ASU baseball vs Oral Roberts: A series recap

PHOENIX — This past weekend (Feb. 21st-23rd, 2025) the Sun Devils took on the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles led by head coach Ryan Folmar in a three-game set.

Coming into the series, both teams were undefeated, with 4-0 and 3-0 records, respectively. This set the series up to be a clash of undefeated teams early in the season.

The Sun Devils swept Ohio State the previous weekend in a three-game series and beat Austin Peay the following Monday. The Golden Eagles took care of business themselves last weekend, sweeping Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a three-game set.

The Oral Roberts program has won three straight Summit League titles and also appeared in the NCAA the past three years, including a College World Series appearance in 2023.

Oral Roberts pitching only surrendered two runs in their first series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. They are now going to have the challenge of facing a stout ASU offensive that scored 33 runs in their opening series.

So were the more talented Sun Devils up to the task or did the scrappy Golden Eagles find a way to win the weekend series at Phoenix Municipal Stadium? We’ve got you covered with a full series recap.

ASU baseball vs Oral Roberts series recap

Game One: Oral Roberts 8, Arizona State 7

Game one was a back and forth game of scoring that opened with a bang as ASU ace and Friday starter Ben Jacobs was taken deep to leadoff the game by Oral Roberts right fielder Will Edmundson.

Edmundson was electric in game one and was a vital reason as to why the Golden Eagles were able to hang around until the ninth inning to even have a chance at winning. He went 3-3 with a home run, two singles, two walks, one RBI and scored two runs of his own.

This early offense from Oral Roberts did not deter Jacobs because he was still able to tally 11 strikeouts in just five innings pitched and only allowed three earned runs on four hits and a walk. His other two runs were also given up on solo shots by Oral Roberts middle infield duo Jack Schark and Martell Davis.

Head coach Willie Bloomquist was asked about Ben Jacobs’ performance and he finished his analysis with, “He threw the ball outstanding.” It seemed like Bloomquist was very content with the outing he got from his lead starter.

Offensive Response

ASU baseball’s Kyle Walker sprints out of the box after getting a hit against Oral Roberts. (Photo by Joshua Eaton/Sun Devil Daily)

On the offensive side for ASU center fielder Isaiah Jackson led the way with a 2-5 day at the plate that included two RBI’s on a single in the bottom of the fifth inning that pushed the lead to 6-3 for ASU.

Other notable offensive performances for the Sun Devils included Brandon Compton’s 1-2 day that included three walks and two runs scored and freshman pinch hitter Landon Hairston who came off the bench on Friday and went 2-3 with two singles and an RBI.

The biggest positive for the offense in game one was not with the bats, however, it was with their legs. The Sun Devils tied a school record with 10 stolen bases in the loss on Friday to the Golden Eagles.

Outfielder Kien Vu led the way with three stolen bases while Compton, Jackson, and Kyle Walker all had two their own and pinch runner Ky McGary had one in the ninth to round out the 10 total.

With the Sun Devils having 10 stolen bases and being walked seven times, added on with Oral Roberts committing three errors to ASU’s zero, one would think the Sun Devils have the perfect recipe to get a nice game one win in the series.

Closing time

That was the case as we headed into the bottom of the ninth where the Sun Devils led 7-5 and fully rested closer Will Koger came out to seal the deal for ASU.

That’s when the wheels fell off.

Koger would have a nightmare inning that saw him walk three of the first five batters in the inning to load the bases with two outs.

That’s when Oral Roberts center fielder Makani Tanaka and catcher Wailele Kane-Yates came up with back-to-back clutch singles and cleared the bases giving the Golden Eagles an 8-7 lead.

The Sun Devils were unable to respond in the bottom half of the inning, allowing them to suffer their first defeat of the season 8-7 to Oral Roberts and forcing them to try and bounce back on Saturday.

When head coach Willie Bloomquist was asked about what his message was to the guys after a tough loss like that, but with a quick turnaround he said, “They got punched in the mouth and we’ll see how they respond.”

Game Two: Arizona State 12, Oral Roberts 5

Kien Vu fields a ball in the outfield in front of ASU’s towering National Champions signage. (Photo by Joshua Eaton/Sun Devil Daily)

Things started off differently for the Sun Devils on Saturday. For the first time all season, they did not concede a run in the top half of the first inning.

This goes along very well with the story of the day, and that was ASU only needing two pitchers all game to get it done over Oral Roberts.

Saturday starter Jack Martinez had a solid outing. He went six innings giving up five earned runs on five hits and four walks while striking out six batters.

When asked about his own performance Martinez had this to say, “I felt it went well. I was in the zone a lot. Sometimes you get punished for being in the zone here. I gave up a three-run bomb on two walks and that can’t happen, but it does happen so you just have to keep going and try to get as many outs as you can.”

He was then backed up by right-handed reliever Josh Butler who came into start the seventh and earned the three-inning save despite the Sun Devils already leading 11-5 when he entered the game.

Butler was dominant in those three innings, racking up five strikeouts and only allowing one hit with no walks to keep the Oral Roberts offense scoreless.

Butler had this to say when asked about coach Bloomquist letting him go all three final innings to close it out, “I felt great. It’s easy to come in after a guy like Jack sets the tone and goes the first six. It’s a great feeling knowing that the coaching staff has your back and I got a good defense behind me too.

Explosive offense

As good as the pitching was on Saturday, the offense was almost just as explosive as for ASU. The team totaled 12 runs on 12 hits and three walks while only striking out three times.

Third baseman Nu’u Contrades, right fielder Kien Vu, and center fielder Isaiah Jackson all led the way with two RBI’s each. This included home runs from both Contrades and Vu, which helped Contrades win Co-Big 12 player of the week.

The middle infield did its part at the plate as well. Shortstop Matt King went 2-4 with a double, single and an RBI. Freshman infielder Beckett Zavorek making his collegiate debut at second base on Saturday got a hit of his own going 1-3 and scoring a run.

When Bloomquist was asked about the better offensive production from Friday to Saturday, he said, “Not to focus on the negative, but to only have three strikeouts, I think that’s when we’re putting the ball in play and doing what we’re supposed to do. Some guys swung the bat a little bit better today, that we were happy with.”

Both sides of the ball for the Sun Devils were much improved from game one on Friday and looked to continue to stay that way in game three on Sunday.

Game Three: Arizona State 9, Oral Roberts 2

ASU pitcher Jaden Alba got the start on Sunday in ASU’s third game against Oral Roberts. (Photo by Joshua Eaton/Sun Devil Daily)

Coach Bloomquist turned to Jaden Alba for the second straight Sunday in a row and Alba gave him a very good outing in return.

Alba was able to go five innings allowing only two earned runs on six hits and two walks while punching out six batters.

When asked about how confident he was in the Sunday spot moving forward, Bloomquist said this, “As long as Alba keeps throwing the way that he was, he’ll keep staying out there.”

In the final four innings of the game, the ASU bullpen held Oral Roberts scoreless. The combination of RHP Derek Schaefer, LHP Cole Carlon, and RHP Eli Buxton only allowed two hits and one walk while striking out six batters on their way to dominant inning after inning.

Carlon was the highlight of the bunch as he racked up four of those six strikeouts himself in the two innings he pitched.

The story of the day however was not the dominant pitching, but the explosive offense for the Sun Devils.

Home run Devils

The Sun Devils had a four-inning stretch from the fifth through eighth inning where they hit a home run in every single inning.

First baseman Jacob Tobias got it going first with a two-run shot in the fifth, then Kien Vu hit a solo shot in the sixth which gave him home runs in back-to-back games.

In the seventh inning, Josiah Cromwick hit a solo blast, and finally Nu’u Contrades hit his second home run of the day in the eighth, putting the nail in the coffin for Oral Roberts, making it what would be the final score of 9-2.

This is not to overshadow Brandon Compton’s day at the plate, who Oral Roberts wanted absolutely no part of. Compton totaled four walks in five plate appearances and when he did finally get something to hit in his last at-bat he roped a double into the left center gap.

When coach Bloomquist was asked about the luxury of all four of his lineup’s top four hitters being returners, he had this to say, “I think it’s one through six really, are returning. They know the expectations, they know what we’re trying to do and what type of offense that we are and just having that luxury of those guys back that know what our approach is and know what we expect of them has been big.”

Big picture-wise, the series was an overall success for the Sun Devils as they won the series 2-1 despite losing the first one. Bloomquist noted in the presser this was the first time in three years that ASU has won a series after losing the opener.

That is a big step for Bloomquist’s squad as they look to build off this momentum into a week with five games in seven days all against power conference competition.

Looking Ahead

ASU is set to finally go out on the road for a mid-week two-game set against a 6-1 UCLA team this upcoming Tuesday and Wednesday. Their only loss came in a 4-3 defeat to Texas A&M – Corpus Christi in the Kleburg Bank Classic this past weekend.

When asked if he had a starter in mind for the opening game Tuesday, Bloomquist said, “ Yeah, Easton Barrett is going to start on Tuesday. That was the guy I was trying to get into the game this weekend.”

Bloomquist also pointed out in his presser that it is important to keep these former Pac-12 rivalries alive not only for the rivalry itself, but also recruiting, especially the teams in California, which is a state the Sun Devils recruit heavily out of.

This two game set will be followed by a weekend series back at home against a currently struggling Minnesota team who sits at just 2-4 through their first six games, but did beat #7 ranked Oregon State in their most recent game 10-4 and only fell 4-2 to #2 ranked Virginia.

The expectation is Ben Jacobs, Jack Martinez, and then Jaden Alba will all make their normal weekend series starts outside of any injuries happening.

Thank you for reading Sun Devil Daily! Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with Arizona State news! For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email our Managing Editor at [email protected]. Also, make sure to check out the Sun Devil Daily shop for merchandise! Forks up!