ASU baseball: Series preview against Ohio State

TEMPE, Ariz. — ASU baseball kicks off a four-game home stand against Ohio State tonight. The Sun Devils enter the series holding a 3-1 record. Their most recent win was a 9-6 victory over No. 24 Kansas State on Tuesday night. The Sun Devils won their opening weekend series against Santa Clara 2-1.

The Buckeyes travel to Tempe with a 2-2 record. OSU went 2-1 at the MLB Desert Invitational with wins over BYU and USC and a loss to Boston College. They followed that with a 10-3 losing effort to Grand Canyon in their midweek tilt.

ASU baseball vs Ohio State season preview

Arizona State baseball holds the all-time series lead over Ohio State 9-2. This four-game series will be the first meeting between the two programs since 2005. Here is the schedule for the series.

Thursday – 6:30 PM AZT (Pac-12 Network)

Friday – 6:30 PM AZT (ASU Live Stream)

Saturday – 1:00 PM AZT (ASU Live Stream)

Sunday – 12:00 PM AZT (ASU Live Stream)

Friday’s game will be broadcast live on KDUS 1060 AM with Tim Healey and Max Rossiter on the call.

Offensive explosion to begin the season for Arizona State

ASU baseball has been electrifying at the plate in this young season. They lit up Santa Clara for 38 runs in three games. It was the first time since 2006 that SCU coach Rusty Filter, who’s known for being an elite pitching coach in college baseball, had a team he coached give up 10 runs in three straight games.

The Sun Devils tallied nine runs in their midweek victory over No. 24 KSU, bringing their average on the season to 11.75 runs per game. Two key characters in this devastating lineup are sophomore Isaiah Jackson and junior Jacob Tobias.

Jackson has 13 RBIs (fourth in all of college baseball) in 19 at-bats and has three homers this season. He’s slashing .421 and has been incredibly dangerous at the plate.

Tobias is another Sun Devil with a .421 average in this young season. The infielder has been incredibly steady at the plate with eight hits in 19 ABS and has three RBIs and two homers.

Those two have been key contributors in this explosive lineup and will be two players to watch this series against Ohio State.

However, OSU has some talent on their mound. Starters Gavin Bruni (1-0) and Colin Parcell (1-0) each hold 1.80 ERAs after their first starts on the young season.

Examining Ohio State

Ohio State enters the series looking to find a rhythm in the batter’s box. In OSU’s two losses this season they scored less than four runs. The Buckeyes will be looking to capitalize off ASU’s shaky pitching as the Sun Devils have given up an average of 9.75 runs per game and gave up 14 runs in their lone loss on the season (Santa Clara).

Something will have to give in this series, will the Buckeyes shake off their hitting woes, or will the ASU’s pitchers steady the ship?

Key contributors to this Buckeye offense are Tyler Pettorini and Henry Kaczmar. Pettorini leads OSU at the plate with a .333 average. The junior had 11 multi-hit games last season. Kaczmar is hitting .313 on the season. Last season as the young infielder earned All-Big 10 Freshman honors. The duo leads Ohio State in both hits (5) and RBIs (4) this season.

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