With the rain misting down for the majority of the game, the contest looked more like one that would suit the Bulldogs (2-9) out of the Pacific Northwest but the Sun Devils (10-4) quashed that thought with a five-run first inning right out the gates and never looked bat.
Ben Jacobs was perfect through 17 batters en route to ASU’s first quality start of the season and his first decision of the year, tossing 6.0 innings of scoreless, one-hit baseball. He struck out six batters and walked none. ASU allowed just three hits in the contest, its fewest this season.
Kien Vu continued to stay hot, adding a home run and double to post four RBIs and increase his team-leading batting average to .340 in the process. Eight different Sun Devils recorded a hit in the process as ASU recorded double digit hits for the fourth time in the last five games.
The Sun Devils will look to clinch the series tomorrow evening with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. AZT.
TURNING POINT
After Ben Jacobs tore through the Gonzaga lineup, ASU wasted no time to supply runs for its ace. The Sun Devils bats came out with an emphatic five runs on four hits in the bottom of the first. Brandon Compton got the party started with a double, followed by a Jacob Tobias knock to plate the first run. The dam opened shortly after as Nu’u Contrades just missed a grand slam, belting a double off the center field fence to drive in a pair of runs. Manny Garza made the most of his start at DH and smoked a double of his own to push the lead to 5-0 and as the Sun Devils never looked back.
BIG MOMENT
After the first inning surge, the Sun Devils were not able to duplicate another productive inning to run away with the lead during the middle innings of this one. With two bases occupied in the bottom of the sixth, Ku Vien connected for a three-run homer to right center. The late night moonshot solidified Arizona State’s opportunity to get things rolling again on offense and coast to victory.
FINAL STRAW
With the Sun Devils running away in the bottom of the eighth, freshman Ky McGary stepped up to the plate for his first career at-bat. The youngster delivered with a single down the right-field line to notch his first career NCAA hit, giving the Muni faithful the feel good moment of the night.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ben Jacobs had a phenomenal outing on the mound for the Sun Devils. Ben Jacobs retired the first 17 batters he saw, the first time ASU started a game 9-up, 9-down since April 25, 2023 against Cal State Fullerton (87 games). It was the most to start a game for the Sun Devils since Ryan Kellogg’s no-hitter against Oregon State on March 23, 2013 (19 batters before a baserunner on an error in the seventh). On top of that, Jacobs recorded six strikeouts and only allowed one hit on the night.
INNING BY INNING
First Inning
Ben Jacobs took the mound for his fourth consecutive Friday night, working a quick first with a couple of strikeouts to send Gonzaga down in order.
A walk of Matt King and a Brandon Compton double got the Sun Devils in business early. Jacob Tobiasknocked in King with an infield single to open up the scoring. Josiah Cromwick was next to the dish, drawing a walk to load the bases for Nu’u Contrades. Contrades laced a double off the fence to straight away center to score a pair and make it 3-0. Manny Garza kept the line moving and drove in two more runs with a double of his own. The inning closed with a five spot for ASU to take the lead by such.
Second Inning
Ben Jacobs continued to deal on the mound, retiring the Bulldogs in a 1-2-3 fashion. Isaiah Jackson put it all on the line and made an incredible diving catch to record the last out of the frame.
The offense couldn’t replicate their five-run performance to kick off the second inning, leaving Brandon Compton stranded on base. The Sun Devils headed into the third holding onto a prominent 5-0 lead.
Third Inning
Ben Jacobs had another dominant performance in the third, retiring Gonzaga down the order for the third-straight inning while adding his fourth punch out.
The Sun Devils were not able to return the favor once again to Ben Jacob’s performance on the mound. ASU headed into the fourth on top with a five-run lead.
Fourth Inning
Jacobs sent the zags down in order yet again, collecting his fifth strikeout while doing so.
Kien Vu reached on a walk and Matt King dropped in a single to give the Sun Devils some momentum on the base paths. Vu was then tagged out trying to advance to third and the inning came to an end shortly after with nothing to show.
Fifth Inning
Jacobs faced the minimum yet again, recording his fifth straight inning doing so to keep zeros on the board.
The Sun Devils were unable to get anything going as the bats remained cold for both sides
Sixth Inning
Jacobs’ bid for a perfect game came to an end as Gonzaga recorded its first hit of the game. They had nothing else to show for it as the Sun Devils remained in control.
The bats began to come around again for the maroon and gold as Manny Garza reached on a walk followed by a Kyle Walker base knock. Kien Vu swatted out a three-run jack to push the lead to 8-0 on his fifth home run of the year and give his squad a comfortable lead. The inning concluded with a three spot for the Devils.
Seventh Inning
Josh Butler was called upon from the bullpen to relieve Ben Jacobs from his solid outing. Butler took some advice from Jacobs and retired the zags down in order, picking up a punch out to end the frame.
Kyle Walker took first by way of a hit by pitch to lead things off. Kien Vu stayed hot and connected on a double to right field to bring Walker in for another run. Vu was replaced by freshman Ky McGary on the basepaths after the double. Matt King recorded a knock, where a wild pitch then scored McGary. Brandon Compton walked and Jacob Tobias doubled down the left field line to bring home King and make it 11-0 as the inning closed shortly after.
Eighth Inning
Will Koger was the next man up on the mound for the Sun Devils. The Zags were finally able to get things going, picking up a single RBI to get on the board for the first time tonight. Koger still remained poised and struck out the next batter to end the frame with the Sun Devils leading 11-1.
Ky McGary singled down the right field line, recording his first career hit at his first at-bat. With bases loaded, the Sun Devils were not able to convert and headed into the ninth with an 11-1 lead.
Ninth Inning
Freshman Jake Neely was tasked with putting a bookend on this one. After a few hits, Neely buckled down and finished off the 11-1 win.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
On Ben Jacobs outing
“He attacked the zone pretty well, was just able to keep them off balance and did a great job doing that. Tough to be critical over that outing. I think there’s a better command in there for him down the road as well. But, all in all, he threw the ball outstanding.”
On winning comfortably
“It was good, I guess. Again – I’m being critical, and it’s tough to be critical when you win by a decent margin. But, I think we came out swinging, had a great approach off that kid and put up 5 runs in the first and then we kind of pulled the parachute and decided to coast and I don’t think we had another base hit until the 6th. So you have to finish the job and we had a great approach going into it off him and had success, and then we got away from it for four innings and started chasing in the dirt and getting off balance and doing all the things that we talked about not doing going into it. That guy had some success against us for four innings there. So those are the types of things that when you do have early success, you can’t take your foot off the gas. Those are the things we’re trying to really hammer down on. We left a lot of runners on base or we could have really blown that thing open earlier. But again, I’m being critical. At the end of the day, we have high expectations. We need to get better in those situations.”
On Kien Vu’s transition to the leadoff role
“We have several guys that can jump up there. I just felt Nu’u (Contrades) was getting pitched pretty tough up there at the top and to kind of move him down the order a little bit. Take a little bit of pressure off him – not that Nu’u can’t handle pressure by any means, but he’s a guy down in those RBI situations, maybe get more RBI opportunities where you don’t have to be so perfect and get on base all the time. You can just drive runs in. Sometimes those are little things that help guys get going a little bit and Kien was the guy that I’m confident at the top of the order in that leadoff spot. A couple other guys could do it too, but I like him up there.”
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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