ARLINGTON, Tex. - Everything’s bigger in Texas, even the losses. While not many expected Arizona State (5-6) to find a way against the No. 5 and No. 7 ranked teams in the country this weekend, its defeats at the hands of Texas A&M (11-0) and TCU (11-0_ are still missed opportunities to make national noise. Having come a swing or two short on Friday and Saturday, any Sun Devil hope was crushed early on Sunday, as the Aggies racked up 10 runs in the first three innings en route to a 10-5 final in their favor.
After getting his first two hitters retired, starter Tyler Meyer crumbled for ASU. Loading the bases with three straight walks, Meyer’s inability to command his fastball wound up surrendering three first-inning runs on a double by Hank Bard to open the scoring. With the ball having hit the third base bag and taken a ricochet into foul territory, the “it’s baseball” adage allowed the first base dugout to trust in Meyer’s ability to recover from a bad hop.
Nevertheless, head coach Willie Bloomquist would be let down by Meyer again, issuing three passes in the second, forcing Bloomquist’s hand at a much earlier-than-expected call to the bullpen. While Matt Cornelius had been stellar in relief early this season, Braden Montgomery had him timed up and launched a 2-1 pitch halfway to Abilene. Montgomery’s grand slam, his second long ball off of ASU pitching this weekend, built the Aggies lead to seven runs on a mere two hits in the second inning.
“He just didn’t have a good feel,” Bloomquist emphasized. “Came out good the first couple hitters, throwing the ball well, then just kind of lost it. It’s not the double that hits the bag; it’s the three walks prior to that that are frustrating. It’s not the grand slam; it’s the three walks prior to the grand slam that’s frustrating. As a veteran guy, Tyler knows that. Try to give him the benefit of the doubt that he would’ve worked through it and figured it out. But, can’t start off a game chasing seven after two innings.”
When asked what went wrong with Meyer on the mound, Bloomquist eluded to the growing pains of returning from serious injury but also that a veteran like Meyer was equipped to handle the adverse moments he faced.
“The feel was not there with the fastball, and we had to make some adjustments,” Bloomquist said. “He’s a good arm we can use when he’s in the zone. Anybody who knew Tyler prior to injury was not a guy prone to walking people. The last thing that comes (back) from an injury is the feel. We thought we were in a pretty good spot, but every once in a while, he kind of loses it. I’m hoping he can figure out the feel and location of the fastball; without that, he’s not going to be very successful.”
Responsible for six runs and six walks when he came off the mound, Meyer’s day was forgettable, to say the least. Behind him, Cornelius would get off to a stutter-step start, being ticked for three more runs in the third that put the Sun Devils 10 runs down in the bottom of the third inning. What stung the most of that, came in Cornelius’s hesitant maneuver to first base on a routine ground ball to Jacob Tobias at first. Slow off the mound, Jace LaViolette would beat the junior to the bag and, with Cronelius stumbling into foul territory, allowed two runs to score for the Aggies when the right play would’ve ended the inning. This, combined with the strike-throwing shortcoming, had Bloomquist more than upset.
“The miscues, walks, and not covering first base, those are inexcusable,” Bloomquist exclaimed. “Take those away; we played a pretty decent game. But that’s way too many miscues early on to overcome.”
Even for the massive deficit, ASU’s bullpen would keep some respectability on the scoreboard. Supported through six shutout innings out of the bullpen, freshman Cole Carlon shined the brightest with over two clean frames against a damaging lineup. Having expressed his wish to be able to stretch Carlon, the team’s usual closer, Bloomquist was pleased with the left-hander’s strong two-and-a-third, where he allowed only one baserunner.
“Down 10 early, that was an opportunity where we didn’t have to wait to get Cole in the game,” Bloomquist recalled. “No closing situation, let’s get him out there and stretch him out. He answered the call. Threw the ball really well and was pleased with that. The bullpen threw the ball outstandingly today, for the most part. That part of it, hopefully, we can shape and start putting that all together.”
With the Aggie bats having done enough damage, ASU would wind up scattering runs in the third, sixth, eighth, and ninth but could never find the big hit to ignite a true spark. With a hitter’s interference and a couple of questionable pitch calls mixed in, a win just wasn’t in the cards for Arizona State on Sunday.
Having been a couple of at-bat outcome changes away from having a chance to win all three games, ASU’s pitching woes of the last two games served as a microcosm, as they literally and figuratively walked away from three different chances at a resumé-topping win.
Even for the winless weekend, Bloomquist was able to draw out the obvious notion that the team isn’t up to snuff of the nation’s best. Now seeing how his group stacks up to an A&M and TCU, Bloomquist believes the challenging non-conference schedule has paid off in gauging his team.
“You play against some good teams; your weaknesses are going to get exposed,” Bloomquist detailed. “We have some weaknesses, but if we can sure these things up, we’re not as far away as we think. The good part of it is we played against a couple of really good teams down here. We understand what we have to clean up before conference (play). You don’t get that by playing lesser teams. That was part of the reason why we wanted a tough schedule early on to figure out where we’re at.”
Yet, having been relatively competitive at points gives Bloomquist optimism that the team’s final form is still a ways away.
“Biggest takeaway for me, obviously you don’t like to leave here winless, trying to spin the positive we didn’t play our very best,” Bloomquist emphasized. “We didn’t play anywhere close to our best baseball down here. We were in these games. Held a very good offensive A&M team to 12 hits in two games, came back on a good TCU team, but we got to learn how to win those tough games late.”
While the three losses carry more weight than any positive notion, Bloomquist realizes the opportunity on such a stage to compete against Omaha-caliber teams could come in handy for ASU as they look to improve their ability to close out ballgames.
“With a young team and a young pitching staff, the experience they got from this is invaluable,” he said. “But we got to figure out ways to win these games. It’s unacceptable the way we’re losing some of them. But, the experience was great for these guys, and hopefully, it’ll pay dividends in the long run.”
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