“Better to win ugly than lose pretty.”
Willie Bloomquist’s opening remark following a Saturday marathon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, featuring 27 runs and 33 hits combined from Arizona State and Santa Clara, served as the simplest sum-up of an otherwise chaotic day at the ballpark. Despite seeing his Sun Devils let go of a six-run lead to a gritty Broncos squad, ASU managed to resurface and rattle off a 14-13 win over SC, clinching the opening series of 2024.
“No lead is safe, ever, especially here at Muni,” Bloomquist noted. “It’s one of those ballparks that you must score and keep scoring. When you have a lead, you can’t let up.”
Where the weather was gorgeous in the Valley, the ball flew all over the yard as the Sun Devils and Broncos battled it out for nine hard-fought innings. After plating two runs in the first, ASU felt the brunt of a Santa Clara team that had no intention of going down looking, as the Broncos brought around four runs in the second off starter Connor Markl.
Ensuring the debutant’s confidence, ASU’s bats would pick up Markl with an outrageous third inning, passing the baton 12 times to score eight runs in the frame. After a leadoff walk to Ryan Campos, Jacob Tobias, Kevin Karstetter, Isaiah Jackson, and Brandon Compton would lead the merry-go-round with consecutive hits to bring in the first four runs of the turn off, of hard-throwing left-hander Brandon Gomez. Having depleted much of the Bronco bullpen in an 11-run effort on Friday, SC tried to ride Gomez through the trouble to no avail, as walks to Steven Ondina and Harris Williams would load the bases for a grand slam off the bat of Nu’u Contrades, capping off the crooked number inning to chase Gomez from the game and stake Markl to a 10-4 lead after three innings.
“Came out and swung the bats great again off another capable arm of theirs,” Bloomquist complimented. “Had a good approach offensively and stuck with it.”
“We’re a really good offensive team, and our pitchers understand that, so they just go in there and pound the zone,” Isaiah Jackson added. “They understand if they give up a couple of runs, we’ll go get them back. It’s a good help for them.”
Despite filling the zone with consistency off the support of his offense, the senior transfer from GCU surrendered five base hits and would be pulled from the contest in the fourth after allowing five runs in a disappointing start to the season for the left-hander. Markl’s struggles on the mound would be shared throughout the afternoon by other veteran arms as well, as both Sean Fitzpatrick and Matt Tieding couldn’t slow down the Bronco bats, while the ASU gloves faltered for three errors to help SC compile eight runs in the middle innings to erase ASU’s 10-4 advantage by the bottom of the sixth, where the Broncos would bring a 12-11 lead.
“That team over there is a veteran team,” Bloomquist mentioned. “They know how to hit, they know how to fight, they’re never out of a game. But we gave them some extra outs there that didn’t help. From that standpoint, wasn’t very good defensively. We didn’t pitch it as well as we’re capable of. We didn’t do our job behind them defensively as well as I would’ve liked to. We got some things to clean up on the bump.”
“We made some good pitches; some guys just got hit,” Cole Carlo continued. “Overall, we did a good job throwing strikes and attacking the zone.”
Continuing the theme of picking up their pitching, ASU wasted no time getting the runs back in the bottom half, as Jacob Tobias led off the frame with a solo home run, his second in as many games this season, to even the score. After Karstetter drew a walk, Isaiah Jackson would step to the plate, hot off the heels of a three extra-base-hit night on Friday and already notching two singles on Saturday. Sticking with his aggressive approach from the day before, Jackson let it rip on the second pitch of the at-bat and sent a moonshot over the Whiteman Family Performance Center in the right field, putting ASU back in front, 14-12. The titanic blast was a perfect symbol of what’s been a breakout weekend for Jackson thus far, as his ever-growing confidence now in his sophomore year has enabled the offensive end to meet his already high defensive abilities.
“He’s doing outstanding,” Bloomquist said. “That’s what he’s capable of when he’s aggressive and stays balanced; he can hit the ball a long way. It’s fun to watch him break out offensively. He’s a guy that we’re going to need. Need him to be consistent throughout the year, and he’s started off great.”
“Our hitters got us,” Carlon added.
While SC nicked Adam Behrens for a run in the 7th to pull within one, the Sun Devil bullpen would finally stabilize and repay their hitter’s huge day on offense. Another GCU transfer, Hunter Omlid, took the ball in the eighth and stranded the tying run on second base on a game-saving running catch by Harris Williams in left field to preserve the Sun Devil lead. Holding onto the 14-13 slope by the skin of their teeth, the Sun Devils called on freshman left-hander Cole Carlon to get the save, something his teammates, very fond of Carlon’s vibrant personality and approach, saw as the energy spark needed to put the finishing touches on the game.
“I guess I’ve come out to be an energy guy,” Carlon joked. “I like it, it’s a lot of fun.”
Reinvigorating the Sun Devils after a lengthy afternoon on the diamond, Carlon dazzled with his mid-90s fastball to set the Broncos down in order in the ninth, notching his first career save and the series win for ASU with a chance to sweep on Sunday.
“It was incredible,” Carlon said with a smile. “Lot of fun. Happy to go out there and get the job done.”
“He (Carlon) and Hunter threw the ball well,” Bloomquist finished. “Didn’t give me any more of an ulcer today.”
For a team with plenty of question marks on the pitching front, Bloomquist sees the challenges of these first two games as starting points of improvement for his staff as they slowly work their way up to meet the offense’s elite level.
“We’re being tested, which is good. Certainly, today on having to bounce back. The roles will continue to evolve and form on the pitching staff. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but no job is safe. There will be competition throughout the year for innings. For guys that aren’t getting it done, people will get opportunities. Early, with our young staff, we’re going to have to deal with some growing pains a little bit. I’m confident they’ll figure it out, and we’ll get better.
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