How do you erase a five-game losing streak? Simple: Match that total in the run column before the other team realizes the game has even started.
Following a five-game winning streak with the same number of losses, Arizona State (16-19, 7-10 Pac-12) put five on the board in the first inning of Saturday night, cruising to an 8-3 victory over Utah (22-11, 8-6).
“Yesterday was the most miserable day of the season I had,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said postgame. “Today was much better. Guys came out with energy today. Arguably, today was the most complete game we’ve played of the year...Little bit better brand of baseball.”
ASU’s early offensive outburst was a welcome sight for Bloomquist, considering the debacle that unfolded before him on Friday. In maybe its most porous offensive performance of the season to date, the Sun Devils scratched just three hits off of Bryson Van Sickle, not putting a single runner into scoring position in a 10-0 defeat.
Despite the lifeless performance, Willie Bloomquist reiterated his belief in his players after the game. Safe to say, he was repaid. And who else should dish out the first dollar other than Ryan Campos?
Starter Connor Markl put the first two men he faced of the night on, which symbolized his inconsistent command on the evening. Luckily for Markl, both of those baserunners were taken off the paths by Campos, who gunned down Core Jackson and Kai Roberts trying to steal for the first two outs of the game. As the top base-stealing team in the Pac-12 by a wide margin, Campos’s tone-setting on defense in the first would carry over into the batter’s box as well.
In the bottom half of the frame, Campos laced a one-out double down the right field line and would come in on a sacrifice fly from Nick McLain to open the scoring. Campos’s hard-hit two-bagger would set the stage for five straight Sun Devils to reach base with two outs, as Kevin Karstetter, Kien Vu, and Mario Demera all notched RBI hits in a five-run first. A far cry from the anemic showing on Friday, Bloomquist was in full agreement of swinging it much more like themselves on Saturday.
“It’s obviously nice to be on top five to start a game,” Bloomquist said. “We squared more balls up tonight. The approach didn’t change. Everybody wants to get on us yesterday for a guy throwing an 82-pitch complete game against us. We were aggressive last night and the guy kept us off the barrel. So, it looked really bad. Today, we were equally aggressive and able to square things up. No one’s complaining about that.”
Staked to a comfortable five-run cushion, Connor Markl would maneuver in and out of trouble through five innings of work. Missing his trademark command of the outer edges, Markl racked up 89 pitches in contribution to five walks in an uncharacteristically off-night location-wise. Yet, the senior southpaw was dodging hard contact, scattering three hits and a lone run to keep Utah from gaining momentum with a helping hand from his defense.
“Connor wasn’t as sharp as he had been in the past,” Bloomquist admitted. “But he was able to get some double play balls. Hats off to our middle infield for turning a couple of really nice double plays tonight Campos threw out a couple of runners on down-ball reads, putting the ball on the money at second.”
Twisting it up the middle four times while gunning down two runners, Saturday’s victory marked maybe ASU’s most well-rounded performance of the season.
While Utah would scratch across three runs in the middle innings, big days at the plate from Vu (2-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI), Demera (3-4, 2B, 2 RBI), and Jacob Tobias (4-5, solo HR) would support four innings of relief from Hunter Omlid to seal a much-needed win. For platoon players like Vu and Demera, their contributions after watching Friday unfold from the clubhouse proved vital to the victory. They served as a reminder of the depth of this team and its readiness to contribute at any moment.
“We’re going to take advantage of every opportunity we’re given and play hard,” Vu said. “Staying ready and locked in every pitch, even when you’re not out on the field, is important.”
Bobby Winkles and the letter winners in attendance on Friday may not have forgotten the Sun Devils' outright embarrassing performance, but the group’s ability to respond 24 hours later gives faith in their hope to turn things around down the stretch.
“That was an embarrassing day for a lot of people yesterday,” Bloomquist noted. I’ll wear it; it’s on me. We’re fighters in here. We’re not going to quit. I'm extremely proud of the way they responded today.
“Obviously, there was a lot of disappointment (from Friday),” Tobias continued. We never want to experience a loss like that. We will try our best to flush it out, come back the next day, and do something like this. Hopefully, we can build on this.”
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