The start of the 2024 season from Arizona State’s pitching staff has been a bumpy one, to say the least.
The unit had shown signs of improvement throughout the Sun Devils’ last handful of outings. Before Saturday’s loss to Oregon, the Sun Devils held a talented Ducks group in check.
Freshman right-hander Adam Behrens had a solid start, even though he was informed of his start on Friday night, giving the young righty little time to prepare.
He induced weak contact throughout the bulk of his start and worked around a few walks.
“I feel like when a pitcher is feeling it, you can kind of get into a groove,” Behrens said. “Then just get the ball back and keep going at it. That’s kind of my mentality.”
It was the third time through the order that the Ducks started to get to him. Redshirt sophomore third baseman Anson Aroz hit a solo shot to dead center field in the top of the fifth. After another run was driven in, he was replaced by sophomore left-hander Ben Jacobs
Jacobs came in and did his job, but did fail to stop an inherited runner from scoring. In his 2.2 innings of work, he struck out five, including a 1-2-3 top of the sixth in which he struck out the side.
Jacobs was the only Sun Devil pitcher with multiple strikeouts in the game.
“Changing speeds well and hitting his spots, mixing it up really well,” coach Willie Bloomquist said. “He was dialed in there for a little bit, it was a nice stretch for him.”
In the eighth inning, senior reliever Hunter Omlid gave up some hard contact. There were loud sounds off the bats of Oregon hitters, but not loud enough for the ball to go far enough. Both sophomore third baseman Carter Garate and senior left fielder Justin Cassella hit flyouts to the warning track.
“I think guys are starting to find their roles,” Bloomquist said. “And us as coaches are kind of starting to learn what situations to put guys into to give them the opportunity to be successful.”
With a 4-3 game in the ninth, it was down to freshman closer Cole Carlon. He had the worst outing of his young career, allowing three runs and blowing the save.
After getting Aroz to ground out to third base, sophomore second baseman Drew Smith doubled down the left field line.
Junior designated hitter Jeffrey Heard completely silenced the crowd at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. A loud crack of the bat and some 370 or so feet later, the Ducks were up 5-4. Another run would score in the inning, making it 6-4 Oregon, and the Devils wouldn’t come back.
“It’s not going to be a perfect science,” Bloomquist said. “We just got to kind of keep trying to put them in situations where we feel they can be successful. And tonight, we got beat with our best guy on the backend and, hey, that’s the situation we want him in.”
The Sun Devils will look to continue their improvements on the mound and win the series on Sunday against the Ducks.
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