Arizona State had Minnesota down to its last strike in the top of the ninth inning with a 6-5 lead and the fans at Phoenix Municipal on their feet waiting for the final pitch. Before they could cheer, Minnesota centerfielder Parker Knoll hit a pitch deep into center field. The ball carried for some time before bouncing off the wall, as Knoll had tied the game up with an RBI triple to send the game to extra innings.
In the 10th inning, Minnesota (3-4) took the lead with a solo homer, but ASU (7-3) had the Golden Gophers on their heels after loading the bases with no outs. After a flyout into right field from junior second baseman Kyle Walker, junior center fielder Isaiah Jackson looked like he would tag up from third and try to score, but he was held up. Two strikeouts later, the Gophers jumped out of the dugout to celebrate their improbable 7-6 win, leaving Sun Devil fans in disbelief.
“We had our chances,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “We just have to turn the page and be ready tomorrow. We’ve got 12 hours to forget about this one, so we just have to be ready to turn the page and be ready to go tomorrow.”
Minnesota took firm control of the game in the seventh inning after going up 5-2 and ASU’s bats going cold, but a three-run seventh inning from the Sun Devils suddenly tied the game up before an RBI sacrifice fly from Walker gave Arizona State the lead heading into the ninth.
Instead of putting in the usual closer senior righty Will Koger, Bloomquist elected to put out junior righty Lucas Kelly. It looked to be the right decision until the swing from Knoll flipped all momentum onto Minnesota’s side.
The bullpen has been deep for Bloomquist, but it hasn’t produced in crucial moments. Junior lefty Sean Fitzpatrick threw for the third time in five days tonight, coming in relief in the eighth and going into the ninth inning, where he gave up a leadoff double that turned out to be the tying run.
“(Fitzpatrick) came in and closed the door against UCLA a couple of days ago,” Bloomquist recalled. “I got all the confidence in the world in him. He’s done a great job so far; he just gave up the leadoff double there. He got behind the count, and the hitter can sit on pitches with a 2-0 count. Those are learning things for him as well, but I have a lot of confidence in Fitz.”
This is the second straight week that the Sun Devils have dropped the Friday game of a weekend series. Last week, against Oral Roberts, they came back to win both games and the series. ASU is in danger of losing its first series of the year if the next two days don’t result in wins, but Bloomquist is confident in his teams’ ability to bounce back.
“I believe in these guys, and they’re going to be just fine,” Bloomquist voiced. “Today stung a little, and we had chances to put it away; we just didn’t. You just have to keep believing in yourself in those situations, and you have to want to be in those situations, period.”
Closing games has been a problem in two of ASU’s three losses so far this season. The Sun Devils had their opportunities in both games to shut the door on their opponents, but poor execution down the stretch has allowed teams to turn a small sliver of hope into a game-changing play that swings the momentum of the entire game.
This is one that Bloomquist and his squad certainly want to have back, but facing adversity this early into the season can be somewhat beneficial. While every game matters, the team can look back on moments like these to help them later on in the season.
“We’re going to be in dogfights every night,” Bloomquist stated. “I think just about every game we’ve played in has come down to one pitch here and there, so we have to get used to it. We’ve got to be comfortable with that situation because we’re going to be in a lot more games like that. Champions rise up in those situations.”
Bloomquist and his team will be ready to flip the script on Minnesota tomorrow night, and they’ve already proved this season they’re capable of doing so. The hunger for a win is adamant in the dugout after tonight’s disappointing loss.
“College sports are supposed to be intense,” Bloomquist expressed. “If you come and play with desire and passion, the outcome will take care of itself. It didn’t work out for us tonight, but these guys are resilient. They’ll bounce back, and this is a good learning process for them.”
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