(Scottsdale, AZ) Sun Devil Baseball came just shy in a pitcher’s duel against No. 6 Oregon State on Thursday morning, dropping a 3-2 decision in the finale of pool play at the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament in Scottsdale.
Ben Jacobs was electric in the start, holding the Pac-12’s top offense not named Arizona State to just three runs in 5.2 innings and striking out 10 with just two walks.
Matt Tieding, Sean Fitzpatrick and Ryan Schiefer closed the game out with no runs allowed to give ASU a chance but the Sun Devil bats were silenced in the second half of the game as Oregon State retired the final 15 batters of the game in order.
ASU managed just four hits in the contest, all singles come off the bats of Ryan Campos, Kien Vu, Nick McLain and Brandon Compton.
TURNING POINT
After having runners on with less than two outs in both the first and second, ASU had a prime opportunity to break through against Oregon State ace Aidan May in the third, loading the bases with no outs and the team’s big boppers in the middle of the lineup due up in Jacob Tobias, Brandon Compton and Eamonn Lance. ASU managed just two runs in the frame, however, on a Tobias RBI groundout and Compton single in a where runs were going to be at a premium.
BIG MOMENT
Ben Jacobs was electric on just about all but one pitch on the day, but unfortunately that one was a big one. Oregon State got runners on the corners with no outs in the bottom of the fourth and Jacob was one out away from escaping that with no more damage done than a sac fly that made it 2-1. But, the Beavers made him pay for one over the plate, pulling it down the left field line with two outs for a two run shot that made it 3-2 – the lone blemish on Jacobs’ otherwise stellar outing.
FINAL STRAW
The Beavers went to the pen in the top of the fifth after taking the lead and Kien Vuimmediately worked a leadoff walk. That would be ASU’s last baserunner of the day as Oregon State retired the final 15 batters of the game in order as the the Sun Devil bats simply couldn’t solve Oregon State’s Nelson Kelso, who went a career-best 4.0 scoreless, hitless innings of relief with four strikeouts and the Vu walk as the only blemish on his record.
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
Campos led the game off with a single, advancing to third on a Vu sac bunt and McLain ground out, but a groundout stranded him there. Oregon State recorded a one-out single but Jacobs got a swinging strikeout and picked off the baserunner to escape the frame unscathed.
Second Inning
ASU led off the inning with a pair of walks but couldn’t advance either runner. Jacobs gave up a leadoff seeing-eye single but immediately picked the runner off, getting a groundout and strikeout to face the minimum through two.
Third Inning
Campos walked and Vu and McLain singled to load the bases with no outs. Tobias hit into a RBI fielder’s choice and Brandon Compton followed with an RBI single through the right side to give ASU the first two runs of the game and an early 2-0 lead. The Beavers got a one-out bunt single and OSU added another with a two-out walk following a strikeout but the sophomore locked in with another backwards K to escape the frame.
Fourth Inning
The Sun Devils went down in order. Jacobs ran into his first serious trouble of the game with a walk and single to put runners on the corners with no outs. A sac fly and two-run homer put the Beavers on top.
Fifth Inning
Vu notched a leadoff walk about the new pitcher and stole second but ended up stranded there. Oregon State notched a leadoff single but the runner would get no further as Jacobs notched his seventh and eighth strikeouts, one coming against Pac-12 Player of the year Travis Bazzana.
Sixth Inning
The Sun Devils went down in order for the second time in three innings. Jacobs picked up two more strikeouts to bring his total to ten before giving up a two-out single to end his day. Tieding came in and picked him up, stranding the runner at first to keep the tally at 3-2.
Seventh Inning
ASU went down in order for the second-straight frame. Oregon State got a pair of baserunners to second and third with just one out before Tieding notched a strikeout for out number two. ASU intentionally walked the bases loaded and brought in Fitzpatrick to face a lefty. The southpaw needed just a single pitch to get a pop-out to strand the bases loaded and keep it a one-run game.
Eighth Inning
Oregon State made it 12 straight outs recorded with another 1-2-3 frame. A one-out seeing eye single would bring Ryan Schiefer into the game and the junior got two strikeouts to keep ASU within striking distance heading to the ninth.
Ninth Inning
Isaiah Jackson was a fraction of a second two early on a rip dow the right field line that ended up going about 20 feet wide of the foul post before striking out to end the contest for ASU.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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