Devils clinch Washington series in Sunday slugfest
There may be no better test of perseverance in college baseball than a four-hour Sunday slugfest. While Washington (18-22, 9-15 Pac-12) didn’t back down from the fight, Arizona State (26-23, 14-13) had just a few more punches in them, even without their leader to see it through.
In a contest that would see over 350 pitches thrown by 11 different pitchers, who collectively faced 111 batters and allowed 45 hits, and an added spice of a Willie Bloomquist ejection in the 8th, the Sun Devils soldiered through to a 21-18 win to take the series.
“You’re sometimes going to have ugly, ugly games like today, but better to be ugly and on top than to come out on the losing end,” Bloomquist said postgame. “Our guys battled every inning for every game in this series. On a crazy day, where you knew it was going to be one of those days at Muni, gale-force winds blowing out, it was just a matter of who was going to take the last punch. We got up, we got down, gave up leads, came back and took them, just kept on going.”
As is typical at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in May, the offense was aplenty in the rubber match between the Huskies and the Sun Devils. After scoring 10 runs through three innings on Saturday, UW came back with four runs in the first off Hunter Omlid, who lasted just four frames on Sunday. To pick up the converted starter, ASU raised five of their own in the bottom half of the inning, with Brandon Compton’s third grand slam of the season being the highlight.
ASU would add two more runs in the third, and while Omlid allowed the tying runs to score in the fourth, the senior found a way out of the jam with the teams even at seven. Not looking for the nailbiter they endured on Friday, Arizona State plated six runs in their ensuing turn at-bat, all with two outs. Brandon Compton lit the fire with his second home run of the day, which passed the baton for RBI hits from Kien Vu and Nick McLain to stake the ASU bullpen to a 13-7 advantage.
Having shown their own resilience all weekend, Washington would answer with a seven spot in the fifth, moving the line up and down the order on Cole Carlon and Matt Tieding in relief. Considering how hits and runs can mount in the dry heat of Phoenix Muni, Bloomquist tried to keep his remaining pitchers in check through the eye test.
“Muni is a different beast when it comes to being a pitcher,” he noted. “ I tell them, ‘Don’t look at the numbers.’ People are going to chirp about ERAs and all that type of stuff. Bring anybody in here to Muni, and you’re not going to have a good ERA here. Just try to execute your pitchers and not beat yourself. We’ve tried to preach to our pitching staff that we don’t have to be the best pitching staff in the country, we just got to be better than that pitching staff today.”
On the flip side, hitters such as Brandon Compton have benefitted from such an environment.
“We’re following all our roles and doing what we’re supposed to do as a lineup,” Compton said. It’s pretty awesome to see. It’s hotter, with more wind, and Muni gets even crazier. More balls are going to leave—you saw it for Washington as well. It gets fun.”
Into the bottom of the fifth, that edge was in Washington’s favor, with the Huskies ahead 14-13. Mario Demera leveled the score with an RBI single in the inning, but Nick McLain’s two-run blast in the sixth would put ASU back in front. Having homered in five consecutive contests, with the notion of where he was at offensively just a week ago, McLain’s recent roll has been a sight for sore eyes to those in the first base dugout.
“That’s the Nick McLain we know,” he said. “If that kid gets rolling, he can carry us.”
Sean Fitzpatrick held UW scoreless in the 7th, the first half-inning inning without an addition to the scoreboard since the second, and came back out strong in the eighth initially. Retiring the first batter, the southpaw got into trouble with a walk and a single to bring up AJ Guerrero, who had belted multiple home runs already in the series, and one already earlier. Fitzpatrick appeared to get out of the jam on a 1-2 pitch on the outside, but home plate umpire Jason Venzon ruled it a ball.
One pitch later, Guerrero took the lead with a three-run shot to center field. Furious at the call, Bloomquist had let Venzon hear it from the dugout prior to the home run. After it left the yard, the third-year head coach walked out to the mind for a call to the bullpen. Venzon followed him to the bump and, after a brief exchange, threw Bloomquist out of the game.
In the span of seconds, ASU lost its lead and its skipper. Many would’ve folded in such a situation, but the Sun Devils had come too far to stop now. With the game and even the season, to some degree, hanging in the balance, Bloomquist’s emotions were at an all-time high.
“This type of game, man, you know that every pitch matters,” he stressed. “If a guy makes a good pitch, I don’t know if it was a ball or a strike, against a kid who torched us this weekend, if you give him one more pitch what happens? Three-run homer and there goes a lead. It was an intense moment and a build-up of emotions maybe on my part. But we got to have that pitch if it’s a good pitch.”
“It is what it is. I’m going to stand up for my players, and it looked like a pretty good pitch.”
Despite the double shot to the gut, ASU once again got up off the mat. Some in the dugout would tell you they never even left their feet. Their head coach sure wouldn’t have.
“Everyone was confident we were going to go out there and score,” Ethan Mendoza said. “I don’t think anyone had any doubt.”
“There was a little bit of fire in there,” Ryan Schiefer added. “This is a tight clubhouse and we have a lot of respect for each other and coaches as well. Bloomie had our backs there getting thrown out, so we had to have his back.”
Nick McLain hit a one-out double in the eighth to cap off a 5-5 day at the plate. In the next at-bat, Jacob Tobias would bring him around on a tying single. After Compton doubled, freshman Ethan Mendoza, in the midst of a power surge, stepped to the plate with the go-ahead runs on.
Having made a name for himself early in the campaign with singles aplenty, the Texas native slightly tapered off in the middle of the season, not abnormal for a first-year collegiate player. The second baseman had picked it up, with a dose of power, as of late with his first three home runs of the year in the last week. None would be bigger than the one he put out on Sunday.
Attacking the first pitch, Mendoza sent a fastball over the left field wall, emptying the ASU dugout and handing the Devils a 21-18 lead they would not relinquish in the ninth. While Bloomquist wasn’t present for the biggest swing of the day, he noted the importance of the freshman’s late-season rebound.
“I heard the swing was pretty good,” Bloomquist quipped. “Would’ve loved to have seen it. I’m just happy for him. He kind of went there in the middle part of the season and had a little bit of a lull. All freshmen do when they first play at this level. He’s kind of got his second wind a little bit, and is starting to adjust to the rigors of playing every day, being in there with the mental demands that it takes to play every day. Happy with how he’s been producing and contributing.”
ASU’s prolonged yet pivotal victory sealed the series with Washington and gave the clubhouse good momentum for a midweek meeting with archrival No. 21 Arizona. Given the deficits the Sun Devils faced throughout the weekend, everyone in maroon and gold is confident in their abilities to slow down the scorching WIldcats.
“Hopefully they showed everybody that there’s no quit, there’s no give in this team,” Bloomquist said. “They’re going to keep fighting. You’re going to have days where you don’t play well, but you’re still obligated to represent this program the right way. All you can do is keep throwing haymakers and fighting. That’s what our guys did this weekend.”
“We got up, we got down, gave up leads, came back and took them, just kept on going. Happy with the will to continue to fight. That was an impressive weekend.
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