PHOENIX –Arizona State baseball played its first road game against a touted UCLA squad. Both teams came in 6-1 and, on paper, looked to be a sensational matchup. However, the Sun Devils couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain struggling. Despite a career day for senior infielder Jacob Tobas, who had four hits for four RBIs and was one triple shy of the cycle, every other ASU batter was blanked at the plate by stellar UCLA pitching in an 8-4 loss.
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Sun Devils baseball team reacts to the loss against Oregon State at Scottsdale Stadium on May 23, 2024. Syndication: Arizona Republic
Head coach Willie Bloomquist gave the starting nod to freshman left-hander Easton Barrett, who only pitched .1 inning this season. The result was rocky, but not solely because of Barrett. In 2.0 IP, he only allowed two hits and struck out two Bruins batters. Regardless, Barrett allowed four runs because of a defensive collapse in the second inning.
Barrett did walk the first batter but got the next hitter out and faced junior outfielder Jared Hocking, who looked to be the second out of the inning when a ball rolled to Tobias. However, a bobble of the ball allowed Hocking to arrive safely at first, which opened the floodgates.
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. Syndication: Arizona Republic
An RBI SAC bunt and single gave the Bruins the lead, but a two-run moonshot by sophomore outfielder Dean West deflated Barrett and the Sun Devils.
Tobias made up for his costly error by being the shining light for ASU’s offense, getting the scoring started early in the clean-up spot with an RBI single in the first. Then, after the nightmare second, Tobias responded immediately with a blinding two-run RBI double to cut the deficit to one. Tuesday was Tobias’ first two-plus hit game of the year, extending his hit streak to six games.
M3 | A gift from the twilight.
Toby gets two RBIs as the defender loses one in lights.
4-3, Bruins.
???? Big+ pic.twitter.com/oWpFYbdGUQ
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) February 26, 2025
Bloomquist went to sophomore right-hander Rohan Lettow after Barrett, and UCLA jumped on him. Tobias’ work at the plate would be erased in the fourth inning, when Lettow would quickly load the bases for a grand slam to Chandler, Arizona native sophomore infielder Roch Cholowsky that ballooned the Bruins lead, 8-3.
Tobias tried to will his team on his back with a homer in the sixth inning. However, the senior first baseman was the only Sun Devil batter finding any success against the stellar pitching of the Bruins. UCLA held ASU to two hits outside of Tobias and struck out eight batters, utter domination in its 8-4 win.
ASU has its chance at revenge tomorrow when it takes on UCLA in Jackie Robin Stadium at 1 pm, eyeing to split the two-game series.
ASU homers five times in 9-2 series-clinching win over Oral Roberts
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Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports
