Ohio State shut Arizona State’s offense down in Thursday’s game. Friday was not the same, as the Sun Devils piled on the runs in a 14-4 victory.
Things started uneasily but changed quickly.
After he gave up a home run in the first at-bat of the game, freshman right-hander Thomas Burns settled in beautifully.
The Wisconsin native cut through Ohio State’s hitters with his devastating breaking balls. His pitch count rose quickly to 91 and coach Willie Bloomquist pulled him in the top of the fifth.
He finished with 8 strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched and gave up two solo homers.
“I didn’t have the best stuff today,” he said despite another impressive effort.
The freshman has now thrown 9.1 innings with a total of 15 strikeouts and just three earned runs.
In the second inning, Arizona State’s offense got back on track. Sophomore center fielder Isaiah Jackson continued his scorching hot start with a solo home run to right-center field to tie the ballgame. It was Jackson’s fourth big fly of the season.
Freshman second baseman Ethan Mendoza tripled off the wall in right and came home courtesy of an RBI groundout-turned-error from sophomore outfielder Kien Vu.
Redshirt freshman designated hitter Brandon Compton flared a single to left-center to bring Vu home and the hit parade was on for the Sun Devils, who led 3-1.
By the end of the second, ASU had tagged senior righty Colin Purcell for four runs, three of which were earned.
ASU’s bullpen was called to action before the sixth inning once again, with junior lefty Matt Cornelius entering for Burns in the fifth.
Cornelius navigated his way out of a jam and had the Sun Devils through five leading 5-2. It was a situation that has gone sideways for ASU in nearly every game this season, but Cornelius prevailed.
The junior reliever helped bridge the gap to the back end of ASU’s bullpen, throwing 2.1 innings with five strikeouts.
ASU added some important insurance in the sixth. Compton brought home senior left fielder Harris Williams with a single to put ASU up 7-2.
Junior first baseman Jacob Tobias powerfully left his mark, blasting a two-run home run off the National Championship billboard in right-center. The Sun Devils led 9-2.
Tobias’s homer brought across ASU’s third and fourth runs of the game with two outs.
The Buckeyes added a run in the fifth, but Arizona State continued to balloon its lead with a four-run bottom of the seventh.
The nine-run cushion at 13-4 was enough for the bullpen on Friday night after a series of bad outings.
Every Sun Devil had at least one hit and five of them had multi-hit outings.
“They were a little more focused today,” coach Willie Bloomquist said. “I think you could sense the aura that I was a little disappointed yesterday and they better come with it today, so they bounced back very well.
Tobias finished as one of the game’s standouts with two hits and four RBI at the end of the night including his monster home run.
He was aided by the duo of Compton and Williams. Compton had three hits and three RBI after a night off on Thursday.
Williams went four-for-five in the leadoff spot, setting the table for the nearly unstoppable heart of the ASU lineup. He also tallied a pair of RBI.
“His overall game is so dynamic that he can do so many things,” Bloomquist said. “So when he goes, we kind of go.”
ASU pitchers struck out 17 Buckeyes, surpassing the season-high of 14 against Santa Clara.
The bounce-back mentality of the Sun Devils stems from their hyper-competitive coach. Bloomquist’s commitment to returning Arizona State to its glory days was echoed by his players after the win on Friday.
“I’d say the biggest thing is we preach not losing two in a row,” Tobias said.
Both losses in the season have been followed by monster bounce-back wins in different ways. Tuesday’s win over Kansas State saw a resurgence from the bullpen after an ugly weekend for the unit.
Friday’s win saw the offense explode back into the form the Phoenix Municipal Stadium crowd has grown accustomed to.
“I put it in their hands an awful lot,” Bloomquist said. “Where do you guys want to be? where do you want to be at the end of this year? Then if that’s where you want to be then you have to set your expectations and hold to it … so the fact that they’re doing that and their expectations are to bounce back after a loss and not let this snowball is pleasing to the ears.”
Bloomquist’s bounce-back Devils are now 4-2 and have a chance to take the series lead tomorrow at 1 P.M. back at Phoenix Municipal. And the players know Ohio State (3-3) won’t go quietly.
“They’re a good team and they’re going to give us a good game tomorrow but we just have to keep our same gameplan and discipline and focus and we should be able to go out there and play our game and have a good one,” Tobias said.
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