A win over Santa Clara in a non-conference game Monday afternoon acted as a thin layer of Febreze for a weekend that otherwise was unpleasant for Arizona State. The Bay Area was not kind to the Sun Devils, as they spent the weekend watching Stanford circle the bases repeatedly en route to a wire-to-wire sweep in Palo Alto. It’s been one step forward and two steps back for this team all year. No stretch has exemplified that sentiment like ASU’s last ten days.
They won a home series against Cal last weekend before turning around and beating rival Arizona on Tuesday night. The Sun Devils were playing their best baseball of the year, heading into the Stanford series. Unfortunately, that mojo didn’t get on the flight north. Stanford scored 14 runs Friday, nine on Saturday, and 16 on Sunday. ASU’s team ERA ballooned to a grotesque 6.63, by far the worst in the PAC-12. In the early part of the season, it was the bullpen consistently costing the team games. Now that the bullpen has buttoned up, the starters are faltering.
Friday night’s 14-0 butchering obviously didn’t yield any late-game drama, but the early going had some fireworks. After allowing a second-inning three-run home run, Arizona State starter Kyle Luckham’s next pitch drilled Stanford’s Brett Berrera in the back of the head. The pitch seemed to be clearly unintentional, but the home plate umpire didn’t think so. He tossed Luckham immediately, leading to a heated argument from Willie Bloomquist, who was sent packing himself after getting his money’s worth in defense of his pitcher. The rest of the night was literally all Stanford. Alex Williams threw a complete game shutout, and Stanford put up ten more runs.
The Sun Devils were in the game Saturday into the late innings and led for much of the contest. A late grand slam broke a 5-5 tie and gave Stanford all they’d need in the 9-5 victory. Yeah, ASU lost, but At least no one was wrongfully ejected? Small victories are important on a weekend like this one.
Sunday’s series finale was kicked off on a high note, with ASU legend and all-time home run leader Barry Bonds addressing the team before the game. Bonds’ speech led to a robust offensive afternoon for Arizona State, but the pitching staff yielded two touchdowns and a field goal. Next time Barry should consider bringing a legendary pitcher along with him.
Of course, there are positives to take away from the sweep. Cam Magee stayed hot at the plate, while Joe Lampe and Jacob Tobias kept up a nice pace with multiple hits and RBIs. Adam Tulloch bounced back with a decent start and resembled his early season self in five innings on the bump. It’s certainly not where he wants to be, but if he can finish as he started, his 2022 campaign can still be considered a success.
In a must-win game that seemed like its 10th of that nature, Arizona State pummeled host Santa Clara on Monday afternoon to ensure at least one win on the road trip. Boyd Vander Kooi looked sharp on the mound, with Jared Glenn providing dominant innings in relief. An offensive onslaught came early and often from ASU. A 10 run ninth inning gave them a 21-0 lead, almost putting up the most improbable weekend positive run differential of all time. Whether or not some frustration from Stanford carried them 25 miles south won’t matter in the box score, but if they can channel that level of play this week, they’ll be in good shape.
With the season nearly two-thirds through, Arizona State is running out of time to shed the mediocre identity that its record dictates. This year wasn’t supposed to be Omaha, but it definitely wasn’t supposed to be as tumultuous as this.
