PHOENIX –Head coach Willie Bloomquist starts his fourth year with Arizona State baseball with a thriller against a talented Ohio State team. ASU was only up one in the top of the ninth inning and one out with runners on first and second. It looked like a gloomy end to opening night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. However, a stellar play by redshirt junior second baseman Kyle Walker to catch a line drive ball straight to his glove and the wherewithal to toss it to senior shortstop Matt King for the double play and the 9-8 opening night win.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!SUN. DEVILS. WIN.
It takes the umpires coming to the press box to review the play, but a game-winning double play from @KyleTurdson wins it!#ForksUp /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/HmwfSClZTx
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) February 15, 2025
Walker was on the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, and he showcased why with a sensational infield play for the Sun Devils’ first victory of the year.
ASU fell early thanks to sophomore catcher Mason Eckelman, who hit an RBI single in the first inning to help Ohio State score two runs early. However, senior first baseman Jacob Tobias didn’t wait long to respond, as the bottom half of the inning had him hit a 400+ foot bomb to right field to retake the lead 3-2.
It takes him just one AB to close in on the school record.
21 more to go.
3-2, Devils, after one. pic.twitter.com/GbZp7T1dLS
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) February 15, 2025
ASU Sun Devils infielder Jacob Tobias (18) tosses the ball to first base during a game against the Washington State Cougars on April 7, 2023, at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Phoenix.
The home run trot wasn’t just for Tobias as graduate student catcher Josiah Cromwick smacked a 3-run moonshot to turn the lights out in the bottom of the third to extend ASU’s lead 6-3. However, the bullpen issue that plagued the program for the last few years turned its ugly head again at the top of the seventh.
Eckelman finished his hot batting day for Ohio State with a two-run RBI double to top off a four-run inning and give the lead heading into the seven-inning stretch. The team needed a response from its All-American hitters, and it got that in the form of junior outfielder Kien Vu smacking a two-run RBI single that cut into the deficit.
Sun Devils outfielder Kien Vu (#11) against Oregon State at Scottsdale Stadium on May 23, 2024.
After Tobias drives in a run via a fielder’s choice, Cromwick slings a double for his fourth RBI of the game to gift ASU back the lead and eventually the win via the Walker double play in the ninth inning.
Bloomquist takes arguably his most talented roster yet and makes a massive statement to get the opening night win against a talented Ohio State team that they’ll see tomorrow to do it all again.
3 ASU players on the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List
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Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports
