For the second straight night, Arizona State’s starting pitcher exited the game, giving up less than five runs, but this time, head coach Willie Bloomquist had the lead when he made the call to the bullpen. After a solid seventh inning, sophomore lefty Cole Carlon put runners on the corners with one out in the eighth, and Bloomquist elected to bring in freshman righty Eli Buxton, who walked the first batter he faced to load the bases.
Two pitches later, Buxton watched a ball sail over the right field wall into the bullpen as Minnesota (4-4) pinch hitter senior Jake Perry gave the Golden Gophers a 5-4 lead. They never gave back the lead, adding an insurance run in the ninth to beat the Sun Devils (7-4) 6-4, securing the series.
“I take responsibility on this one tonight,” Bloomquist said. “I put a freshman in a really tough spot there, but I still have a lot of confidence in him. He’s got really good stuff, but looking back I’ll take the heat for that one. I’m not saying he can’t get it done, but that’s a tough situation to bring a freshman into.”
Bloomquist's bullpen has delivered but has also been shaky at times. With over 20 arms he feels confident putting out on the mound at any given time, Bloomquist is likely still evaluating his top guys, though a few have been trusted more than others early into the season.
The youthful side of the bullpen has been exploited in a handful of games in the opening weeks, but Bloomquist trusts their confidence and ability to shake off bad outings. With 14 underclassmen on the pitching staff compared to 8 upperclassmen, there will be some trial and error throughout the season, which is expected.
“Some of these freshmen you’d like to give softer landings to,” Bloomquist added. “We had some bumps and bruises last year with younger arms, but it’s all a part of the learning curve. You have to trust your stuff and work ahead in the count. Eli’s done a great job so far and I had confidence in him, tonight just wasn’t his night.”
Senior righty Jack Martinez started for the third straight Saturday, as Bloomquist has all but penciled in his weekend starters. Through five innings, Martinez was nearly perfect, with 10 strikeouts and no runs on three hits. As his pitch count rose, he lost a bit of juice on his fastball but quickly recovered. He wound up leaving a pitch over the plate that resulted in a homer, but he finished with 5 ⅔ innings with a career-high 11 punchouts with the lone run once he left the mound.
Martinez came in as a transfer from Louisiana-Lafayette and has proven to be a force on the mound in his first three starts at ASU. His 25 strikeouts through 17 innings lead the team, and his ERA continues to dip, starting at 6.35 when he started today and now at 4.76.
“I felt like all my stuff was working today,” Martinez mentioned. “I was able to get ahead in the count a lot of times, and I had more than one strikeout pitch. My changeup and slider were working later on, and my fastball was pretty good all day. I got into the mentality of getting my stuff in the zone early, and I got more comfortable because I could go out of the zone if I needed to.”
In both of the losses this weekend, Arizona State’s batters are a combined 4-for-26 with runners in scoring position. Senior shortstop Matt King hit a two-out double in the ninth to bring the winning run to the plate, but senior catcher Manny Garza flew out to right field, ending the game and highlighting the situational hitting struggles ASU had in the first two games of the series.
“We just have to remain confident,” Bloomquist explained. “It’s been a tough past couple of days. We’re getting guys on; we’re just not cashing in the way we want to. We’ve just got to stay confident and aggressive in the box.”
The Sun Devils are in danger of being swept tomorrow afternoon after putting Minnesota on its heels in both games. ASU showed a bit of resiliency Friday after battling back from down 5-2, but Saturday was a different story. Once the Gophers put in sophomore righty Tyler Hemmesch in relief of their starter, the Sun Devils mustered up just two hits in four innings.
After starting the season hot on the scoreboard with double-digit runs in at least one game in each of the first two weekend series, ASU has combined for 10 runs in the two games. Whether it’s a confidence issue or just bad luck, the bats haven’t played to the level Bloomquist and his squad expect them to.
With 11 games under their belts, the Sun Devils are far from hitting the panic button. While they’re a few pitches away from a 10-1 or 11-0 record, Bloomquist is confident in his team. A solid outing and a win tomorrow can flip the mood heading into the week, with only one midweek game on Tuesday before preparing for the weekend series.
“We’re only three weeks into the season,” Bloomquist expressed. “Of course, these last two games sting a lot because we expect to win those games and had every opportunity to come away with wins. We’re disappointed and frustrated, but we can’t let that affect what we have going here. I have belief in these guys, and you won’t see them cash their chips in.”
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