The rules of probability dictate the more times you flip a coin, the closer the chances of heads or tails get to 50%. And in many ways, the Sun Devils' performance this season has followed this principle to a dime. A five-game winning streak is followed by a five-game losing streak, an above .500 winning percentage dips below .500 and back up again. In the sports world, many would call this a “mediocre” performance, but watching this team in person reveals there's much more talent than the record suggests. Was luck to blame for their failed potential?
Last weekend seemed to answer that with a prompt “no” as the Sun Devils pulled away with a three-game sweep of UCLA that showcased everything ASU is capable of. From Isaiah Jackson’s gold glove defense in center to Kien Vu’s hot stick to the Sun Devils’ pitching staff keeping the Bruins to just two runs per game, it seemed as if we were seeing the pinnacle of Arizona State baseball. Now with the indication that ASU can control its own fate, a crucial series against USC laid on the horizon for the Sun Devils. And on Friday night, ASU (21-21, 11-11 Pac-12) would continue their dominant ways with a 12-1 victory over the Trojans (20-22, 10-8 Pac-12).
The offense would get things started in the 2nd inning when Jacob Tobias swatted his 11th home run of the year into the left field bullpen for the game's first tally. Four more runs were plated on a Mario Demera sac fly, a Ryan Campos RBI single, and a two-run knock from Nick Mclain. The carousel was spinning for the Sun Devils early, and it wasn’t stopping anytime soon.
In the third, Ethan Mendoza executed a perfect hit-and-run by blistering an RBI triple into the right-center gap. Mendoza would come around to score on Demera’s RBI hit up the middle, and the Sun Devils quickly found themselves up by a touchdown. For Willie Bloomquist and his team, the hit-and-run play has been a staple of their recent success so far, and it continued to help them Friday night.
“It’s been huge,” said Bloomquist when asked about his team's success with the hit-and-run play. “Hopefully the situations keep presenting themselves where we can keep doing that. I believe it not only makes our hitters offer and swing and not have to think so much, but it also puts the defense on their heels a little bit.”
But even without runners on base, the Sun Devils continued to do damage. In the bottom of the fourth, Ryan Campos tattooed a solo shot over the retired numbers in left-center for some insurance. In the next inning, Isaiah Jackson took a 2-2 fastball the other way for another solo shot into the Trojans bullpen. Jackson, who tallied a career-high four hits in Friday’s contest, also shared a similar sentiment about their utilization of the hit-and-run play.
“We’ve worked on it a lot in practice; we do a lot of drills with the hit-and-run,” said Jackson. “It isn’t always for the hitter, sometimes it’s for the defense. But because we do it all the time, it’s become like second nature. Getting it done is pretty easy when you practice it as much as we do.”
On the other side of the ball, Ben Jacobs took the start for ASU and absolutely dominated. In his 6 1/3 innings of work, he allowed just one run on seven hits and struck out a career-high 11 batters. Jacobs tallied 106 pitches in total on the bump, a similar number to his last start when he went five innings against UCLA, allowing just two runs whilst striking out eight. With the amount of pitches Jacobs threw over the course of an entire week, it seemed pretty clear how valuable taking care of his arm was.
“I started off in the bullpen at the start of this year, and now I’m kind of transitioning into a starting routine,” said Jacobs. “I’m able to get into a seven-day routine now. Getting with Jesse (Lowman), getting my treatment right post start, but mainly getting into a routine arm care, recovery, catch play, and stuff like that.”
Matt Tieding came out of the bullpen in the seventh and finished the game out with two and two-thirds innings of shutout baseball while picking up three punch outs. With ASU only having to run out one reliever in the game, it gave them the valuable opportunity to save their bullpen arms for future games.
To add insult to injury, the Sun Devils collected three more runs in the bottom of the eighth on a three-run homer from Steven Ondina. Ondina, who plays with his heart on his sleeve, had to be reminded not to throw the bat too far when circling the bases. But the excitement this team has experienced over the last week certainly constitutes a little celebration.
In total, ASU tallied 12 runs on 15 hits. Of the six extra-base hits they collected, four would clear the fence. But the biggest number of the night was their batting average with runners in scoring position, which topped out at .778 (7-9). With the Sun Devils now firing on all cylinders and Connor Markl on the mound for Saturday, a playoff push may not be off the table just yet. But it will take consistent performances like this to make that happen.
Arizona State will look to capture the series on Saturday at 6:30 PM.
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today and get your daily fix of Sun Devil news!
