ASU baseball: Sun Devils dominate UNLV

PHOENIX– ASU baseball had a midweek showdown with UNLV on Tuesday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Entering the matchup, both teams sat evenly at 8-4 in the season. This was an especially impressive record for UNLV, who had played seven (4-3) ranked games through their first 12. 

The previous weekend for ASU was sloppy as they went 1-2 against Minnesota, including blown leads late in both games that the Sun Devils lost.

Last weekend UNLV went 4-0 with a sweep over Milwaukee that included a 14-4 run rule, seven-inning victory in the final game of the series. 

The UNLV program is coming off a 26-26 season last year and a 21-30 season in 2023. UNLV has not appeared in the NCAA tournament since 2014 and has not won the Mountain West since 2005.

So did ASU put together another strong outing in the midweek, piggybacking off the UCLA two-game set last midweek? Or did UNLV keep their five game win streak going at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Tuesday? We’ve got you covered with a full game recap.

Dominant Pitching for ASU baseball

Left-handed pitcher Max Arlich helped propel the ASU pitching staff to a shutout. (Photo by Joshua Eaton/Sun Devil Daily)

The Tuesday win over UNLV was highlighted by the dominant pitching performance from the entire ASU staff.

True freshman LHP Max Arlich made his first collegiate start and appearance for the Sun Devils against UNLV.

Arlich was up and down in his first outing for ASU, but got the job done at the end of the day despite working into a bases loaded jam in the second inning. Arlich’s final stat line read two innings pitched, zero earned runs on two hits and two walks.

“It was great to see Max,” ASU coach Willie Bloomquist said. “He’s such a great kid, works extremely hard, just kind of been eager and waiting for his opportunity”

Jonah Giblin was next up for ASU and he had one of his strongest outings of the season. Giblin was able to go three full innings for the Sun Devils, allowing zero earned runs while racking up four strikeouts and only giving up one hit.

Giblin was asked about his ability to go longer stints in the game and he said, “I think right now of having the role to come out early, go longer and longer each time, it will help us get going and help me put myself in position to help the team out more and get more innings for them.”

Closing the game

The game was finished out by a combination of Cole Carlon, Lucas Kelly and Derek Schaefer. Between the three, they went four innings allowing zero earned runs, accumulating seven strikeouts. They also only gave up two hits and two walks.

This was a bright spot for the ASU bullpen after a rocky weekend against Minnesota. If they can continue this type of performance next weekend against a struggling Gonzaga, then they will be in great shape going into conference play.

The Bats are Alive and Well

Kien Vu batflips after one of his two home runs in the win over UNLV at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. (Photo by Joshua Eaton/Sun Devil Daily)

The ASU bats continued to pile on runs, keeping their season average at about seven and a half runs per game.

They totaled 14 hits Tuesday night in their rout of UNLV that combined with the dominant pitching resulted in the Sun Devils’ most complete game.

ASU got it going early on offense with a Jacob Tobias sacrifice fly in the first inning and the first of two Kien Vu solo home runs in the third inning. This gave ASU an early 2-0 lead just a third of the way into the game.

Vu was electric at the plate,  getting the nod in the leadoff spot after Nu’u Contrades was moved into the six hole. He went 3-4 with two home runs, a double, and three RBIs.

“Wouldn’t you keep him in that leadoff spot? After today with two bombs I’ll probably keep him there,” Bloomquist said. “I don’t want to overthink that one. I’ll probably put him back there on Friday.”

Compton shines

Vu was not the only bright spot, however, because Brandon Compton, Tobias, and Landon Hairston all racked up two hits of their own, including a 115 mph laser of a home run off the bat of Compton.

Compton has been picking up a lot of draft buzz recently with his hot numbers to start the season. He boasts a .326 BA/.492 OBP/1.143 OPS slash line with 14 RBI’s, three home runs and six more walks and strikeouts.

As the game progressed, Vu, Compton, Contrades, Hairston and Brody Briggs all crossed home plate to push the lead to 7-0 after the early 2-0 lead.

This is where the final score would end up, allowing ASU to pick up their ninth win of the season as they continue to push to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in the Bloomquist era.

Looking Ahead for ASU baseball

ASU will continue this long home stand with a three-game series against Gonzaga this upcoming weekend.

Gonzaga has struggled this year as they currently sit at 2-7 after being swept by BYU this past weekend and have a matchup with Seattle midweek before coming to Phoenix.

The Sun Devils open up conference play with a midweek game against rivals Arizona in Tucson and then take a trip to Fort Worth for a big three game series against TCU.

Coach Bloomquist was asked about how ASU’s non-conference schedule has helped prepare his team for conference play and he said, “Well, we’ll find out pretty soon. The non-conference schedule wasn’t meant to be light, it wasn’t meant to be crazy, top 10 teams either. It definitely lets us know where we stand, things we got to work on, and things we have to do to get better to be prepared for our conference.”

With that being said, if ASU can execute and handle Gonzaga as they are expected to, they can head into conference play on a five game win streak with a 12-4 record.

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