It reached 100 degrees in Phoenix today, but the heat stayed on the diamond late into the night as Arizona State battled Houston in Game 1 of a critical weekend series for the Devils postseason hopes.
Ben Jacobs took to the mound for the Devils, owning a 3-1 record in 12 starts this season. The first two innings Jacobs started out in dominant form, striking out the side in order in the first inning and recording four strikeouts through two innings as he set the first six Cougars down in order.
Chris Scinta was equal to the task for Houston, setting down the first five Sun Devils in order before Josiah Cromwick took a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence for his 12th home run of the season. That would be the only blemish for either side, and the Devils took the 1-0 lead into the third inning.
The early lead would not last long though, as after a pop-out to open the inning, Jacobs hit Tyler Cox and allowed a base hit to Brandon Bishop, before uncorking a wild pitch that advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd with one out. Jacobs struck out Kenneth Jimenez before a passed ball allowed the tying run to score. A foul out ended the top half of the 3rd without any further damage.
A single by Jax Ryan and a walk to Isaiah Jackson had the Devils sitting in promising position with runners on the corners and one out, but Landon Hairston grounded into an inning ending double play, keeping the game tied at 1.
After a 1-2-3 top of the 4th, the offense showed some signs of life. A walk to Matt King, followed by singles by Jacob Tobias and Kien Vu drove King in to make the game. 2-1 and chase the Cougars starter.
Cromwick and Brandon Compton struck out against reliever Andres Peres, but Jax Ryan added an RBI single of his own to drive in Tobias and put the Devils up 3-1. Isaiah Jackson loaded the bases, and a wild pitch brought Vu home with the Devils 4th run. Kyle Walker flied out to end the inning, sending the Devils to the 5th with a 4-1 lead.
Houston threatened with back-to-back walks to open the 5th inning, but Jacobs tight-roped out of danger behind a fielder’s choice, a caught stealing at 3B, and a strike out looking of Brandon Bishop. Alex Solis came on in relief to open the Devils half of the 5th and produced a 1-2-3 inning.
From there, the wheels fell off for Devils pitching. 10 Cougars came to the plate in the inning, plating five runs on three hits and three walks, two of those walks coming with the bases loaded. By the time it was all said and done, the Cougars had a 6-4 lead. Jacobs did well at limiting the damage through his first 5 innings, but walks will always come back to haunt pitchers. Final line for Jacobs: 5.1 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 9 K.
The next two innings were back to being a pitchers duel. After Lucas Kelly finished out the 6th inning, Jonah Giblin came on to open the 7th. Giblin put on a yeoman’s effort over the final three innings, striking out three and allowing just one hit. Unfortunately, the Houston bullpen went punch for punch, facing the minimum in the 7th and 8th.
In the bottom of the 9th, the bats woke up. Kien Vu led off the inning with a hard base hit off the first baseman, and advanced to third two batters later on a single by Brandon Compton. Ky McGary came on to pinch run for Compton, and after a Jax Ryan strikeout, Isaiah Jackson put some life into the Muni crowd with an RBI single through the right side to make it 6-5.
McGary advanced to 3rd on the play. The game hung on the bat of Kyle Walker, and after Jackson advanced to 2nd on defensive indifference, Walker grounded out to short, dealing the Devils a 6-5 loss.
It was not the result that the team or the fans wanted, especially on a night honoring both the 2025 senior class and the 2005 College World Series team. The Devils will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 1pm as they look to even the series with the Cougars.