with a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a strikeout.
The Sun Devils will head on the road for four games over the next week, starting with a midweek non-conference tilt at rival Arizona, followed by the program's first Big 12 Conference series on the road at TCU beginning on Friday.
TURNING POINT
After struggling to get the bats going early in last night's win, the Sun Devils wasted no time jumping on starting pitcher Justin Feld, putting up a three-spot in the first inning. Kien Vu and Landon Hairston both walked and advanced on a double steal, and a Jacob Tobias sacrifice fly drove in one run. Isaiah Jackson singled in a run, and Jax Ryan doubled in another run, putting the Devils up 3-0. ASU then tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second. Kyle Walker was hit by a pitch and Vu doubled, and both were driven in by Hairston.
BIG MOMENT
In the fourth inning, Gonzaga was able to score four runs, cutting ASU's lead down to one. In response, the Sun Devil pitching staff doubled down, with three relievers combining to toss five scoreless innings. Lucas Kelly threw two scoreless while only giving up two hits, Wyatt Halvorson added two scoreless of his own, and Eli Buxton closed it out with a 3-up, 3-down bottom of the ninth.
FINAL STRAW
The Bulldogs quietly crept back into it during the middle innings of the contest, keeping ASU on its heels. It was none other than Kien Vu to land the lethal blow of the afternoon. Vu stayed red hot at the plate, drilling an eighth inning two-run shot to dead center field to open the floodgates and give his team a comfortable cushion in the later innings of the ball game.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Vu capped off a monster week at Muni with a 2-3 effort at the dish on Sunday. The junior notched a homer, a double, two walks and two RBIss en route to the win. Vu's entire week saw him post a .500 average with four home runs, three doubles, four walks and nine RBIs all in the leadoff spot for the Sun Devils.
NOTABLES
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
On Wyatt Halvorson's return
"Never have enough arms. So that's another bullet in the gun down there in the bullpen that is very good and capable, so it's nice to have him."
On Rohan Lettow's start
"He got us what we needed. We wanted to try to get through three, maybe a fourth if things were going really, really smooth. He walked a couple of guys there, but he made the pitches when he needed to, got the double play there in the 3rd. He did what we asked him to do, gave up one hit and got through the lineup, so we needed him to try to get through the lineup once and we felt like we had enough bullpen to get to the finish line."
On where the team stands four weeks into the season
"We understand where we're at, where we could have been, and most importantly, where we're going. I think that there's some positives. We're capable of doing some really nice things, but there's a lot we can improve on too. We have to be able to put games away. We have to be able to finish the job, add on when we have that opportunity. Offensively we have to get better. There's some holes right now that we need to patch up and get better at and make adjustments in the game better than we are right now. But, the pieces are there to do some nice things."
Pitcher Wyatt Halvorson
On returning to the mound after his sickness
"It felt like a long time since I threw and that was, I'd say, probably the sickest I've ever been. And that was terrible, but it's good to be back out there with the guys. Just glad I was able to help the team"
Outfielder Isaiah Jackson
On being a mentor to Ky McGary
"I've tried to get him under my shoulder a little bit, just to fine-tune him a little bit, because that guy's got the most tools on the team, period. Really, really good arm, runs faster than anybody has ever seen. Really good hands, fast hands. And when he puts it together, he's going to be a crazy player. Like, I give him a comparison with Trea Turner. He looks like him, plays like him, fast like him, like super twitch stuff like that. So I think just fine tuning his baseball skill is what he needs next. So I think he has a really good four guys in front of him, an old outfield to help him out with that. And then on the swing side of things, he's starting to find that a little bit. He got his first hit, had a decent swing today, just missed the one today. But I think once he fine tunes, he's gonna be legit.
Outfielder Kien Vu
On the defense and pitching stepping up
"I give a lot of credit to the pitching staff.I think from the beginning of the season, they've come a long way and settled in. They've all kind of grown up a little, and they're starting to do their jobs really well. So a lot of credit to the pitching staff. They're the ones getting the ground balls and fly balls, and most of the plays all around are pretty straightforward. So they're doing a great job."
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
Rohan Lettow took the mound for his second start this season, getting the first batter he saw to ground out. After walking the next batter, Lettow settled in, delivering a strikeout and a groundout to close out the scoreless first inning.
Kien Vu led off for the Sun Devils, taking a four-pitch walk. Landon Hairston followed with a walk of his own, and both runners advanced into scoring position with a double steal. Jacob Tobias flew out to right, allowing Vu to score and giving ASU a 1-0 lead. Nu'u Contrades walked, and another run scored on Isaiah Jackson's RBI single. The Devils continued stringing together hits, as Jax Ryan doubled off the left field wall, missing a home run by inches, to drive in another run. Brody Briggs grounded out to first to end the inning with ASU up 3-0.
Second Inning
Gonzaga found some runners via a walk and hit by pitch, but Lettow settled down and left those runners stranded to close the frame.
The Sun Devils continued rolling as Kien Vu roped a double that advanced Kyle Walker to third after he walked. They were driven in on an RBI single from Landon Hairston to extend the lead to 5-0 as the inning concluded shortly after.
Third Inning
Lettow returned to the mound for his third inning of work, quickly getting the first batter to fly out. A single followed, but Lettow got some help from his defense, as Contrades, Walker, and Tobias combined for an inning-ending double play.
ASU couldn't get anything going in the bottom of the third, as Gonzaga's pitcher quickly retired the side.
Fourth Inning
Sean Fitzpatrick was the next man on the bump for ASU. The Bulldogs were able to string together a couple of hits and plate their first run of the game to make it 5-1. Gonzaga then hit a three-run homer to catapult them right back in it at 5-4. The inning concluded shortly after with Gonzaga taking a big swing of momentum.
The Sun Devils went down in order to end the fourth.
Fifth Inning
Lucas Kelly was the next pitcher called in from the bullpen for ASU. The first batter of the inning singled and advanced to second on a passed ball, but Kelly was able to settle in and pitch a scoreless inning.
Hairston started things off, singling to left. Compton followed it up with a double down the right field line, advancing to third on an error and scoring Hairston. Tobias kept up the hit parade, with an RBI-single to score Compton and put the Devils up 7-4. Jackson grounded out to second, and Ryan flew out to center to end the inning.
Sixth Inning
Kelly returned for another inning where he allowed a leadoff single to begin. He rebounded nicely with a strikeout and a double play to end the inning.
Kien Vu reached on a walk, but the Sun Devils were unable to get anything other than that going in the sixth.
Seventh Inning
Wyatt Halvorson was the next reliever out of the 'pen for the Devils. Making his second appearance of the season, Halvorson opened up with a strikeout, induced a groundout, and closed out the inning with his second strikeout.
After Compton flew out to left, Tobias singled to right. Contrades also flew out, then Jackson delivered an RBI-double to right center, scoring Tobias and putting the Devils up 8-4. Ryan tacked on another RBI-single to make it 9-4.
Eighth Inning
Halvorson returned for the eighth, keeping Gonzaga's bats quiet for his second scoreless inning.
After a leadoff knock from Kyle Walker, Kien Vu left the yard to dead center for a two-run shot that extended the lead to 11-4. Three consecutive outs followed as the inning ended with the Sun Devils holding a comfortable lead.
Ninth Inning
Bloomquist called on Eli Buxton to close out the game, and the freshman did just that, retiring the side on 10 pitches and securing the sweep for the Sun Devils.
Six different Sun Devils recorded two hits, five of which posted two RBIs as well. Kien Vu capped off his exceptional well with a 2-for-3 outing with a homer, double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Landon Hairston, Jacob Tobias, Isaiah Jackson and Jax Ryan all recorded two hits and two RBIs.
ASU put eight zeroes on the board for the fourth straight game (nine against UNLV on Tuesday), holding Gonzaga to just six hits and striking out 11 batters - the 11th time in 16 games the team has struck out double digit batters.
Rohan Lettow got the start and pitched out of several jams en route to 3.0 scoreless innings. Lucas Kelly went multiple innings for the first time this season, earning the win with 2.0 scoreless innings of work with three strikeouts. Wyatt Halvorson made his return to the bump with 2.0 innings and three strikeouts. Sean Fitzpatrick struck out the side in his inning of work and Eli Buxton closed things down with a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a strikeout.
The Sun Devils will head on the road for four games over the next week, starting with a midweek non-conference tilt at rival Arizona, followed by the program's first Big 12 Conference series on the road at TCU beginning on Friday.
TURNING POINT
After struggling to get the bats going early in last night's win, the Sun Devils wasted no time jumping on starting pitcher Justin Feld, putting up a three-spot in the first inning. Kien Vu and Landon Hairston both walked and advanced on a double steal, and a Jacob Tobias sacrifice fly drove in one run. Isaiah Jackson singled in a run, and Jax Ryan doubled in another run, putting the Devils up 3-0. ASU then tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second. Kyle Walker was hit by a pitch and Vu doubled, and both were driven in by Hairston.
BIG MOMENT
In the fourth inning, Gonzaga was able to score four runs, cutting ASU's lead down to one. In response, the Sun Devil pitching staff doubled down, with three relievers combining to toss five scoreless innings. Lucas Kelly threw two scoreless while only giving up two hits, Wyatt Halvorson added two scoreless of his own, and Eli Buxton closed it out with a 3-up, 3-down bottom of the ninth.
FINAL STRAW
The Bulldogs quietly crept back into it during the middle innings of the contest, keeping ASU on its heels. It was none other than Kien Vu to land the lethal blow of the afternoon. Vu stayed red hot at the plate, drilling an eighth inning two-run shot to dead center field to open the floodgates and give his team a comfortable cushion in the later innings of the ball game.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Vu capped off a monster week at Muni with a 2-3 effort at the dish on Sunday. The junior notched a homer, a double, two walks and two RBIss en route to the win. Vu's entire week saw him post a .500 average with four home runs, three doubles, four walks and nine RBIs all in the leadoff spot for the Sun Devils.
NOTABLES
- After giving up 7 first inning runs over the first five games of the season (and at least one run in each), the Sun Devils have flipped that trend and now have posted 11 consecutive games without allowing a first inning run - outsourcing teams 14-0 in the process.
- Derek Schaefer (8.1 IP) and Lucas Kelly (8.0 IP) have still yet to allow a run this season. ASU has not had two pitchers with 5.0+ innings of work 15 games into the season with a 0.00 ERA since 2012 Matthew Dunbar (11.0) and Adam McCreery (8.0).
- At 4.44, the Sun Devils have their lowest team ERA for any week in a season since they had a 3.23 ERA after six games in the 2023 season.
- ASU allowed just 11 hits in the three-game series (and 16 total over four games this week). The 11 hits were the fewest given up in a three-game series since the Sun Devils allowed just 10 to open the season against Northwestern in 2017. The 16 hits over a four game stretch were the fewest since also allowing 16 to Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the first for games of the 2009 season.
- The team's six runs allowed over four games this week is the lowest in a four-game stretch since a five-game stretch in 2023 where the team allowed just six total runs from March 6-March 14.
- The Sun Devils have 21 innings this season scoring at least three runs, five with 4+ and three with 5+.
- Big innings have been the theme of ASU's season as the team has now scored in 55 halves of an inning on the year and have plated two or more runs in 35 of those.
- Jacob Tobias opened up the scoring with a sac fly. It is the seventh time this season he's gotten the Sun Devils first run on the board.
- Nu'u Contrades has reached base safely in all 16 games this season.
- Isaiah Jackson recorded his team leading seventh and eighth two-out RBI in the contest - two more than any other Sun Devil and 75 percent of his 12 RBIs on the season.
- The Sun Devils have recorded at least one double in 15 of 16 games. To take that a step further, it was the 12th game of 16 with multiple doubles.
- ASU has struck out double-digit batters in 10 of 15 games this year.
- The Sun Devils posted their 11th game this season without an error and have quietly put up a .988 fielding percentage on the year - good for seventh in the country. ASU ranked outside the Top-100 in each of the last three seasons in the category.
- ASU has five straight games without an error - the first time accomplishing the feat since a nine-game stretch to conclude the 2015 season.
- The Sun Devils have outscored opponents 301-172 over its last 32 games, posting a 23-9 record in the process (23-7 in the regular season).
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
On Wyatt Halvorson's return
"Never have enough arms. So that's another bullet in the gun down there in the bullpen that is very good and capable, so it's nice to have him."
On Rohan Lettow's start
"He got us what we needed. We wanted to try to get through three, maybe a fourth if things were going really, really smooth. He walked a couple of guys there, but he made the pitches when he needed to, got the double play there in the 3rd. He did what we asked him to do, gave up one hit and got through the lineup, so we needed him to try to get through the lineup once and we felt like we had enough bullpen to get to the finish line."
On where the team stands four weeks into the season
"We understand where we're at, where we could have been, and most importantly, where we're going. I think that there's some positives. We're capable of doing some really nice things, but there's a lot we can improve on too. We have to be able to put games away. We have to be able to finish the job, add on when we have that opportunity. Offensively we have to get better. There's some holes right now that we need to patch up and get better at and make adjustments in the game better than we are right now. But, the pieces are there to do some nice things."
Pitcher Wyatt Halvorson
On returning to the mound after his sickness
"It felt like a long time since I threw and that was, I'd say, probably the sickest I've ever been. And that was terrible, but it's good to be back out there with the guys. Just glad I was able to help the team"
Outfielder Isaiah Jackson
On being a mentor to Ky McGary
"I've tried to get him under my shoulder a little bit, just to fine-tune him a little bit, because that guy's got the most tools on the team, period. Really, really good arm, runs faster than anybody has ever seen. Really good hands, fast hands. And when he puts it together, he's going to be a crazy player. Like, I give him a comparison with Trea Turner. He looks like him, plays like him, fast like him, like super twitch stuff like that. So I think just fine tuning his baseball skill is what he needs next. So I think he has a really good four guys in front of him, an old outfield to help him out with that. And then on the swing side of things, he's starting to find that a little bit. He got his first hit, had a decent swing today, just missed the one today. But I think once he fine tunes, he's gonna be legit.
Outfielder Kien Vu
On the defense and pitching stepping up
"I give a lot of credit to the pitching staff.I think from the beginning of the season, they've come a long way and settled in. They've all kind of grown up a little, and they're starting to do their jobs really well. So a lot of credit to the pitching staff. They're the ones getting the ground balls and fly balls, and most of the plays all around are pretty straightforward. So they're doing a great job."
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
Rohan Lettow took the mound for his second start this season, getting the first batter he saw to ground out. After walking the next batter, Lettow settled in, delivering a strikeout and a groundout to close out the scoreless first inning.
Kien Vu led off for the Sun Devils, taking a four-pitch walk. Landon Hairston followed with a walk of his own, and both runners advanced into scoring position with a double steal. Jacob Tobias flew out to right, allowing Vu to score and giving ASU a 1-0 lead. Nu'u Contrades walked, and another run scored on Isaiah Jackson's RBI single. The Devils continued stringing together hits, as Jax Ryan doubled off the left field wall, missing a home run by inches, to drive in another run. Brody Briggs grounded out to first to end the inning with ASU up 3-0.
Second Inning
Gonzaga found some runners via a walk and hit by pitch, but Lettow settled down and left those runners stranded to close the frame.
The Sun Devils continued rolling as Kien Vu roped a double that advanced Kyle Walker to third after he walked. They were driven in on an RBI single from Landon Hairston to extend the lead to 5-0 as the inning concluded shortly after.
Third Inning
Lettow returned to the mound for his third inning of work, quickly getting the first batter to fly out. A single followed, but Lettow got some help from his defense, as Contrades, Walker, and Tobias combined for an inning-ending double play.
ASU couldn't get anything going in the bottom of the third, as Gonzaga's pitcher quickly retired the side.
Fourth Inning
Sean Fitzpatrick was the next man on the bump for ASU. The Bulldogs were able to string together a couple of hits and plate their first run of the game to make it 5-1. Gonzaga then hit a three-run homer to catapult them right back in it at 5-4. The inning concluded shortly after with Gonzaga taking a big swing of momentum.
The Sun Devils went down in order to end the fourth.
Fifth Inning
Lucas Kelly was the next pitcher called in from the bullpen for ASU. The first batter of the inning singled and advanced to second on a passed ball, but Kelly was able to settle in and pitch a scoreless inning.
Hairston started things off, singling to left. Compton followed it up with a double down the right field line, advancing to third on an error and scoring Hairston. Tobias kept up the hit parade, with an RBI-single to score Compton and put the Devils up 7-4. Jackson grounded out to second, and Ryan flew out to center to end the inning.
Sixth Inning
Kelly returned for another inning where he allowed a leadoff single to begin. He rebounded nicely with a strikeout and a double play to end the inning.
Kien Vu reached on a walk, but the Sun Devils were unable to get anything other than that going in the sixth.
Seventh Inning
Wyatt Halvorson was the next reliever out of the 'pen for the Devils. Making his second appearance of the season, Halvorson opened up with a strikeout, induced a groundout, and closed out the inning with his second strikeout.
After Compton flew out to left, Tobias singled to right. Contrades also flew out, then Jackson delivered an RBI-double to right center, scoring Tobias and putting the Devils up 8-4. Ryan tacked on another RBI-single to make it 9-4.
Eighth Inning
Halvorson returned for the eighth, keeping Gonzaga's bats quiet for his second scoreless inning.
After a leadoff knock from Kyle Walker, Kien Vu left the yard to dead center for a two-run shot that extended the lead to 11-4. Three consecutive outs followed as the inning ended with the Sun Devils holding a comfortable lead.
Ninth Inning
Bloomquist called on Eli Buxton to close out the game, and the freshman did just that, retiring the side on 10 pitches and securing the sweep for the Sun Devils.