Sun Devils get much-needed momentum in sweep of UCLA
Up and down the ride goes with the 2024 Arizona State (20-21, 10-11 Pac-12) baseball team. Having not won a series since the end of March and their postseason aspirations slipping away, the Sun Devils got themselves a grip in Los Angeles this weekend, completing a three-game sweep of UCLA (13-24, 6-15).
In game one, despite Thomas Burns missing his fourth consecutive start due to injury, left-hander Ben Jacobs performed in his stead. After surrendering two runs in the first frame, Jacobs would go on to toss four scoreless afterward, striking out eight and keeping the Bruin bats down. While the former Bruin himself dealt, first baseman Jacob Tobias backed him up with the stick. Finishing off a successive trio of singles to open the scoring in the first, Tobias added a two-run knock an inning later, giving ASU a 3-2 lead in the second they would hold throughout.
After a challenging start with a 41-pitch first inning, Jacobs managed to regain control and keep the game in ASU's favor for the next four innings. The game took a dramatic turn in the sixth inning when he handed the ball to Matt Tieding, who effortlessly closed the inning. However, the tension escalated in the seventh when UCLA managed to load the bases with two outs, threatening to turn the game around. But Tieding, with a masterful display of his breaking ball, struck out the batter, preserving ASU's lead and the game.
Kien Vu, the breakout star of recent, made a significant contribution by blasting a solo home run in the top of the ninth. This was his fifth long ball in just 15 games, putting the game out of reach for the opponents. Ryan Schiefer then secured the six-out save, leading ASU to their first series-opening victory since March 28.
On Saturday, every man in maroon and gold would pitch in for an 8-2 victory to clinch the series over UCLA. Not wasting any time, the Sun Devils plated five runs in the first three innings, courtesy of a pair of two-run singles from Vu and Steven Ondina. Each member of the starting nine recorded a hit off UCLA pitching, with Jacob Tobias rounding out that accomplishment with a two-run shot in the eighth to put the win away.
Connor Markl did his part on the mound, working five innings for his sixth consecutive start while holding the Bruins to just one run. Giving up just two hits in the process, Markl’s record improves to 4-2 on the season, decreasing his ERA to a team-best 3.69. Jonah Giblin and Sean Fitzpatrick were stellar in relief, each tossing a pair of scoreless frames to give ASU its second road-series win over a Pac-12 opponent this season.
Playing for its second Pac-12 sweep of the campaign on Sunday and its first clean weekend in Jackie Robinson Stadium since 2010, Jacob Tobias stayed hot in pursuit of the brooms, crushing a two-run homer in the first inning to dead center. This, along with RBIs from Isaiah Jackson and Mario Demera in the fourth, would serve as appetizers to a full plate in the fifth.
Transitioning to the starting role rather than a bullpen firehose, Hunter Omlid worked through four innings successfully, allowing just one run while racking up eight strikeouts in a strong opening.
With Omlid’s shift done, Kien Vu poured more gasoline on himself with a two-run home run, his sixth in the last 17 games, to expand ASU’s lead in the fifth. Two batters later, Tobias tanked his second gopher ball of the day, giving the Sun Devils plenty of comfort room up 8-1. With three more runs coming home in the inning, plus two more off an Eamonn Lance home run later, and five scoreless out of the bullpen, Arizona State clinched a clean sweep of UCLA.
The Bruin's record may make such a dominant weekend seem irrelevant, but a three-game score of 26-6 in the maroon and gold’s favor may be a sign of hope. Having entered the series well under .500 and 85th in the RPI, ASU bumps themselves up in both categories, perhaps setting the stage for a late-season surge that, considering their strength of schedule, could keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive into the season’s final month.
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