Following a 6.53 combined ERA in 2024, coach Willie Bloomquist consistently emphasized the improvement of the pitching staff in the offseason. Not even a month into the season, Bloomquist and his staff are already reaping the fruits of their labor.
The Sun Devils (7-2) split the series with UCLA (7-2), as Derek Schaefer and the bullpen propelled ASU to a 2-0 victory.
Arizona State hadn’t shut out a Power 4/5 team in a midweek game since 2004, a potential indication that Wednesday’s action is just the beginning of what’s to come for the rejuvenated staff.
Schaefer started his first game of the young season, tossing four scoreless frames with five punchouts. The Tennessee transfer has begun his tenure in Tempe with six shutout innings.
Standout southpaw Cole Carlon earned the win, piggybacking off Schaefer’s performance with three scoreless innings leading into the seventh inning. The sophomore's season ERA dropped to 0.87 after he fanned five batters and allowed just one hit.
Isaiah Jackson broke through the tie with a two-out RBI double in the seventh, a knock that sealed the deal for ASU. Freshman Beckett Zavorek followed Jackson by dribbling an infield single up the middle to double the lead.
Holding a two-run lead with two innings to play, the bullpen continued to put on a show, even after a scary ninth-inning comeback.
Will Koger, who has already blown a save this season, surrendered a walk and a single that prompted Coach Bloomquist to call on a different name to close the game out.
Lefty Sean Fitzpatrick, a usual set-up man for the Sun Devils, was able to get out of the jam, ending the game with a strikeout to give ASU a riveting win and secure his first career save. .
The top four of the ASU lineup is usually something Bloomquist doesn’t have to worry about, but today proved differently as Nu’u Contrades, Kien Vu, Brandon Compton and Jacob Tobias combined for zero hits.
The last time Arizona State’s one-through-four hitters went hitless in a game came on Mar. 1, 2024 when Texas A&M shutout the Sun Devils in the first game of the Kubota College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field.
As a team, ASU went 5-29 (.172) on the day and 11-62 (.177) on the weekend, both their worst performances of the season so far.
While the young season shouldn’t raise any red flags when it comes to underperformances, it shouldn’t be overlooked that Arizona State has the fourth-worst team batting average in the Big-12 (.256).
The lone successful offensive performance of the day came from senior catcher Manny Garza, who went 2-for-3 at the plate and registered his first hit as a Sun Devil.
Garza, as well as Brody Briggs, stepped up in the absence of Josiah Cromwick and combined for a .375 AVG for the series.
Despite the pitching woes in game one and the overall offensive struggles, ASU crawls away with the series split and the third-best record in the Big-12 as they prepare to face even stiffer competition in the coming weeks.
ASU returns to Tempe this weekend with a three-game set against Minnesota. The Jacobs-Martinez-Alba pitching tandem is expected to start all three games after a series win against Oral Roberts the last time out.