It takes a lot to make Ryan Campos angry. The level-headed sophomore catcher rarely shows frustration and hasn't directed anger toward an opposing team even once in his two seasons with ASU. So when he spun around, stepping and barking towards Oregon State reliever Aiden Jimenez after grounding out to end the third inning, it raised eyebrows. It also fired up the Sun Devil dugout.
"Campy is about the most mild-mannered kid we have, I don't know what was said, but it was something he didn't like," head coach Willie Bloomquist said. "If he were a guy who loses his temper pretty quick, I would have probably let it slide, but he's about as professional as it gets. Teams are chirpy this time of year; it is what it is."
Three hours and 20 hits later, No. 5 Arizona State put the finishing touches on a 14-10 victory in a slugfest over No. 2 Oregon State. The win eliminates the Beavers from the conference tournament and puts ASU in a position where it can advance with wins by USC and Stanford later today. Regardless of whether ASU lives to see another day in Scottsdale, this morning's victory vaulted it to No. 45 in the NCAA's RPI. The top 50 or so teams are generally always included in the postseason field of 64. After another big loss to Arizona, a 7 am practice on Wednesday, and the aforementioned near dust-up with Campos, the Sun Devils fired on all cylinders at the plate with their season on the line.
"If we weren't fired up today to play with our season on the line, I don't know what was going to fire us up," Bloomquist remarked. "Whether or not that was it or something else, I'm not sure. I'm just glad we swung the bats better today."
The bats had Oregon State starting pitcher Rhett Larson on the ropes from the jump. ASU didn't score in the first inning but put runners on second and third. In the second inning, the bottom half of the lineup got things moving for the Sun Devils. With one down, Isaiah Jackson walked, Jonny Weaver singled, and Bronson Balhols singled to load the bases for new leadoff hitter Ryan Campos. In his first game in that role, Campos laced a two-RBI single to right on the first pitch he saw to give ASU an early lead.
ASU added two runs in each of the third and fourth innings to build on its early 6-1 lead. RBI singles from Nu'u Contrades and then from Balholm ballooned a one-run advantage to three. Then in the fourth, back-to-back two-out triples from Nick McLain and Nu'u Contrades further padded the ASU lead.
"I've been struggling a little bit. Been working on just swinging at strikes," McLain said in his usual quiet manner. "It turned out to be a good day, top to bottom."
After Tuesday's loss to Arizona, Bloomquist remarked that he was embarrassed by the loss. The aforementioned early riser practice on Wednesday, perhaps as a gesture of motivation to his team that has been on the losing end of ballgames far more than it planned down the stretch of the season.
"I wasn't a fan of it; I'm not a big morning person," McLain said with a sheepish grin. "But the message was clear. We needed to win today. It was a good practice as a team."
It's been a simple formula for Timmy Manning all season long. If he's locating his knee-buckling curveball, the rest will follow, and he'll cruise. If not, he's forced to challenge in the middle of the zone with his fastball, and things can get dicey. It was clear from the first batter he faced on Thursday morning that the curveball had made the trip north to Scottsdale Stadium. Bloomquist gave the ball to the left-hander in the start, and he turned in three innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts and three hits. His only blemish was a mistake fastball that Oregon State's Mason Guerra blasted deep onto the left field berm for a second-inning solo home run.
"Timmy threw the ball very well; he gave us what we needed," Bloomquist succinctly stated.
Khristian Curtis has been a good starting pitcher for Arizona State all year long. All of his 62 innings pitched entering Thursday had come in his 13 starts. So it came as a bit of a surprise when the 6'5" right-hander came trotting out of the bullpen to begin the fourth inning, especially with Manning throwing the ball better than he has in weeks. Curtis momentarily silenced the doubters with a scoreless fourth, though he did put two runners on. He ran into big trouble an inning later when he walked the bases loaded with nobody out, protecting a 6-1 lead.
A wild pitch, sac fly, and passed ball later, the lead had shrunk from five to two. A fourth run was charged to Curtis when Blake Pivaroff allowed his final runner to score in that same inning. Pivaroff got out of that fifth inning with the lead and didn't look back. He turned in two dominant frames in the sixth and seventh, showing again why he has been one half of ASU's terrific two-headed monster in the back end of the bullpen.
"Khristian all of a sudden hit a funk. Can't walk three guys; all three of those scored," Bloomquist said after acknowledging Curtis threw the ball decently in his first inning of work. "Can't say enough about the Job Piv did. He got more outs for us today than he has all year, and I really thought that was the turning point."
Even with a nine-run lead in the eighth, Bloomquist wasn't taking any chances. He called on Owen Stevenson to record his team's final six outs. Stevenson did get those outs, but it was far from as dominant as we've become accustomed to seeing the closer. He allowed five runs over the final two frames, and OSU had the tying run standing at the plate when Stevenson fanned Guerra to end the ballgame.
Bloomquist assessed the quality of his team's resume in more detail than we've heard from the second-year skipper all year following the win. He knows he and his staff and players will be sweating during the selection show on Monday but believes they've done enough to be included. And he didn't rule out the chance that their run in the Pac-12 Tournament will continue.
"We beat some tough teams on the road and have a couple of the best players in the conference," he noted. "The games we've lost, at home against the No. 3 team in the country, we're one pitch away from winning any one of those three games. We've played hard all year and, at times, as good as anyone in the country. Our resume is put together; hopefully, we get a chance to play on Friday."
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