PHOENIX - When Hunter Omlid delivered the final pitch to Calyn Halvorson to lock up the victory, it finally brought the Sun Devils back to the .500 mark. 3-3 in the conference, 10-10 overall. For most, many see that sort of record with hopeful aspirations, a fresh start to be taken advantage of and built on as if it was Opening Day all over again. Given the condition of Arizona State’s offense and the instability seen on the mound, a fresh start was welcomed by all.
The issue that’s blanketed ASU’s ability to perform at their primes has been the lack of hitting with runners on base. Tuesday night saw 14 men reach base, of which only five would touch home plate. While individual performances have certainly taken center stage at Phoenix Municipal, the inability to collaborate as a team has stifled any chances of performing at the best they can be in a 7-5 home loss to Utah Valley.
Wyatt Halvorson, coming off exceptional appearances against New Mexico and Arizona, took the ball for his second start of the season. He had allowed just three earned runs in his nine and a third innings pitched leading up to the start of Wednesday’s deciding matchup. And for the most part, Halvorson would continue to be his dominant self. Halvorson would go three innings with just a couple of bruises, a solo homer off the bat of center fielder Nate Bach, and a sacrifice fly that went unearned following Halvorson’s throwing error to first to allow the runner Daniel Dickinson to advance to third. Mixed into those results was a walk and four strikeouts, a start any manager would take from one of his bullpen arms.
The Sun Devils weren’t as worried about hitting with runners in scoring position in this one. They were more concerned about getting them on in the first place. Other than a few walks here and there, Arizona State failed to record a hit until the seventh inning. Had ASU been given a choice between no hits with runners in scoring position or no hits at all, they would’ve gladly taken the first option.
“We’re trying to give these guys a simple, clear, clean-cut approach that takes the thought process out of it. A lot of times, when you’re scuffling, you’re thinking too much. We just aren’t putting the fat part of the bat on the ball consistently, and we’re capable of so much more than this,” said head coach Willie Bloomquist when asked about the challenges the offense had against Utah Valley.
The Sun Devils, after erasing the goose egg, began to rally. In the seventh inning of a 5-0 Wolverine lead, ASU would push across their first runs of the game: an RBI bases-loaded walk to Steven Ondina, a pinch-hit two-run single from Kien Vu, and an RBI groundout from newly entered Nick Mclain. With Utah Valley only up by one heading into the eighth, the win was certainly more attainable than it was before.
That is, until the ninth inning. Ben Jacobs, who had already worked around a jam in the eighth, was met with not one but two home runs to left-center off the bats of Calyn Halvorson and third baseman Garrett Broussard. Now, with the Wolverines up by three yet again, the Sun Devils would need a miracle to come back and win this one.
It seemed hopeful at first, as Isaiah Jackson would power a solo blast to center for his first extra-base hit since February 25th, knocking off the first peg in the bottom of the ninth. But a flyout and back-to-back strikeouts would silence the Sun Devils without a whisper. The Wolverines would split the series at one apiece, an outcome no one in the ASU dugout was proud of.
“We’ve watched the video and replay, and we’ve analyzed to the point where my eyes are bleeding practically just trying to figure out what’s going on with guys swinging the bat,” Bloomquist said.
“Did those guys have velo? No. Did they have nasty breaking stuff to keep us off balance? No. We’ve faced arms every bit of that so far this year and we’ve done very well. For me, I think it’s a lot of focus and being ready to play mentally.”
For a team that came off such a heroic series victory against their tried-and-true rivals in Arizona to barely edge out a midweek matchup has people scratching their heads aplenty, including Willie Bloomquist. Does a lineup change make sense for the Sun Devils?
“We have. When was the last time we ran out the same lineup two days in a row? We’re trying guys in different spots. At some point in time, you can’t take anyone else out of the lineup because you’ve got no one left.”
Regardless of the batting order, not one trail of guys has consistently driven themselves in. For Arizona State, it comes down to “if you have it or you don’t,” as Bloomquist would note in the post-game press conference. For many of ASU’s players, this has been their first crack at professional baseball. With different playing backgrounds, different approaches, and different mantras at the plate, it’s difficult for a team to find success together as a team. However, if ASU wants to return to the promised land, that will be an issue they must overcome.
Arizona State will travel north this Friday to take on the 12-8 Washington State Cougars in Pullman. The team hopes to turn around what has been a lackluster performance, to say the least.
“I believe in our offense; I believe that these guys can swing it better than they are. Hitting is contagious, and it just takes someone to light the fire and get this thing rolling with a big hit in a big moment, and hopefully, the floodgates will open.”
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