No. 19 Arizona State (8-2) dominated the Utah Utes (1-8) in the Sunday afternoon matinee matchup to take the series sweep, controlling every aspect of the game en route to a 5-0 victory.
Offense, defense, and especially pitching made the difference in a contest that had all of ASU’s strengths and skills on prime display for a limited capacity crowd to see.
Eight different pitchers entered Sunday’s game, coming together for an overall effort of five hits and no runs allowed while sitting down nine Utes on strikeouts. Redshirt freshman righty Seth Tomczak got the starting nod, pitching two and a third innings of shutout ball while permitting three hits and a walk.
After walking Utah first baseman Jayden Kiernan, Tomczak was pulled for a veteran reliever making his first appearance on the season, redshirt sophomore Will Levine. The now third-year Sun Devil was the star of Sunday’s show, retiring seven straight batters before giving up a walk in the sixth – and was ultimately pulled. Through two and two thirds innings pitched, Levine sat down two players on strikeouts and while also receiving a massive double play from his infield in the third inning – a performance good enough to give him the series-sweeping win.
“The ability to attack the strike zone pitch after pitch was working really well for me,” Levine noted. “That was the game plan from the get-go all weekend, just attack these guys in the zone and get ahead early. That was my formula for success.”
Through just 10 games, a very young and inexperienced Arizona State squad has been forced to grow up and perform. The ASU bullpen, who have seen even more pressure thrown their way with the season-ending injuries to starters Cooper Benson and Boyd Vander Kooi is no stranger to this obligatory maturity. With an early offensive cushion, Sun Devil skipper Tracy Smith and pitching coach Jason Kelly saw Sunday’s contest as an opportunity to plug and play some inexperienced arms in low-pressure situations so that when they’re needed; they are ready.
“We knew that we were going to try and use everybody, and our offense scored some runs early, so that makes that process a little bit easier for us,” Kelly explained. “You’re up 5-0 in the fifth, and that anxiety that sometimes they feel in their first outing can be tempered just a little bit because you’ve got the lead, and they’re not pitching in life and death (situations).”
Tomczak, Levine, freshman Joe Hauser, and redshirt freshmen Nick Wallerstedt and Bryce Barnett all made their first appearances on the young season on Sunday, but for the bullpen, it doesn’t matter who’s in and getting the ball. The entire group is one of cohesiveness, and while it may have been difficult to create that chemistry early on with such a young squad, it’s been paying dividends as of late.
“One of the special things with that group is that it’s a very tight group,” Kelly asserted. “That group is rooting for everyone out there. …Everybody’s out there on the top rail pulling for each other… We talked about it, and it’s like, don’t worry who gets the credit, as long as we win games and produce, then it doesn’t matter who’s in there. They all have confidence in each other.”
“Today was awesome,” freshman closer/designated hitter Ethan Long added. “(Seeing eight guys pitch) fired us up in the dugout. Seeing everyone come out there that hasn’t got a shot yet this season go out and throw the way they did, we can’t ask for anything else. I’m confident in all of them.”
The Sun Devil bullpen didn’t just have an incredible day; however, they had an incredible weekend overall. Across the three contests against the Utes, Utah managed to score just four runs, going 2-27 with runners in scoring position and stranding 30 players on base. A significant portion of those runners came in high-leverage jam situations. From one out bases-loaded jams in the fourth on Friday to bases-loaded two-out situations on Saturday, the ASU relievers were nearly bulletproof with their backs against the wall, partially to their credit and the work of ASU’s superstar defense.
“Most of (the bullpen) has an elite skill, usually one pitch, and they have something special,” Kelly confirmed. “Hitters want to be the hero in those situations, so if our guys throw strikes and compete, then you can get yourself out some of those jams, and that’s a big part of what we’re going to need to do throughout the season. Our guys did a really good job of that all weekend. (Utah) put pressure on us, especially Friday and Saturday for seven or eight innings without us giving up a run.”
ASU’s dominance on the mound on Sunday came with no added pressure, as mentioned before by Kelly, thanks in no small part to the production of ASU’s offense on Sunday. Scoring four runs in each of the first two games this weekend, ASU hit even harder in the final game of the series.
With one swing of the bat, ASU was in business early, as junior shortstop Drew Swift took the first pitch he saw to left field for a leadoff single. Three batters later, Long skied a ball into left field, giving Swift time to trot home via a sac fly.
The bats heated up once again in the second, as a pair of redshirt freshman - second baseman Nate Baez and center fielder Joe Lampe, reached base on singles. Swift, looking to drive his teammates in narrowly missed scooting the ball past Utah’s shortstop, grounding into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Nevertheless, Arizona State finally made their efforts stick in the fifth. Lampe, the hero of Saturday afternoon’s contest due to a game-saving catch in center, got the ball rolling with a single to center. With Swift at the plate, Lampe swiped second with his explosive speed. Following Swift’s flyout to center, freshman third baseman Hunter Haas slotted Lampe home with a single also to center field.
Long, who would hit the third single of the inning to score Haas commented on Lampe’s incendiary speed and explosiveness.
“That guy’s speed is insane; that’s not speed you should have on a baseball field; it’s more something you should have in track and field,” Long chuckled. “On the basepaths, he’s going to make a difference and probably score every time he’s on the bases because of how fast he is, so having his speed in our lineup is very special.”
Following another single, this time from redshirt freshman infielder Sean McLain, freshman first baseman Jack Moss, making a pinch-hitting appearance would hit the notch single in the fifth, scoring Long, before McLain made his way home on two consecutive wild pitches.
Overall, 21 players appeared in Sunday’s matinee matchup, that’s tied with the Tuesday matchup against Nevada for the greatest number of players who have appeared in a game this season, stressing ASU’s depth and ability to shine no matter who’s plugged into the contest.
“We have a bunch of guys that can come out and play any day of the week,” Levine confirmed. “Those guys coming in and doing what they did today (on offense & defense) shows how much depth we have on our squad. If someone goes down, we have a lot of guys that can fill in spots.”
Arizona State and its tremendous surplus of talent return to the Phoenix Municipal Stadium diamond next Friday for a three-game slate with Cal State Fullerton. No matter the opponent, though, the Sun Devils are prepared to give it their all, week in and week out.
“Our plan before games is that we are going to play hard through nine innings,” Long said. “No matter what, whether we’re down or we’re up big, we are not going to let our foot off the gas.”
