PHOENIX – Sun Devil Baseball overwhelmed Texas Tech with a late offensive push on Friday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, pulling away to a 10-4 win in the series opener at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Arizona State (24-14, 10-6) scored 7 of their 10 runs in the final two innings, touching up the Texas Tech (11-22, 7-9) bullpen late in the contest. Friday night starter Ben Jacobs featured swing-and-miss stuff all evening, striking out a career-high 13 batters.
The approach of the Sun Devil offense was key, as they finished with 13 hits while striking out only two times. Home runs from Isaiah Jackson, the red-hot Matt King, and Josiah Cromwick pushed Arizona State to their 10th double digit run output of the season.
The bullpen came through with solid relief over the final three innings, led by left-handed reliever Cole Carlon. He recorded the final six outs, converting his second save of the season. The Sun Devils ended a brief two-game skid by picking up an important conference victory in front of their home faithful.
The Sun Devils will look for the series win tomorrow evening on national television with a 7 p.m. AZT first pitch on ESPN2.
TURNING POINT
What looked to be an early barnburner tied at 3-3 through the top of the third turned into a pitcher's duel through the middle innings with the score still even at 3-3 at the seventh inning stretch. Isaiah Jackson - who had all three RBIs to that point with his three-run shot in the second - notched a full count two-out RBI single to retake the lead of the Sun Devils. Jackson then stole second and took third on an infield single. ASU executed a perfect double steal pickle to allow Jackson to take home from third and give ASU a 5-3 lead.
BIG MOMENT
Still looking for insurance in the eighth after Texas Tech closed the lead back to one, ASU delivered in a big way. Matt King continued his absurd tear over the last month with his third hit of the game - a two-run homer for his fourth home run in the last three weeks to extend the lead to 7-4. Not content with that, Josiah Cromwick blew the game open with his two-out, 0-2, three-run homer on an offspeed pitch to make it 10-4 and blow the game open.
FINAL STRAW
Cole Carlon, who had just given up his first run since March 16 in the eighth, ensured there would be no late inning drama this time as he promptly set the Red Raiders down in order in the top of the ninth for his second save in the last six days.
NOTABLES
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening Statement
"Extremely proud of our guys and the way they bounced back. This is a tight knit group right now, which sometimes adversity does that to you, and I think we're in a great place mentally. Benny (Ben Jacobs) gave us a good start tonight. Will Koger did a good job coming in and getting his inning to work. Carlon continues to throw the ball outstanding. Offensively, big night by Isaiah Jackson. The kid continues to battle and grind, that's just a great kid, continues to do what he does. Matt King, he just continues to be outstanding. Josiah Cromwick, big knock there late for three-run homer. We scratched out enough runs to get the W and all around pretty good performance by our guys tonight."
On the team playing for one another
"You're gonna see that the rest of the year from these guys. We're playing for nobody else other than this program and those kids in there, they deserve it. All of our staff support, my support, we are gonna continue as we've always done, to pour into our players. We're gonna block out all the external noise and focus on our guys. That's all we can do. That's all we've ever done. It's just magnified a little bit more now. I'm excited about where these next five weeks are gonna bring us. Start today. Today was step one."
On Matt King's offensive tear
"He's just continued to elevate his game and continued to stay locked in. A lot of these guys are capable of doing great things. It's just a matter of can you prolong the good stretches and that's what he's doing. Kids just playing outstanding on both sides of the ball."
Pitcher Ben Jacobs
On what was working for him tonight
"Stuff was there. I was able to attack the zone and get ahead early. That's where I do my best, just establishing the zone and getting ahead of hitters. I just executed when I got to two strikes."
On the mentality of the team after some tough games recently
"We just got into that mentality that we're playing for each other and we're just going to try and pick each other up no matter what. When you go into the game with that mentality and just try to play for the brothers next to you, it's a whole lot easier to pitch. Knowing that I have guys behind me that are going to work their butts off to make every play they can, it's just so much easier to pitch and so much more confidence instilled in us."
Pitcher Cole Carlon
On what has allowed him to pitch longer in his recent outings
"Just having a lot of confidence and filling up the zone. My guys behind me have had amazing defense. Then just really going after hitters and attacking and not just throwing everything with full confidence."
On his confidence level in his body
"My body has been feeling good. I feel like I've been recovering well, and then still staying consistent in the weight room and just making sure that I'm feeling good. Then also mentally just staying in the right headspace."
Infielder Matt King
On what has helped during his 15-game hitting streak
"I would just say sticking to my approach. Going up to the batter's box with a clear head and just getting the pitch that I want to hit, not the pitch the pitcher wants me to hit. So I would say just sticking with that and not getting off it, and it's been working pretty well."
On strides in his game from his previous season at UTSA
"I've seen some strides. Everything is a little more consistent and I'm a little more sharpened with my mentality. I would say that's working for me pretty well."
Outfielder Isaiah Jackson
On his second inning home run
"It was good. Runners on second and third there with less than two outs, so I was just trying to put the ball in the air somewhere. I think as Meek says, Mother Nature threw me a bone with the wind blowing out. I was excited about it."
On the difference in his swing
"There are always changes that you make every once in a while. You try not to think about mechanics. When you're going good, you never think about your swing. It's just kind of 'see ball, hit ball' and trust in your approach. I think it's just honing in on batting practice, and I need to think about mechanics. I've been seeing the ball well and I haven't been striking out, just making weak contact. So it's definitely something with the swing that's just a little off. I think now that I'm able to stick to my approach and my swing is dialed in, everything's going to start clicking."\
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
Ben Jacobs came out the gates red hot as he struck out the side to set the tone early and often.
The Sun Devils had a very up-and-down first frame. Kyle Walker led things off with a single and swiped second base for an early scoring chance. He was then picked off at second for the first out. Matt King remained one of the most locked in hitters on the planet as he laced yet another single to get ASU back in business. Jacob Tobias got plunked to reach first and the inning ended shortly after with a strikeout of Nu'u Contrades.
Second Inning
Jacobs returned to the mound and once again struck out the side in dominant fashion. Jacobs struck out all six batters he faced to open up the contest.
Brandon Compton and Kien Vu both reached base on infield singles to start the bottom half. After a sacrifice bunt from Josiah Cromwick put runners in scoring position, Isaiah Jackson homered to give the Sun Devils a 3-0 lead. Two groundouts followed to end the inning.
Third Inning
Texas Tech found the answer to Jacobs for the first time of the evening. The Red Raiders scattered three extra-base knocks to eventually plate three runners and even up the score at 3-3. Jacobs stopped the bleeding in fitting fashion, recording his eighth strikeout in just three innings to end the threat.
The Sun Devils bats had a trio of loud outs as King, Tobias and Contrades all retired on lengthy flyouts to go down in 1-2-3 fashion.
Fourth Inning
While the first batter for Texas Tech reached base on a throwing error, no damage was done as Jacobs returned to form.
For the second-straight inning, Arizona State went down in order.
Fifth Inning
Jacobs remained steady as he picked up another pair of punchouts. Texas Tech mustered a single but Jacobs was able to record a flyout to end the top half of the fifth.
Isaiah Jackson picked up his second knock of the evening, but Kyle Walker rolled into a 4-6-3 double play to quickly erase that momentum. Landon Hairston smoked a liner right at the Tech third basemen to wrap up the fifth.
Sixth Inning
Jacobs punched out the first two batters en route to a 1-2-3 inning.
King led off the inning with a single, his second hit of the night. However, Tobias lined out and Contrades grounded into a double play that ended the inning.
Seventh Inning
Jacobs' night came to a close as Will Koger was the first man out of the pen for the Sun Devils. Koger picked up right where Jacobs left off, recording a pair of strikeouts and stranding the lone base runner to reach via single. The score remained 3-3 heading into the home side of the seventh.
Kien Vu drew a one-out walk and then made way to second after Josiah Cromwick grounded out. Once again it was Isaiah Jackson stepping up for the Devils. Jackson recorded his third hit of the night, as he poked a single to drive in Vu to make it 4-3. Kyle Walker later reached on a hit to put runners on the corners. The Sun Devils then executed a perfect delayed steal that saw Texas Tech bite on Walker's attempt while Jackson raced home to score. Walker was tagged out after the run was plated, which brought the score to 5-3.
Eighth Inning
Cole Carlon entered to pitch for the Sun Devils. The lefty struck out the first batter he faced but walked the next after a 10-pitch at-bat. After the runner stole second, Carlon gave up an RBI single with two outs as Texas Tech got within a run. The 5-4 lead was preserved after the Red Raiders grounded out to end the top half.
Landon Hairston kicked off the bottom half with a single, then Matt King smashed a majestic home run into the night sky to extend ASU's lead to 7-4. With one out, Nu'u Contrades singled and advanced to second on a fielding error. After Brandon Compton walked, Contrades stole third and Compton took second to set up both runners in scoring position. With two outs, Josiah Cromwick walloped the second home run of the inning to stretch the Sun Devil lead to 10-4. A fly out by Isaiah Jackson concluded the productive inning.
Ninth Inning
Carlon returned for the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 inning to slam the door on Texas Tech to secure the 10-4 victory.
Arizona State (24-14, 10-6) scored 7 of their 10 runs in the final two innings, touching up the Texas Tech (11-22, 7-9) bullpen late in the contest. Friday night starter Ben Jacobs featured swing-and-miss stuff all evening, striking out a career-high 13 batters.
The approach of the Sun Devil offense was key, as they finished with 13 hits while striking out only two times. Home runs from Isaiah Jackson, the red-hot Matt King, and Josiah Cromwick pushed Arizona State to their 10th double digit run output of the season.
The bullpen came through with solid relief over the final three innings, led by left-handed reliever Cole Carlon. He recorded the final six outs, converting his second save of the season. The Sun Devils ended a brief two-game skid by picking up an important conference victory in front of their home faithful.
The Sun Devils will look for the series win tomorrow evening on national television with a 7 p.m. AZT first pitch on ESPN2.
TURNING POINT
What looked to be an early barnburner tied at 3-3 through the top of the third turned into a pitcher's duel through the middle innings with the score still even at 3-3 at the seventh inning stretch. Isaiah Jackson - who had all three RBIs to that point with his three-run shot in the second - notched a full count two-out RBI single to retake the lead of the Sun Devils. Jackson then stole second and took third on an infield single. ASU executed a perfect double steal pickle to allow Jackson to take home from third and give ASU a 5-3 lead.
BIG MOMENT
Still looking for insurance in the eighth after Texas Tech closed the lead back to one, ASU delivered in a big way. Matt King continued his absurd tear over the last month with his third hit of the game - a two-run homer for his fourth home run in the last three weeks to extend the lead to 7-4. Not content with that, Josiah Cromwick blew the game open with his two-out, 0-2, three-run homer on an offspeed pitch to make it 10-4 and blow the game open.
FINAL STRAW
Cole Carlon, who had just given up his first run since March 16 in the eighth, ensured there would be no late inning drama this time as he promptly set the Red Raiders down in order in the top of the ninth for his second save in the last six days.
NOTABLES
- Kyle Walker extended his on-base streak to 27 games with his leadoff single.
- Walker has now recorded a hit to start the game in 10 of the last 20 games since becoming the leadoff batter.
- Matt King has now recorded a 15-game hitting streak, his longest in his 197 career games between ASU and UTSA. He has multiple hits in 11 of the games in the streak. He now has 16 RBIs in his last six games alone.
- Ben Jacobs opened tonight's game with seven consecutive strikeouts. Including the final out of his previous start—a strikeout—he recorded eight straight Ks across two outings. That stretch ranks as the second-longest streak of consecutive strikeouts by a Sun Devil pitcher in program history.
- Jacobs recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts over his six innings of work. It is now the third 10+ strikeout performance of the season and fifth of his career.
- Jacobs now has 70 strikeouts on the season, which is good for fourth in the Big 12. Fellow Sun Devil Jack Martinez holds the lead, coming in at 75 strikeouts prior to his next start.
- ASU struck out double digit batters for the 24th time in 37 games.
- Sun Devil pitchers teamed up for 17 strikeouts, which now ties the season high previously recorded against Arizona on April 6th (W, 8-5)
- Sun Devil pitchers walked just one batter all evening, the third time this season recording such a feat.
- Big innings have been the theme of ASU's season as the team has now scored in 135 halves of an inning on the year and have plated two or more runs in 88 of those. -
- Tonight, ASU had a two-run, three-run, and five-run inning.
- The Sun Devils have 47 innings this season scoring at least three runs, 20 with 4+ and 12 with 5+.
- ASU has outscored teams 524-336 over its last 54 regular season games dating back to last season, posting a 37-14 record in the process.
- The Sun Devils recorded their 13th game of the season with multiple home runs
- To take that a step further, it was the fifth time this season recording three-plus home runs.
- Kien Vu extended his on-base streak to 16-games with his second inning single.
- Jacob Tobias brought his on-base streak to 15-games after a hit by pitch in the first
- Josiah Cromwick's eighth inning home run marked his tenth of the season. Cromwick is the first Sun Devil to record double-digit home runs this season and currently leads the team in the category.
- Cromwick is now one of eight players in the Big 12 to record double-digit home runs. No other player has fewer than 32 games played this year, while Cromwick has done it in just 26.
- Cromwick has 21 hits this season and 15 of those have gone for extra bases (10 homers, 5 doubles).
- It was the ninth time this season ASU had four or fewer strikeouts in a game. ASU only had four games last season with four or fewer strikeouts.
- With four today, Jackson brought his season RBI total to 37 - notable as his previous career high was 31. Jackson now has 22 RBIs in Big 12-only games - the second-highest total in the Big 12 and just one off the league lead. It was his fifth four-RBI game of his career.
- Arizona State went 4-for-4 on stolen bases tonight with four different individuals swiping a bag. The Sun Devils are 14-4 when stealing at least two bases and 10-10 when recording one steal or less.
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening Statement
"Extremely proud of our guys and the way they bounced back. This is a tight knit group right now, which sometimes adversity does that to you, and I think we're in a great place mentally. Benny (Ben Jacobs) gave us a good start tonight. Will Koger did a good job coming in and getting his inning to work. Carlon continues to throw the ball outstanding. Offensively, big night by Isaiah Jackson. The kid continues to battle and grind, that's just a great kid, continues to do what he does. Matt King, he just continues to be outstanding. Josiah Cromwick, big knock there late for three-run homer. We scratched out enough runs to get the W and all around pretty good performance by our guys tonight."
On the team playing for one another
"You're gonna see that the rest of the year from these guys. We're playing for nobody else other than this program and those kids in there, they deserve it. All of our staff support, my support, we are gonna continue as we've always done, to pour into our players. We're gonna block out all the external noise and focus on our guys. That's all we can do. That's all we've ever done. It's just magnified a little bit more now. I'm excited about where these next five weeks are gonna bring us. Start today. Today was step one."
On Matt King's offensive tear
"He's just continued to elevate his game and continued to stay locked in. A lot of these guys are capable of doing great things. It's just a matter of can you prolong the good stretches and that's what he's doing. Kids just playing outstanding on both sides of the ball."
Pitcher Ben Jacobs
On what was working for him tonight
"Stuff was there. I was able to attack the zone and get ahead early. That's where I do my best, just establishing the zone and getting ahead of hitters. I just executed when I got to two strikes."
On the mentality of the team after some tough games recently
"We just got into that mentality that we're playing for each other and we're just going to try and pick each other up no matter what. When you go into the game with that mentality and just try to play for the brothers next to you, it's a whole lot easier to pitch. Knowing that I have guys behind me that are going to work their butts off to make every play they can, it's just so much easier to pitch and so much more confidence instilled in us."
Pitcher Cole Carlon
On what has allowed him to pitch longer in his recent outings
"Just having a lot of confidence and filling up the zone. My guys behind me have had amazing defense. Then just really going after hitters and attacking and not just throwing everything with full confidence."
On his confidence level in his body
"My body has been feeling good. I feel like I've been recovering well, and then still staying consistent in the weight room and just making sure that I'm feeling good. Then also mentally just staying in the right headspace."
Infielder Matt King
On what has helped during his 15-game hitting streak
"I would just say sticking to my approach. Going up to the batter's box with a clear head and just getting the pitch that I want to hit, not the pitch the pitcher wants me to hit. So I would say just sticking with that and not getting off it, and it's been working pretty well."
On strides in his game from his previous season at UTSA
"I've seen some strides. Everything is a little more consistent and I'm a little more sharpened with my mentality. I would say that's working for me pretty well."
Outfielder Isaiah Jackson
On his second inning home run
"It was good. Runners on second and third there with less than two outs, so I was just trying to put the ball in the air somewhere. I think as Meek says, Mother Nature threw me a bone with the wind blowing out. I was excited about it."
On the difference in his swing
"There are always changes that you make every once in a while. You try not to think about mechanics. When you're going good, you never think about your swing. It's just kind of 'see ball, hit ball' and trust in your approach. I think it's just honing in on batting practice, and I need to think about mechanics. I've been seeing the ball well and I haven't been striking out, just making weak contact. So it's definitely something with the swing that's just a little off. I think now that I'm able to stick to my approach and my swing is dialed in, everything's going to start clicking."\
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
Ben Jacobs came out the gates red hot as he struck out the side to set the tone early and often.
The Sun Devils had a very up-and-down first frame. Kyle Walker led things off with a single and swiped second base for an early scoring chance. He was then picked off at second for the first out. Matt King remained one of the most locked in hitters on the planet as he laced yet another single to get ASU back in business. Jacob Tobias got plunked to reach first and the inning ended shortly after with a strikeout of Nu'u Contrades.
Second Inning
Jacobs returned to the mound and once again struck out the side in dominant fashion. Jacobs struck out all six batters he faced to open up the contest.
Brandon Compton and Kien Vu both reached base on infield singles to start the bottom half. After a sacrifice bunt from Josiah Cromwick put runners in scoring position, Isaiah Jackson homered to give the Sun Devils a 3-0 lead. Two groundouts followed to end the inning.
Third Inning
Texas Tech found the answer to Jacobs for the first time of the evening. The Red Raiders scattered three extra-base knocks to eventually plate three runners and even up the score at 3-3. Jacobs stopped the bleeding in fitting fashion, recording his eighth strikeout in just three innings to end the threat.
The Sun Devils bats had a trio of loud outs as King, Tobias and Contrades all retired on lengthy flyouts to go down in 1-2-3 fashion.
Fourth Inning
While the first batter for Texas Tech reached base on a throwing error, no damage was done as Jacobs returned to form.
For the second-straight inning, Arizona State went down in order.
Fifth Inning
Jacobs remained steady as he picked up another pair of punchouts. Texas Tech mustered a single but Jacobs was able to record a flyout to end the top half of the fifth.
Isaiah Jackson picked up his second knock of the evening, but Kyle Walker rolled into a 4-6-3 double play to quickly erase that momentum. Landon Hairston smoked a liner right at the Tech third basemen to wrap up the fifth.
Sixth Inning
Jacobs punched out the first two batters en route to a 1-2-3 inning.
King led off the inning with a single, his second hit of the night. However, Tobias lined out and Contrades grounded into a double play that ended the inning.
Seventh Inning
Jacobs' night came to a close as Will Koger was the first man out of the pen for the Sun Devils. Koger picked up right where Jacobs left off, recording a pair of strikeouts and stranding the lone base runner to reach via single. The score remained 3-3 heading into the home side of the seventh.
Kien Vu drew a one-out walk and then made way to second after Josiah Cromwick grounded out. Once again it was Isaiah Jackson stepping up for the Devils. Jackson recorded his third hit of the night, as he poked a single to drive in Vu to make it 4-3. Kyle Walker later reached on a hit to put runners on the corners. The Sun Devils then executed a perfect delayed steal that saw Texas Tech bite on Walker's attempt while Jackson raced home to score. Walker was tagged out after the run was plated, which brought the score to 5-3.
Eighth Inning
Cole Carlon entered to pitch for the Sun Devils. The lefty struck out the first batter he faced but walked the next after a 10-pitch at-bat. After the runner stole second, Carlon gave up an RBI single with two outs as Texas Tech got within a run. The 5-4 lead was preserved after the Red Raiders grounded out to end the top half.
Landon Hairston kicked off the bottom half with a single, then Matt King smashed a majestic home run into the night sky to extend ASU's lead to 7-4. With one out, Nu'u Contrades singled and advanced to second on a fielding error. After Brandon Compton walked, Contrades stole third and Compton took second to set up both runners in scoring position. With two outs, Josiah Cromwick walloped the second home run of the inning to stretch the Sun Devil lead to 10-4. A fly out by Isaiah Jackson concluded the productive inning.
Ninth Inning
Carlon returned for the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 inning to slam the door on Texas Tech to secure the 10-4 victory.