An arrow has to be pulled back to launch forward, but eventually, it will hit the wind, slowing it down.

Following an emasculating midweek defeat to New Mexico, capping off a season-high three-game losing streak, Arizona State (9-10, 3-3 Pac-12) seemed stuck in the mud at 7-9. Hosting a lengthy postgame meeting and publicly challenging his players to exhibit more fire and desire, head coach Willie Bloomquist would, for the most part, get that out of his players on rivalry week. Heading down to Tucson, the Devils would take two out of three from their arch-rivals but still leave some to be desired.

In the series opener on Friday, ASU and Arizona engaged in an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel. A pair of freshmen, right-hander Thomas Burns and southpaw Jackson Kent flashed their potential in a game that saw just three combined runs. ASU’s Burns pitched a career-high seven frames of gutsy one-run ball, working around a combined ten walks and hits to strand seven. Burns’s lone blemish came in the second inning, courtesy of an RBI double from Maddox Mihalakis to open the scoring.

Not to be outdone, Kent matched Burns pitch-for-pitch and then some, working through 7.1 innings of scoreless ball. Kent kept ASU especially quiet through the middle innings, going on a streak of 16 consecutive outs from the second through the sixth. Able to adjust in the third time around, an error in the field would extend the inning for Nick McLain to rope a game-tying double.

Arizona went on the prowl to try to regain the lead, as a two-out hit-and-run brought a runner steaming for the plate with two outs. After fielding it awkwardly in right-center, Isaiah Jackson linked up with Ethan Mendoza on a perfect relay to the plate, where Ryan Campos applied the tag to cut down the runner and shift all momentum to the maroon and gold.

Just as quickly as the seesaw tipper towards the third base dugout, Ben Jacobs sent it back the other way, literally and figuratively. After a zero in the 8th, an errant pickoff to first with two away by the left-hander brought the go-ahead run in for the Wildcats, putting the Sun Devils three outs from their fourth straight loss.

After making the first two outs of the inning, ASU turned it on. A Jacob Tobias single and subsequent double from Josiah Cromwick put two in scoring position for Ethan Mendoza. Continuing to prove himself as no ordinary freshman, Mendoza laced a two-strike pitch into right field, bringing around both runners and flipping the score at the death in ASU’s favor. Mendoza’s clutch knock would turn out to be his second game-winning hit of the year, as Jacobs redeemed himself with the save in the ninth, cementing the 3-2 Friday win.

Riding high off their newfound momentum, Connor Markl would carry the torch through for ASU on Saturday after missing a start in the Oregon set due to triceps tendinitis. The senior left-hander showed no signs of impairment in his return, Markl went a career-high six innings, allowing no runs on a lone hit while striking out eight. Utilizing a crafty combination of a cutter and changeup, Markl worked in all four directions and kept the Wildcat bats silent.

Picking up Markl’s outstanding start, the ASU offense would find timely hits to give their starter some breathing room. Nick McLain was the primary source of the insurance, bringing in a run on a groundout in the third and lacing an RBI double his next time up in the fifth. Staking Markl to a two-run lead in the sixth, the southpaw’s electric night concluded emphatically by striking out the side in his sixth and final frame of the night.

After 89 pitches, the right-handed JUCO product handed the rock to Ryan Schiefer, who produced yet another impressive performance out of the bullpen. As ASU gave him two more runs to work with in the final innings, Schiefer secured the hitless nine-out save, dropping his season ERA to a stout 1.15. The final would read a 4-0 victory to the Sun Devils, clinching their second straight three-game set over Arizona dating back to last season.

Looking like they had righted the ship with stellar pitching, the Sun Devils came back down to Earth nearly at the speed of light on Sunday. In search of a sweep of their rivals, Arizona would not roll over, punishing freshman right-hander Adam Behrens for five quick runs in the second inning. In his first weekend start of the year, Behrens didn’t have command of his fastball and felt the brunt of a Wildcat lineup that hadn’t done much in the series.

Responding instantly, Arizona State moved the line for three runs of its own in the next half-inning, as a trio of triples from Harris Williams, Campos, and Tobias brought two runs around on UA’s Cam Walty. Mendoza stayed hot behind them with an RBI single that brought Tobias around and reaffirmed the Sun Devils’ competitive positioning in the game.

Taking back control, UA went to the bullpen and tossed scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth, setting up their bats to recharge for insurance. In the fourth, Garen Caulfield tripled home the Wildcats’ sixth run before coming around to double UA’s lead on a sac fly.

Adding to it in the fifth, Sean Fitzpatrick got roughed up for three baserunners to start the inning, with one coming home on a Mihalakis double. Giving way to Hunter Omlid on the mound, the right-hander appeared to get out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam with a grounder to short and an aggressive slide at the bag. Appearing to have slid past the bag, thus constituting a third out to get out of the inning, Bloomquist challenged for an interference call. Through a possible miscommunication with the umpire, the out call at second base was confirmed, with no word on interference. Bloomquist, in desperate search for an explanation, stubbornly wouldn’t give up on the umpires, who ultimately ejected him from the ballgame.

With their manager to the showers and Arizona’s lead mounting, the Sun Devils boarded the bus back to Tempe early. Even though ASU would get out of the inning, UA would add insult to injury with a five-run seventh, ensuring a 14-3 win to spoil ASU’s chances of a sweep.

Sunday may have gotten out of hand for ASU, but positives were found in two impressive collective efforts on the mound in Friday and Saturday triumphs. The Sun Devils will look to rebound on the bump and rev up their bats this week, as a two-gamer with Utah Valley at Phoenix Municipal Stadium preludes a road trip to Washington State this weekend.

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