Pitching coach Jeremy Accardo laughed and got fired up when a reporter told him that junior pitcher Ben Jacobs said he wanted ASU to be a "pitching school" before the season started.
"I'm happy that Ben (Jacobs) said this is a pitching school," Accardo said. "We're not a hitting school anymore. Not in this room, we're not. We're a pitching school."
ASU built a pitching lab and brought in Accardo to revamp the pitching staff, as it has struggled mightily over the last few years. Turning ASU into a pitching school isn't going to happen overnight, but the Sun Devils are showing flashes of their potential.
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Consistency is the main area that head coach Willie Bloomquist said he wants to see improvement from his pitchers.
"We don't ask them to do more than what we think they're capable of doing," Bloomquist said. "Just go out and do a solid job. Throw strikes, not walk guys, that type of thing. For the most part this year, we've done that."
The team's Earned Run Average is 5.43, which is over a run lower than last year's 6.53 team ERA and it is the lowest since 2021. It's an improvement, but it still ranks just 11 out of 14 teams in the Big 12.
"We've had a couple of speed bumps in the road, but for the most part, they've done a really good job attacking the zone, working ahead, that type of stuff," Bloomquist said. "So that's what I would like to continue to see more of. Again, working on that back end of the bullpen, being able to just shut it down after we get a lead late is going to be big."
One thing that ASU excels in though, is strikeouts. With 395 strikeouts as a staff, it leads the Big 12 and is the ninth-most in the nation. The Sun Devils' 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings is also the 12th best in the nation.
Among the starting rotation, Jacobs and senior pitcher Jack Martinez lead the way.
Jacobs has a 4.82 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 46.2 innings pitched. His 57 strikeouts are the fifth-most in the Big 12.
Martinez has been ASU's best pitcher at times, with four starts this year with 10 or more strikeouts, including his last two starts. His overall numbers show a 4.83 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 50.1 innings pitched. Martinez leads the Big 12 in strikeouts and is eighth in the nation as well.
The Sun Devils' bullpen has been inconsistent as a whole, but sophomore pitcher Cole Carlon, junior pitcher Lucas Kelly and sophomore pitcher Derek Schaefer have been steady.
Kelly is sporting a 2.35 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 15.1 innings and Schaefer has a 3.37 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 18.2 innings.
The star of the show in the bullpen this year has been Carlon. His 1.87 ERA in 33.2 innings is impressive, but what is even more impressive is that opponents are hitting .108 against him and he's struck out 54 batters. Despite being in the bullpen, Carlon still has the seventh-most strikeouts in the Big 12.
"We've progressed a lot," Carlon said. "There's no one else I'd rather be with. Everyone's just great, and we enjoy being around each other, and it's just a fun environment. I think that's helped us progress and be comfortable on the mound, too."
The inconsistencies that plague ASU's pitching staff is mostly mental, according to Accardo. He said that he wants to see his pitchers not let innings get away from them just because one bad thing happened.
"We can do a better job as a pitching staff of knowing when you feel like it's crashing down on you, and you feel like people are throwing bricks in a backpack, and your s---'s getting heavy," Accardo said. "We can do a better job of just taking a step back, taking a deep breath, wiping it clean and getting back to attacking."
ASU isn't a pitching school yet and the pitching staff has its flaws, but there have been noticeable improvements this year that the team can build off of.
"Our goal is to limit hard contact, miss the barrels when we can, go out and attack and limit free passes," Accardo said. "Our guys have done a pretty damn good job of it."
Edited by Henry Smardo, Abigail Beck and Natalia Jarrett.
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.
