Sun Devils celebrate Mother’s Day with 13–1 run-rule victory, series win

After a tough 6–5 loss to Houston on Friday, ASU Baseball bounced back in a big way Saturday with a 13–3 rout. Fueled by seven extra-base hits and a pitching staff that shut out the Cougars after the third inning, the Sun Devils turned early weekend doubts into confidence heading into Sunday’s series finale.

Following Friday’s loss, head coach Willie Bloomquist highlighted the unpredictability of the Big 12—any team can win on any day, no matter their record. That was clear with Houston’s upset, but also in Arizona and West Virginia, both dropping their series this weekend to last-place Utah and Kansas State, respectively. It’s why Bloomquist continues to stress a one-game-at-a-time approach and the importance of never underestimating an opponent—even after a blowout win.

If you had only seen the final score, you’d never have guessed how this one began. Houston took the early lead with a solo homer in the first—could this be the start of a Houston bounceback? Not even close. ASU exploded for 13 unanswered runs, including four straight innings with three or more runs. Freshman lefty Easton Barrett took over on the mound, blanking Houston the rest of the way. The Sun Devils closed it out in style, winning 13–1 in a mercy-rule finish and taking the series.

ASU’s offense went 15-for-30, posting a remarkable .500 team average that stands out in any game. Six Sun Devils recorded multi-hit games, continuing the serious conference momentum they’ve built over the past few weeks. It was another trademark two-day turnaround, a reminder of just how often this team has answered the call when pushed.

"Having that trust in your teammates, knowing that the next day, if we have a bad day before, we're gonna flush it and move on to the next one," said Hairston. "Early on (in the season), it felt like when we lost, we were getting down on ourselves, but once we started rolling, trusting the offense and pitching, we all came together and started playing for each other."

The two biggest swings of the day came from ASU's outfield duo. For the second straight game, junior Isaiah Jackson and sophomore Brandon Compton each homered. Jackson’s blast gave ASU the lead in the second, while Compton’s opposite-field shot broke the game wide open.

Jackson’s home run, his seventh in the last nine games, brought his season total to 13, leading the team. What began as a surprising shift has now become his role—ASU’s new power hitter. ‘Hey Baby,’ the song played after each home run at Phoenix Municipal, has become his personal anthem lately.

Compton, on the other hand, had been in a slump, with his home run on Saturday marking his first since April 1st—an extended drought. But now, after homering in back-to-back games and going 9-for-23 in his last six games, he’s beginning to find his stride. Head coach Willie Bloomquist noted that Compton will be a crucial bat for ASU down the stretch if they want to continue their success. It’s starting to look like he’s heating up just when the Sun Devils need him most.

ASU’s bottom-of-the-order bats have been strong, but the top five—junior Kyle Walker, freshman Landon Hairston, senior Matt King, senior Jacob Tobias, and junior Kien Vu—have been even better. Four of the five are hitting over .350, and they combined for nine hits today, with Hairston leading the way with three.

It’s almost becoming routine for ASU to put up runs in the tens, marking the 16th time they’ve scored over ten this season. If you include games with nine or more, that number jumps to 21. With this performance, ASU has now tied Kansas for the most runs scored in the Big 12 and ranks 13th nationally—an extraordinary turnaround given the key bats they lost in the offseason.

ASU is no stranger to putting up big run numbers, finishing second in the Pac-12 in 2024, just behind Oregon State, which won 45 games. But last season, their dead-last team ERA was a major hindrance to consistent success. This year, with a marked improvement to 8th in the conference, the pitching staff has stepped up when the offense goes quiet—something ASU couldn’t rely on last season.

The key to holding Houston to just one run today was Barrett, who has now made three straight Sunday starts for ASU. With sophomore Jaden Alba shifting to a bullpen role and thriving, Barrett has stepped up in the rotation—allowing just two runs over his last nine innings while striking out 11, including a career-high 5.1 IP today.

“The last couple of starts, I’ve focused more on pitching to contact instead of trying to blow it by everyone," said Barrett. "Getting weak contact—fly balls, ground balls—that’s been a big adjustment for me. Trying to strike guys out on a 0-0 count, and that’s just not going to work. Now, I’m learning to take what I get, and the results have been better.”

Paired with the steady production from fellow freshman Hairston, the impact of ASU’s young talent has been a major factor in what is now head coach Willie Bloomquist’s winningest season at the helm.

Add to that the ultimate feel-good moment of the day: graduate right-hander Chance Daquila made his first appearance of the season—and his first since 2023—after a long road back from multiple surgeries. Bloomquist said there weren’t many dry eyes in the dugout. As Daquila took the mound, his bullpen teammates sprinted in to watch, joined by the full support of the roster. He recorded a flyout and got his moment to walk off the field to a heartfelt ovation.

"He's worked so dang hard to get back... and it's just a really emotional, cool day for him and for all of us,” Bloomquist said. “I think everyone in his teammates was pulling for him... guys down in the bullpen called down and said, ‘Hey, can we all come down in the dugout when Chance takes the rubber?’ That’s a tribute to a leader. Everyone knows what he's been through, and for him to get that opportunity was really special. Off the charts. Anybody lesser would have thrown in the towel long ago, but he just continues to grind with a positive attitude, keeping the clubhouse upbeat. He's a true leader... all 39 guys were pulling for him, and that was pretty cool."

That emphatic win not only capped off a great weekend on the field but also bolstered ASU’s position in the Big 12 standings. With West Virginia and Arizona both losing their series and TCU falling on Sunday, ASU surged back into second place, now just two games out of first. These results make a second-place finish seem even more likely, strengthening their push as the season nears its end.

While ASU couldn’t secure the senior night win, they certainly made up for it by giving the mothers in attendance a reason to celebrate on Mother’s Day with a series-clinching victory. With that, ASU now shifts focus to their final home game of the regular season on Tuesday against GCU, who they lost to earlier this year. Following that, they'll look ahead to next weekend's key Big 12 series against Oklahoma State, which appears to be postseason baseball for the Sun Devils.

As the finish line nears, Bloomquist's focus is clear: keep the momentum rolling and avoid the bumps along the way.

“You don’t like getting in the habit of always responding to adversity, but they certainly have,” Bloomquist said. “Now the message is, can we be consistent and not have to respond to adversity all the time? ... If things get thrown at us negatively, we’re able to bounce back, and that’s a tribute to their resiliency... We just need to avoid major letdowns and keep riding the positive train through these last four games... Bottom line, we know if we hit a speed bump, we can bounce back. We’ve done it all year."

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