Arizona State moved to 4-0 on the season behind a strong team effort on the mound and a five-run fifth inning. As has been the theme so far this year, the Sun Devils did not flinch when facing an early deficit, erasing an early three-run deficit via another explosive offensive inning.
Chasing Governor’s starter Cody Airington in the fifth inning proved to be key. He exited the game with Austin Peay up 3-1 and ASU proceeded to score four runs to take a lead they would not relinquish. Isaiah Jackson went deep for the first time this season, the 17th of his Sun Devil career, to start the rally. Brandon Compton collected two more RBIs on a single, bringing his season total to nine in only four games. The top of the order combination of Nu’u Contrades and Kien Vu each added an RBI of their own which proved to be the difference.
Right-hander Rohan Lettow made his first appearance of the season, getting his first career start for the Sun Devils. He covered the initial 3.2 innings, allowing three runs while striking out a pair. The Arizona State bullpen took over from there, dominating the remainder of the game. The trio of right-hander Jonah Giblin, left-hander Cole Carlon, and right-hander Will Koger combined for 5.1 innings of scoreless work to secure the 4-0 start.
TURNING POINT
Austin Peay jumped out to an early lead, scoring in the first, third, and fourth innings to build a 3-0 lead. The Sun Devils struggled to break through Austin Peay’s starting pitcher, going scoreless for the first four innings. With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Isaiah Jackson took the first pitch he saw and hit it over the left field wall to break open the scoring for the Sun Devils. Jackson’s home run sparked an offensive explosion that led to five runs scored in the inning. Although the Devils didn’t score again, the five runs proved to be enough to secure the win.
BIG MOMENT
After starting pitcher Rohan Lettow went 3.2 innings, giving up three runs, the Sun Devil bullpen was tasked with holding the game down and maintaining the lead. Jonah Giblin, Cole Carlon, and Will Koger did just that, pitching a combined 5.1 scoreless innings, only giving up two hits and one walk, with five strikeouts. Giblin continued to remain steady on the mound with 3 scoreless frames, Carlon made up for a rough first appearance with a scoreless inning of his own, and Koger closed out the game for his second save of the season.
FINAL STRAW
Heading into the top of the ninth, the Sun Devils held onto a 5-3 lead that they originally gained in the bottom of the fifth. Will Koger was called to relieve Cole Carlon to close out Austin Peay’s hopes. With two Governors occupied on first and second with two outs, Koger prevailed through the pressure and successfully got the last out of the ballgame with a flyout to Isaiah Jackson.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
On pitching staff’s success
“They did a really good job. Guys settled down. Lettow did a good job starting us off, gave up a few runs, wasn’t as sharp as he wanted to be, but battled and got us through three and two thirds innings. Giblin, I can’t say enough about the job he did. He’s Mr. Steady that comes in there and calms the waters, puts up zeros for a few innings, and hopefully gives our offense a chance to get back on track, which is kind of what happened. And then, Carlon bounced back from a tough outing the other day, it looked like the Carlon we’ve seen all fall and spring. So that was nice to see. And then Koger threw the ball well. Walked a couple guys which is uncharacteristic, but he had balls coming out pretty hot. So I was happy to see that.”
On fan support during the first four games
“It’s been great. Big thank you to the fans for coming out this weekend. Even today was a nice crowd for being a Monday afternoon, and it’s been helpful, not only for our guys to get a little energy, but it’s great to play in front of fans, and we’ll do our best to play a good brand of baseball for them and entertain them while they’re here. I think we’ve seen four exciting games at the end of the day where there hasn’t been a blowout, they’ve all been, not the prettiest games in the world, but they’ve all come down to the last pitch or two, and they’ve been exciting games. So hopefully we can win by a little bit bigger of a margin than that. So I can relax a little bit, but it’s been great to have fan support. They’re awesome.”
On the team chemistry through four games
“I’m not worried about them being a team. They’re a pretty tight knit group in there, so that part of it is never an issue, hasn’t been an issue. All four of my years here, I feel like these guys in the clubhouse are great kids. We don’t recruit turds, we recruit good kids in and every once in a while we swing and miss, but not very often. We try to do our homework and bring in kids that are academically oriented, good citizens, and good kids that want to work hard and get better. And when you have a full gamut of those guys, full locker room of it, for the most part, they’re going to be pretty tight in there, and they’re all like minded kids, they get along pretty well. So, as far as the team chemistry, they’re a pretty tight knit group.”
Outfielder Isaiah Jackson
On getting his first homerun this season:
“It’s always a good feeling to see it go. I’ve been feeling a lot better in the box over the past couple of days just trying to work out the kinks, so it’s good.”
On the record-breaking weekend for attendance:
“I think they’re really noticing we got some special brewing in Tempe this year. It’s something you want to be a part of for sure.”
On grinding out a victory when originally being down 3-0 heading into the 5th inning:
“We definitely get the confidence. As an offense, we know that even if the other team goes out and puts up a couple of runs, we know our guys in the bullpen are gonna come in and do their job. We have a lot of confidence. Facing these guys in the fall we were getting tired of it because they’re really good and really deep. It was the most uncomfortable fall I’ve had for sure in a long time. It’s just the confidence of seeing that and we’re ready to go.”
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
Rohan Lettow took the mound for the Sun Devils in his first career start, giving up a leadoff home run. A base hit to second followed, then a fielder’s choice groundout gave Lettow his first out. The defense then came up big, with Nu’u Contrades kicking off a double play to end the inning.
The Devils didn’t have an answer in the bottom half of the inning, going down in order without much of a fight.
Second Inning
Lettow seemed to settle in to kick off the second, retiring the side in 1-2-3 fashion. He got two quick outs on a ground ball to first and a flyout to right, before striking out the last batter, keeping the Governors to a 1-0 lead.
The Sun Devils were unable to bring any runners in after securing a base hit out to left center. Following the base hit, a strikeout, an out on a fielder’s choice, and a flyout ended the inning with a runner sitting on second.
Third Inning
Lettow returned to the mound for his third inning of work. He walked the first batter, then got a fly ball to right field, easily caught by Kien Vu. A single moved the runner to third, and a sacrifice fly gave Austin Peay a 2-0 lead. The next batter flew out to right for the third out.
Brody Briggs led off for the Devils, grounding out to second. Kyle Walker followed, flying out to right field for the second out. Contrades then flew out to left field for another 1-2-3 inning.
Fourth Inning
Lettow remained on the mound for the Sun Devils to kick off the fourth inning. After giving up a run on a single to right field with two outs in the top of the inning, the Sun Devils brought in Jonah Giblin to relieve Lettow. A groundout to second base concluded the top of the inning for the Governors, who hold a 3-0 lead.
The Sun Devils continued to struggle against Austin Peay’s starting pitcher, going down in order for the second inning in a row.
Fifth Inning
Jonah Giblin returned on the mound for the Sun Devils, getting two quick outs on a ground ball to short and a strikeout. He hit the next batter, then struck out the following batter to limit the damage and keep the deficit at 3.
After a quick strikeout to open the fifth, Isaiah Jackson cranked a home run to left field, his first of the season, putting ASU on the board. Jax Ryan followed with a single down the right field line, chasing starting pitcher Cody Airington from the game. Brody Briggs greeted the new pitcher with a single to left-center, moving Ryan over to third. Kyle Walker worked a walk, and Nu’u Contrades followed it up with a walk of his own, driving in Ryan, and forcing Austin Peay to make another pitching change. Kien Vu was hit by the first pitch he saw, driving in another run and tying the game 3-3. Brandon Compton continued his incredible start to the season, driving in two on an RBI-single, giving the Devils their first lead of the game, up 5-3. Vu was then thrown out trying to steal third, and Tobias struck out swinging to end the inning.
Sixth Inning
Using the momentum from gaining the lead in the bottom of the fifth, Giblin retired the Governors in a 1-2-3 fashion with a popout, groundout, and a strikeout to end the top of the inning.
The Sun Devils were unable to get anything going on the basepaths in the bottom of the sixth and were retired in a 1-2-3 manner, still holding onto a 5-3 lead heading into the seventh inning.
Seventh Inning
Giblin came back out for his third inning, giving up a leadoff single. He got an out on a flyout to left, but a wild pitch allowed the runner to move into scoring position. A walk put a runner on first, but Giblin was able to get a strikeout for the second out of the inning. Cole Carlon was the next man out of the bullpen for the Devils, inducing a ground ball to first to end the inning.
ASU again struggled to get any momentum, with two groundouts and a lineout in the inning. The Devils lead 5-3 with two frames left to play.
Eighth Inning
After giving up a double down the left field line, Carlon prevailed under pressure and retired the Governors in a 1-2-3 manner. A foul out, flyout, and strikeout to end the top of the inning left a man for the Governors stranded on second.
The Sun Devils continued to struggle to bring anyone home, with two strikeouts and a groundout to end the inning. ASU heads into the final inning holding onto a promising 5-3 lead over Austin Peay.
Ninth Inning
Will Koger came out to pitch the top of the ninth, holding on to a two-run lead. A long first at-bat ended in a flyout to center, then a walk brought the potential tying run to the plate. The second out came via a pop up caught in foul territory by Walker. The Governors caught a break with a two-out walk. Koger then got a flyout to center to seal the win for the Sun Devils.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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