Any way you can. No matter how you get to the final result, you’re not saying much if it's one in your favor. Arizona State (13-14, 5-6 Pac-12) will be feeling that way on Friday, as 12 walks from California (15-9, 5-6) pitchers, along with three errors, helped contribute to ASU’s 10-run night, just enough to clinch a series victory with a 10-9 win over the Golden Bears.
“That’s the takeaway is that it’s a series win,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said postgame. “Two in a row against a good Cal team. Can never argue about that. Are there things to clean up? Heck yeah. Things we’d like to see better executed on the offensive and pitching side? Absolutely. But, never going to complain about a win against a good team.”
For the second straight contest, Cal’s bats came out of the gates hot, tagging spot starter Ben Jacobs for a run in the first inning. On the contrary to the four-spot the Bears put up in the first frame Friday, Jacobs would slither out of a bases-loaded situation, which would be rewarded with an RBI double by Nick McLain to wipe the blemish.
Having sat out his first game of the season on Thursday, left fielder Harris Williams returned to the diamond with a bang in the third, blasting a solo home run off of Cal starter Trey Newmann, his loudest at-bat of a performance that featured five appearances on the basepaths. Inducing two free passes the 12 ASU hitters would receive on Friday, Williams noted how ASU’s improvement in plate discipline has made things easier for the hitting corps.
“A lot of our swings and misses have been on balls beneath the strike zone,” Williams said. So, the offense's point of emphasis has been getting balls up. If they’re going to beat us, they’ve got to beat us at the top of the zone. We’re not chasing down there anymore, and we're starting to see the benefits of that.”
Cal outfielder Seth Gwynn would one-up Williams an inning later, depositing a Jacobs fastball over the left field wall, flipping the score into a one-run lead for the Golden Bears. Having tossed two scoreless frames following the near-disaster first, the gopher ball would wind up ending Jacobs’s night, after a workable four innings and three runs allowed.
Supplementing their advantage with sacrifice fly in the fifth, Cal took a 4-2 lead into the bottom half with ASU mustering just three hits. Turns out, Newman would gift ASU a golden chance to respond with three consecutive walks to open the frame. Tyler Stasiowski took the ball from Newmann, and looked like he would bail his starter out with back-to-back punchouts. That is, until Super Mario found the mushroom.
Mario Demera hasn’t made much noise in his first season with Arizona State. Transferring to Tempe via the University of San Francisco, Demera had to adjust from being a multi-year performer at a mid-major to a rotational piece in a Power Five lineup. Injuries to Nu’u Contrades and Jax Ryan opened up an everyday spot at third base, which Demera’s bat qualified him for despite being a natural second baseman. Having come into the night hitting below the Mendoza line on the season, with a string of hard luck mixed in, Demera didn’t seem like much of a threat to save the Devils from a missed opportunity.
Yet, Demera worked a 1-2 count, forced a heater upstairs, and popped a go-ahead grand slam over the left-field wall. In one swing, ASU went from down two, to up two, courtesy of a guy who finally got one to drop.
“I tried to keep my confidence up,” Demera said of his season-starting slump. I wasn’t trying to be result-oriented; I was just putting good swings on balls leading up to now. I was focusing on seeing something up and putting a good swing on it.”
“Clutch hitting by Mario with the grand slam there,” Bloomquist said. “It looked like we were going to squander a big opportunity with the bases loaded and no outs. A couple of punchouts, we get down 1-2, and he puts a charge into one, which was huge.”
"He's in a different role than he's been in most of his career. He's been accustomed to being an everyday guy at USF. Coming here and getting spotting playing time, it's tough.”
Demera’s first home run as a Sun Devil put ASU up 6-4 in the fifth. Cole Carlon tossed a scoreless sixth to follow but came out for Wyatt Halvorson following a leadoff single in the seventh. The Bears put pressure on ASU offensively when Peyton Schulze brought home the runner with another sacrifice fly, and the Devils answered the call.
Following the stretch, Cal granted ASU the run right back on a two-error play on a bunt from Jackson, which allowed Ethan Mendoza to score. Jackson would be joined on the bases thereafter by Demera and Williams before Ryan Campos brought them all home with a bases-clearing double that barely caught the chalk of the left-field line. The heroics of Campos and Demera brought in seven runners on just two hits of the six ASU would manage, as Cal’s shortcomings on defense helped mask ASU’s ten runners left on.
Regardless, ASU’s lead bumped to a more comfortable 10-5 hold. Halvorson pitched a clean eighth and got the ball for the ninth to finish the job. Only Halvorson walked the leadoff man and surrendered a double to Caleb Lomavita, the Cal catcher’s fourth hit of the night, on the next batter. With two in scoring position and nobody out, closer Ryan Schiefer came on in a non-save situation, but Rodney Green Jr. made it one with a three-run moonshot on the third pitch he saw from Schiefer.
Now, within a bloop and a blast, the Bears strung together a pair of two-out hits, before Seth Gwynn brought one home with his fourth knock of the game. With the lead cut to 10-9, and the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, Schiefer didn’t shy away from the moment and preserved the save by forcing a ground out from PJ Moutzouridis.
“That’s a tough situation to come into,” catcher Ryan Campos said. “I thought he did a really good job, actually. They’re a good team over there, and he made pitches when he had to. Two-strike pitching as a whole today wasn’t great, but I thought he did a great job…Winning is hard. Can’t take for granted winning dirty or clean.”
“It's always interesting,” Bloomquist added. You can almost expect it. There's no easy coast to finish line around here.”
Having walked the tightrope late on the mound and all night at the dish, ASU knows Friday's win wasn’t their prettiest of the year. Still, a win is a win, and the Sun Devils will look to clinch the sweep tomorrow and get back to .500 with Connor Markl tabbed to start.
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