Sun Devil baseball wins season opener vs Ohio State in dramatic fashion

College baseball is back, and it made its return in a most dramatic fashion.

Arizona State lifted the lid on their hotly anticipated 2025 season with a Friday night game against Ohio State, kicking off a three game series on Valentine's Day. Appropriately so, love was in the air: the love for runs.

The Buckeyes started things off red hot, as Marc Stephens doubled to drive in Tyler Pettorini. Not long afterward, Mason Eckelman hit a single that plated Stephens, staking out an early 2-0 lead.

Arizona State didn't take long to respond, though. Brandon Compton made it to first base via an error, which drove in a run from Nu'u Contrades, the hyped third basemen who missed time last year with an injury. Later in the bottom of the first, Jacob Tobias drilled a homer to right center field, bringing Compton home and putting the Sun Devils up 3-2.

The scoring continued right away. Buckeyes outfielder Nick Giamarusti drove in Ryan Miller, tying things up at 3-3 after two. Both teams went through a dry spell, but the bottom of the third saw Sun Devil catcher Josiah Cromwick launch a home run with both Tobias and Kien Vu on base, retaking the lead with a commanding 6-3 score.

Responding right away, the Buckeyes got a solo home run from Miller, which led head coach Willie Bloomquist to pull starter Ben Jacobs. The lefty finished the night giving up five hits but also striking out five, very reminiscent of his performances last season. That said, his pitch count of 87 through just four innings was concerning.

Bloomquist turned to Jacob Giblin, who delivered two straight shutout innings. Of course, the bats went silent for Arizona State at the same time. That became an issue when Giblin walked two batters and gave up a run via a fielding error. After giving up another run, Giblin was pulled for lefty Sean Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick only made it through one out, giving up three runs on 15 pitches. Bloomquist quickly pulled him for Lucas Kelly, who helped the Sun Devils get out of the seventh inning without any additional bleeding. Still, the damage had been done: Ohio State retook the lead, going up 8-6, and the Sun Devils hadn't scored in three innings.

That changed pretty quickly. Both Contrades and Kyle Walker got on base to start the bottom of the seventh, and a single from Vu drove a run in. Compton got on base next, and Tobias proceeded to ground out to first, driving in Contrades in the process. Just like that, the game was tied.

Up next was Cromwick, who managed to send a pitch deep to left field, bouncing off the backstop. That gave ample time for Compton to round the bases and get to home plate, putting the go-ahead run on the board and giving a 9-8 lead back to Arizona State.

Kelly remained on the mound for the eighth inning, but nearly blew it. He put a man on base early and nearly walked a second before striking him out. Bloomquist then replaced Kelly with sophomore Bradyn Barnes, who easily had the best (albeit shortest) stretch for the Sun Devil bullpen.

Barnes successfully picked off the runner on first before even throwing a pitch. Then he threw a ball that was popped up for an out. With just one pitch to his count, Barnes recorded two outs and advanced the Sun Devils that much closer to a win.

Next up was Will Koger, the Louisville transfer pitcher who assumed the closer role for Arizona State. He came out looking erratic, walking the first at-bat. Koger seemed to recover with a strikeout, but gave up another hit. Nursing a one-run lead, tensions were high. Then, his defense took over.

Of course, that wasn't enough drama. The umpires immediately went to the screen to review the quick double play, delaying Arizona State's celebration. As luck would have it, their screen on the field was malfunctioning, so the umpires walked off the field, into the stands, past the booing fans, and into the press box.

It was a truly bizarre turn of events, and the delay lasted a little over 10 minutes. By the time the umpires dramatically walked back down to the field, with a police escort to boot, the ESPN+ broadcast had already shown explicit evidence that the call was correct. Thankfully, the umpires agreed, and the Sun Devils got to celebrate.

The win offers a much-needed jolt of energy after a back-and-forth battle, but it's certainly not what Bloomquist wanted to see after an offseason dedicated to improving the team's pitching. Arizona State will go for the series win tomorrow afternoon.