One year and one week ago, Arizona State right-handed pitcher Khristian Curtis was in a sling, watching his Texas A&M teammates put together one of the best seasons in that program's history from his couch. He was dejected, felt out of place, and was staring down the barrel of the daunting rehab process of a Tommy John surgery. You wouldn't believe how far he'd come in a year if you saw him on the mound at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Curtis was masterful, dominant, and any other superlative one can assign to assign to a six-inning, eight-strikeout, one-run allowed masterpiece. His best outing of the season led the way for ASU, riding Curtis and another airtight bullpen performance to a 4-1 series sweeping win.
"I was pretty much working fastball, cutter slider today. Everything felt good and I was trusting it," he said. "They've been making sure I'm not overdoing it, and on a day like today, there weren't a ton of high stress pitches. I was building off last week, coach always preaches pounding the zone, and I did that to trust my stuff."
Curtis's six-inning outing was nearly a five-plus-inning outing. With two outs in the sixth, he allowed a base hit that sent Willie Bloomquist strolling to the mound, planning on making a call to the pen. "I fully expected to make a change there. I got out there, told him good job, and he just kind of stone faced me," Bloomquist said with a grin. After a brief chat, Bloomquist slapped Curtis on the rear and strolled back towards the dugout. The home crowd loved the move, and Curtis made it pay off two batters later after allowing a bloop single. He struck out former Sun Devil Cam Magee with perhaps his best slider of the day on a day that featured many dazzling ones. "I don't want to say it was a foregone conclusion," Bloomquist said. "But we liked the matchup he had there against Cam."
When the baton was finally passed to the bullpen to begin the seventh inning, Jesse Wainscott didn't miss a beat. He tossed a scoreless seventh, retiring the Cougars in order and striking out a pair in the process. He got two outs in the eighth before Bloomquist called on reliable setup man Blake Pivaroff to record the final out of the frame. Pivaroff did not make things interesting, striking out the only batter he faced.
On Friday night, Bloomquist was noncommittal when asked about the closer role, saying that he likes the team's path to the ninth inning but that the pieces remain fluid. On Saturday, he sent Owen Stevenson back out for the ninth inning for the second consecutive game. Stevenson's electric stuff, and his flaring personality, perfectly suit him for the role that he didn't know he coveted prior to the season.
The sweep is Arizona State's third consecutive at home. The Sun Devils have now won 17 of their last 19 games, moving to 23-9 overall and 10-2 in the Pac-12. Nonetheless, this isn't a content Sun Devil squad, starting with the head coach.
"Not to be cliche, but no," Bloomquist answered when asked whether he takes the time to appreciate the strides his program has made in his second year. "I'm proud of where we are; we're in a good spot and doing a lot of things well, but if we don't finish strong, that's all for naught. I'm going to keep my foot on the gas, and I know our guys will be doing the same."
They can't afford not to, especially as the schedule significantly heats up in the second half of the Pac-12 slate. After a midweek game across the valley at GCU on Tuesday, ASU hits the road to Seattle for a three-game series at Washington. A homecoming road trip for Bloomquist, it's a pivotal series for the Sun Devils against a Huskies club similar to ASU in many national standings and RPI.
If you thought this year's ASU team might be less long ball heavy, you might have thought wrong. It was the home run again for ASU on Saturday. After WSU starter Grant Taylor held ASU in check through four innings, designated hitter Will Rogers broke an 0-15 slump with a titanic two-run blast to left center. The 438-foot shot gave ASU a 2-0 lead and allowed Curtis a little breathing room.
It's no secret that Rogers has been struggling at the dish. "It's rough coming up and seeing that sub .200 number on the video board," he admitted. After early season success showed he had come along from serious swing holes that kept him from becoming a multi-dimensional hitter, he regressed quickly over the last month to the point that he was out of the lineup consistently. Back-to-back starts showing faith by his head coach, which paid off for Arizona State this afternoon.
"I've been working hard. This game will always reward you if you work hard," Rogers said after a moment of reflection. "I've been working on the same things I always am, laying off the breaking ball, trying to stay balanced. That felt really good today."
Bloomquist expanded on what he's seen from Rogers, who has found himself on the bench with Bloomquist more often than in the starting lineup of late.
"Yesterday, when he hit that hard ground ball up the middle, that was the first time I'd really seen him take a nice balanced swing in a long time," he explained. "For his sake, I really wanted to see that get through, but they had him played perfectly. That wasn't just a big hit for him; it really woke us up. It was huge."
A solo bomb from Nu'u Contrades, his seventh of the year, expanded ASU's lead to 3-1 in the sixth. Then in the eighth, Ryan Campos hit his second bomb in as many days to give the Sun Devils some insurance and a three-run cushion.
Campos sat in the postgame press conference quietly, as he usually is. He deflects any questions asked about him and his success and instead makes it about his team. He says all the right things, almost to the degree he does all the right things on the field. Almost. He's quietly putting together an All-American caliber season, and if he keeps it up, he'll be in consideration for Pac-12 Player of the Year.
"It's nice, sure," Campos said when asked again what mid-season accolades mean to him. "But all my goals are with the team. I could go 0-for-the season, and if we win, I'll take that."
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