All anyone who has watched enough baseball at Phoenix Municipal Stadium had to do was take a quick glance at the flags beyond center field to know that Arizona State was far from dead on Wednesday afternoon. Things certainly didn’t look good for the Sun Devils as they trotted off the field following the top of the fourth. North Dakota State had just paraded around the bases, building a 7-0 lead over a sleepwalking ASU squad that looked like it may as well have missed the flight home from Starkville on Sunday.
ASU (6-2) woke up at the right time and did just enough to mount a ferocious comeback and hold off a feisty NDSU (1-8) team on its way to a 10-9 walk-off win. The deciding blow came off the bat of Will Rogers with one out and the bases empty in the ninth. His solo homer preceded a torrential downpour by about five minutes, saving ASU from what would have been a miserable non-conference tie had the game been called. A win is a win, but Willie Bloomquist wasn’t taking much joy in his team’s overall performance on Wednesday.
"I thought our approach was terrible. Yeah, we put up a six spot, great, but we went flat after that," he said. "We put together two good innings there in the fourth and fifth, and then it was like we pulled a rip cord and decided that's enough. There's not enough killer instinct right now with these guys to finish the job."
Bloomquist's malcontent is largely based on the first three innings, as well as the sixth and seventh. ASU was held hitless until the fourth, allowing North Dakota State starter Carson Jacobs to cruise through his first time through the order. Then, the Sun Devils stirred from their slumber with a hearty roar in the home half of the fourth.
Ryan Campos legged out an infield single to put a number in ASU's hit column, then Ethan Long ripped a two-run homer into the visitor's bullpen. "I was confident the whole time we had it in us," Long explained. "There was a lot working against us today." His blast was contagious. A single from Jacob Tobias and a double from Will Rogers allowed a third run to score on a fielder's choice before a Nu'u Contrades sac fly plated a fourth. With two outs and men on second and third, Wyatt Crenshaw did just what he's been doing since opening night; he delivered. Two runs scored on Crenshaw's single through the left side, making a seven-run NDSU lead a feeble one-run advantage from a 15-minute onslaught.
"At the end of the day, we did just enough to win," Bloomquist said. "I'll never not celebrate a win, but I'll celebrate it the least amount possible today."
NDSU built its advantage via the long ball, aided by a very strong wind blowing out towards left center.
Peter Brookshaw broke the seal in the top of the first, sitting on a two-out two-strike breaking ball from Arizona State starter Josh Hansell and lifting it high and deep to left center. The ball wasn't aided by the usual dry heat and thin air, but it did get a lift from the strong breeze out to left. What looked like a harmless fly out off the bat never came down. The solo shot served as a sign of the slugfest that was to come.
Brookshaw flexed again two innings later in his second at-bat. This time with a man on, his two-run blast to nearly the same spot put the Bison up 4-0. After a base hit chased Hansell, Christian Bodlovich endured a rare hiccup in an inherited runners situation. North Dakota State's Terrell Huggins hit the team's third homer in as many innings.
NDSU would add another run an inning later to take the even more commanding 7-0 lead. A small letdown in energy could be reasonably expected coming off the high intensity weekend in Mississippi, but there was almost zero energy coming from the first base dugout in the early going. Bloomquist couldn't exactly explain why but said the potential for a letdown was identified early, and this was preached to players in the pregame.
"We talked several times prior to the game; this is a game where we will have to bring energy. In my opinion, we didn't do that. We got lucky," he said.
ASU took its first lead with two outs in the fifth. Jacob Tobias launched his first homer of the year to deep right center, becoming the eighth different Sun Devil to leave the yard in as many games. The lead held up for a couple of innings but was ultimately short lived as ASU got too complacent at the dish.
North Dakota State tied the game at eight in the eighth, then tied it at nine in the ninth with a pair of one-out doubles off of closer Jesse Wainscott. Wainscott had been summoned in the eighth with two down, which is becoming increasingly routine for the hard throwing right-hander. He was pulled for Nolan Lebamoff after blowing the save. Lebamoff was able to induce a pair of flyouts to send the game to the bottom of the ninth inning tied.
With one out and no one on base, Will Rogers turned to his head coach before strolling to the plate.
"He whistled at me and asked if he should sit breaking ball. I said yes, just make sure it's up," Bloomquist explained. Rogers did just that, launching a first pitch curveball high onto the berm beyond left field for his first career walk-off home run and second walk-off hit of the young season. A muted celebration ensued, representing Bloomquist's reserved excitement after barely escaping with a win. "He sat breaking ball and didn't miss it. So, hallelujah. I'm not sure what would have happened had we gone into extras," Bloomquist continued, referencing the steady rain.
Game Notes
No one in maroon and gold was happier to be back on Arizona soil than freshman outfielder Isaiah Jackson. He went 0-for-Starkville over the weekend, striking out seven times in 13 at-bats at Mississippi State. He looked much more like himself on Wednesday. Jackson went 2-2 and reached base three times.
"We talked and broke a few things down mentally and physically," Bloomquist said of his star freshman. "Usually, when a guy has a tough weekend like that, you don't want to jump to mechanics like that, but there were a couple of tweaks to be made. He looked much more comfortable today; he's a special player when he's right."
Blake Pivaroff was Arizona State's best pitcher on Wednesday. He tossed two scoreless innings, building on a nice start to his first season as a full-time pitcher only. His fastball is alive, touching as high as 95 mph while being complemented by a tight breaking ball that is the product of tireless work he attributes to having more time to focus specifically on his pitching.
"Piv has done an outstanding job. I kind of rolled the dice today, bringing him out for a second inning of work, but he comes out, and he's pretty locked in," Bloomquist said. Out of all the performances on the mound today, I'll take him as probably the top one."
ASU is back in action on Friday night, as they host a red hot UC Irvine team for a three-game series.
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