Arizona State cruises past Gonzaga again 3-1, clinches series win

What a difference a couple of days can make for a bullpen.

Arizona State put on another strong showing on the mound Saturday night against Gonzaga, winning 3-1 to clinch the series. Friday night saw the bats explode for the Sun Devils, winning 11-1 with a strong outing from starter Ben Jacobs.

This time, it was Jack Martinez, the man who has quickly become the strikeout king. Martinez picked up exactly where he left off last time, throwing strikes and making batters swing. He didn't allow a single baserunner until the third, when he walked the lead off batter.

Martinez kept his elite play going for quite some time, holding a goose egg in the hit column for the Bulldogs through the first six innings. He started the seventh inning with two consecutive strikeouts, making it a whopping 10 for the night, before giving up a single. Martinez retired the next batter in short order, ending his impressive night.

It was perfect timing, too, as Martinez had just watched his batters give him a lead in the bottom of the sixth, thus allowing him to get the win for the game.

After being held scoreless with just one hit through five innings. Arizona State's typically electric offense came to life in the sixth. Jonathon Hernandez kicked it off with a single, and Kyle Walker promptly followed suit with his own single. After an out, Matt King was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for slugger Brandon Compton.

The pop from Compton only got him to first base, but it drove in both Hernandez and Walker to put the Sun Devils up 2-0. Immediately afterward, Jacob Tobias was walked to load the bases again. A sacrifice ground out from Nu'u Contrades brought King to home plate, upping it to 3-0, before the inning ended.

Martinez was replaced by Cole Carlon, who strung together a perfect frame with two strikeouts and retired the side with just nine pitches. That was enough for head coach Willie Bloomquist to keep Carlon in for the ninth inning, but it didn't go as well.

Carlon walked the first batter and gave up a single to the next one. A strikeout restored some hope, but after Carlon loaded the bases with another walk, which was followed up with an RBI single, it was the end of his night.

In his place was Derek Schaefer, who notched his first save of the year earlier in the week. Schaefer got the frame's second out via a fielder's choice that allowed one run to cross, putting Gonzaga on the board, but the run was not assessed to Schaefer. Following that, Schaefer got the next batter down 0-2 in the count before a devastating swing-and-a-miss to win the game.

With that, the Sun Devils have clinched the series victory, and they'll go for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon. These last two games have offered a promising turn for the Arizona State pitching staff following a disappointing performance against Minnesota last weekend. If they can keep this momentum going, things could get very interesting.