The Sun Devils had their work cut out for them over their opening weekend matchup against Ohio State at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The series featured 10 lead changes and some dramatic moments late in games, but ASU was able to come away with the sweep to start the season.
"Our guys battled and were able to come away with three wins against a team that I think is going to go on and win a lot of games this year," head coach Willie Bloomquist said.
ASU took game one of the series by a score of 9-8, game two with a 7-6 walk-off victory and a game three 17-10 marathon of a win that took four hours and 15 minutes to complete.
ASU's offense exploded for 33 runs in the three games, but only on 28 hits, as the Ohio State pitching staff walked 19, hit eight batters, and the defense behind them committed eight errors. Leading the charge for the Sun Devils offensively were redshirt sophomore outfielder Brandon Compton, graduate student catcher Josiah Cromwick and junior outfielder Kien Vu.
Compton went 5-for-10 over the weekend with a pair of home runs, a pair of doubles, seven RBIs and four walks. In the Saturday game, Compton had a three-hit game with four RBIs that included his walk-off double that scored two runs when ASU was trailing by one run in the ninth inning.
"He carries that little bit of swag when he goes up to the plate, and I think there's a little bit of fear factor when guys are pitching to him and rightfully so, he's earned it," Bloomquist said. "Kid can hit the ball a long way and if you make a mistake, he's going to punish it."
Cromwick went 4-for-11 with a pair of homers, a pair of doubles and eight RBIs, with multiple clutch hits for the Sun Devils this weekend. In Friday's game, Cromwick hit a three-run home run to give ASU a 6-3 lead, and then in the seventh inning, hit a double to score Compton and give ASU a 9-8 lead. That RBI-double ended up being the game-winner for the Sun Devils.
"Just trying to stay within myself," Cromwick said. "Just trying to compete and just have fun and enjoy it."
Vu went 4-for-10 over the weekend with all singles but did his job as the two-hole hitter to get on base, as he drew three walks and got hit by a pitch twice. His ability to get on base paid dividends because he scored six times over the weekend.
On the mound, the Sun Devils were pedestrian in this opening series. ASU walked away from the series with a 7.67 team ERA, and the Buckeyes hit .304 over the weekend. Sun Devils pitchers walked 16 and and hit seven batters of their own, but they were able to strike out 28 batters, which is double the amount of strikeouts the Buckeyes got.
"We've just got to stick to our plan of working in the heart of the zone, going right after guys, staying down the middle and just letting our stuff play," sophomore right-handed pitcher Jaden Alba said. "Everything we've been preaching is just throw everything down the middle and let your stuff move the way it does, and that's how you get guys out."
Alba was one of the few bright spots on the ASU pitching staff over the weekend. Alba made his first career NCAA start on Sunday, going four innings and giving up two earned runs on five hits.
The first three batters of Alba's outing did not go according to plan, as he gave up a single, triple and double in that order and quickly put the Sun Devils down 2-0. After those three batters, Alba settled in and tossed four innings of shutout ball, only giving up two other hits in the process.
Senior right-handed pitcher Jack Martinez also had a solid outing in his Sun Devil debut on Saturday, going 5.1 innings and giving up three earned runs with no walks and eight strikeouts.
Bloomquist said even with the sweep, there are still areas where ASU needs to improve. As for pitching, the Sun Devils learned about their bullpen and how it's a "different animal when the lights come on" as opposed to intrasquads. On the offensive side, Bloomquist said he wants to see the situational hitting improve.
"It's situational hitting (and) understanding what pitchers are trying to do to us," Bloomquist said. "We had a really big opportunity with nobody out, and we take a called strike three for the fastball. That's taboo here. You don't do that. Just little things like that where we lose mental focus and just making sure that we're staying sharp."
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Katrina Michalak.
Reach the reporter at jmjanes1@asu.edu and follow @JackJanes_ on X.
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Jack is a graduate student studying sports journalism. This is his second semester with The State Press. He has also worked at Walter Cronkite Sports Network and The Sporting Tribune.
