Through 5 ⅔ innings of play, not a single Gonzaga Bulldogs reached base safely against junior lefty Ben Jacobs. Through a sequence of great pitches and stellar infield play, Jacobs was untouchable for a large majority of the time he was on the mound. All it took was one pitch and a two-out single with a 3-2 count to end Jacobs’ perfect night, but his offense behind him already handled business on the scoreboard.
Arizona State (10-4) started off with five runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back, taking home an 11-1 victory over the Bulldogs (2-9) for the first win of the final nonconference series. Jacobs’ excellence on the mound, combined with every batter for ASU seeing the ball well, resulted in a comfortable win.
“He attacked the zone pretty well,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “We were able to keep them off balance and did a great job doing that. It’s tough to be critical over that outing, but I think there’s better command in there for him. Overall, he threw the ball outstanding tonight.”
Behind Jacobs, his defense paid no mind to the rainy weather, as rain was pouring down on the field all night long. All the infielders played their part through the first five innings to keep Jacobs perfect, and junior centerfielder Isaiah threw in a diving catch to add to his already impressive highlight reel of plays in the outfield.
“We talked before the game about the weather, and they knew it wasn’t going to be an excuse,” Bloomquist stated. “We’re going to have to deal with some rainy conditions at times, usually not here in Arizona, but we’re not going to use that as a crutch. All the guys had a couple of nice plays, and defensively, we did a great job.”
From top to bottom, the Sun Devil batting order saw the ball extremely well, with Jackson being the only starter to not reach first base safely. Junior right fielder Kien Vu was responsible for four of the runs, crushing a three-run homer in the sixth to push the game out of reach before taking on another RBI with a double off the right field wall.
ASU has outscored opponents 18-1 in the last two games, dominating the competition in front of them. After the bats struggled last weekend against Minnesota, the Sun Devils are beginning to find their stride.
With ASU taking full control of the game early and not looking back, Bloomquist was able to show off his depth, subbing in four pinch hitters. The only successful batter was freshman outfielder Ky McGary, who got his first career hit.
He knocked a ball into the right field corner and rounded first on cloud nine, but he didn’t make it to second base. Instead, he came back down to planet Earth and went face-first into the dirt, having to retreat to first base and settle for the single. Once he came back in the dugout, his teammates were there to greet him, grinning ear to ear, for both his first collegiate hit and his baserunning blunder.
“He’s been outstanding,“ Bloomquist noted. “The kid works extremely hard, and he knows he’s going to be in some key situations as a pinch runner. We’ve been working with his swing and approach, and he comes up and rifles one into the right field. That kid plays with a lot of energy, so the biggest thing for him is to just stay ready.”
While Jacobs was the obvious star on the mound tonight, the bullpen that followed him did their part to shut down Gonzaga’s offense. The Bulldogs didn’t score until the eighth inning and only got one hit off the two pitchers that followed him.
Bloomquist threw out his closer, senior righty Will Koger, in the eighth to allow him to get a bit of confidence back after a few rough outings and followed him up with freshman righty Jake Neely. After a frustrating last weekend against Minnesota, the relievers for Bloomquist are starting to pick up steam ahead of conference play.
“It’s been a tough sled getting freshman out there,” Bloomquist admitted. “Jake’s got a good arm, and we need to continue to try and find opportunities to let him flourish and see what he can do. We gotta get him game reps so he can be useful when we get into big moments.”
The final score shows that everything was going right for ASU, and the majority of the game reflected that. However, 14 runners left on base and one hit through the second and fifth innings are a few things that Bloomquist wants to correct to prepare his team for much tighter games.
“We put up five runs in the first and kind of pulled the parachute and decided to coast,” Bloomquist acknowledged. “You have to finish the job, and we had a great approach going into it. You can’t take your foot off the gas, and those are the things we’re trying to hammer down on. I’m being a little critical here, but we have high expectations and we need to get better in those situations.”
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