Behind their ace, junior left-handed pitcher Ben Jacobs, the Arizona State bullpen battled through adversity on Friday night to secure a nail-biting 9-8 opening day victory.
In front of a near-sellout crowd at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, the Sun Devil pitching staff walked the tightrope all night long. A four-run top of the seventh put the maroon and gold behind 8-6 and gave the Buckeyes their first lead since the top of the first.
“When we had them on the ropes, they battled back,” manager Willie Bloomquist said of the Buckeyes.
Yet, when given a lead again in the eighth, the Sun Devil bullpen slammed the door on Ohio State.
ASU sophomore left-handed pitcher Bradyn Barnes credited the staff’s turnaround to a group effort.
“They had my back,” Barnes said. “Getting a zero coming back, I knew firing the team up would be huge and getting that momentum our way.”
Barnes entered the game with a runner on first and one out in the eighth inning. The lefty proceeded to pick off OSU’s senior left fielder Nick Giamarusti, with a nasty left-handed step toward first base.
“He came in and kept composure,” Bloomquist said of his sophomore.
His effort came after the Sun Devil offense posted a three-run response on the tail of senior first baseman Jacob Tobias and senior catcher Josiah Cromwick. The two middle-of-the-order bashers combined for seven of the team’s eight RBIs.
“We won the game because of that at-bat,” Cromwick said on junior second baseman Kyle Walker’s lead-off single in the bottom of the seventh.
After Barnes’ shutdown eighth inning, the fans fastened their seatbelts, as Bloomquist handed the ball to senior right-hander Will Koger for a drama-filled ninth inning.
The recent transfer from Louisville, who posted a 12.94 ERA a season ago, immediately walked the leadoff man, junior catcher Matthew Graveline.
He responded by striking out his next batter. However, a bloop single put runners on first and second with the tying run in scoring position.
But with a wild sequence of a line-drive double play, including a review that required the umpires to enter the press box, Koger nabbed his first career save.
In the end, the Sun Devils found a way to navigate through bumpy waters on Friday night by using six different pitchers.
“You are going to be in a dog-fight every night,” Bloomquist said.
Despite the late heroics of the Sun Devil bullpen, junior left-handed starter Ben Jacobs set the tone Friday evening.
The lefty struck out five Buckeyes in four innings pitched. His only problem remained the pitch count. Jacobs threw 87 pitches in those four innings and over 50 in two innings.
“He’s a strikeout guy. His pitch count is going to be high,” Bloomquist said of Jacobs’ elevated pitch count.
“It got up there a little higher faster than we wanted it to… [but] we felt confident getting [Jacobs] to 85 [pitches]”, Bloomquist said.
Jacobs wanted to pitch the fifth inning, but his coaching staff prioritized his health.
Perhaps lost in the ASU victory was the performance of junior right-handed pitcher Lucas Kelly. He took over in the top of the seventh for the struggling junior left-hander Sean Fitzpatrick, who in a third of an inning allowed three runs.
Kelly slowed the Buckeyes and ended up with a win after the Sun Devils reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning.
On Saturday, ASU will hand the ball off to senior right-hander Jack Martinez. In 2024, the righty posted a 4.40 ERA and held opponents to a .199 batting average.
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