Willie Bloomquist didn’t hold anything back following Saturday’s blowout loss. The Sun Devil skipper watched his team get swept by BYU, with the matinee finale resembling a beatdown that he and his former ASU teammates used to give other teams.
“It was embarrassing, one of the more embarrassing things I think I’ve been a part of on a baseball field,” Bloomquist said. “My disappointment meter is at 100 if we lose by one like last night or if we lose by 20 like today, but today we did not put our best foot forward. It’s on me; we have to get better.”
In each contest for Arizona State this season, at least one component of the Sun Devils’ game has gone awry. Usually, it’s the bullpen, sometimes it’s the offense, but until Saturday, it hadn’t been the starting pitching. That changed in the top of the first when Josh Hansell was tagged for five runs on as many hits. On a day when Arizona State badly needed a win, it was effectively buried after three innings as BYU cruised to a 19-3 victory at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
“Today was really our first bad start; it got away from us so early we couldn’t use our guys,” pitching coach Sam Peraza said. “What they have to understand is that if you throw today out the window, they’ve actually thrown the ball really well. We’ve had some mishaps on the back end of the game, but our starters have been terrific.
The bullpen was inconsequential Saturday in a game of this margin, but Peraza acknowledged the unit had been an issue, especially with command.
“I think guys have been really too amped up,” he said. “We’ve taxed our bullpen a little bit; I think what can help is getting established roles. They may know when they’re coming in better, and that will help them prepare.”
The Cougars paraded around the bases in the first and second innings with little resistance. They jumped ahead 4-0 before ASU recorded an out and added a fifth on a sac fly. Bloomquist pulled Hansell after one ugly inning, but Jacob Walker didn’t fare much better in the second frame. He surrendered three runs on a booming double and sharp single.
Facing an uphill battle from the jump, the Sun Devil bats remained cold all afternoon on Saturday. Aside from the 17 run explosion in last week’s season finale against Dixie State, ASU hasn’t scored more than five runs in any game and has consistently failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position. This afternoon, they failed to put more than one runner on base in all but the third and seventh innings and scored their lone run in the third.
“This is a tough game, but these guys should have extremely high expectations,” Travis Buck said. “Every time they step in between the white lines, they gotta compete. We’re hoping this is a turning point early on. It’s a very confident bunch; it’s gonna bring us a lot closer.”
One of the main things the new coaching staff has preached throughout the fall and early spring is the pride that should come with wearing the Arizona State uniform. Buck starred for the Sun Devils during the prosperous years of 2003-2005 and said this type of weekend should be unacceptable.
“I don’t think we ever once got swept when I was wearing this uniform usually; we’re the ones doing the sweeping,” he said. “We can’t want it more than the players. I didn’t see much pride today representing the maroon and gold. It hurts as a coach because we can only do so much; it’s gotta come from within them.”
Believe it or not, there were some positives to take away from this hideous loss. Boyd Vander Kooi tossed two shutout innings and continues to ramp up coming off last season’s Tommy John surgery. The right-hander will be a massive addition to both the bullpen and the starting rotation when he is ready to take on a full and consistent workload.
Andrew Lucas came in following Vander Kooi and threw two scoreless frames of his own. He was lifted in the eighth after walking two to lead off the inning.
“He’s just a competitor,” Peraza said of Vander Kooi. “We’re starting to stretch him out; I think we can get him three innings as soon as next weekend in San Diego.”
After going 3-4 in the season’s first seven games, things don’t get easier for ASU. In fact, they get remarkably more arduous. Oklahoma State comes to town this week, and the No. 3 ranked Cowboys will be licking their chops to face both a struggling lineup and an especially thin midweek pitching staff. After a disappointing start, the Sun Devils will soon learn exactly what they’re made of.
This culture needs to change; it needs to get better,” Bloomquist said. “Because that’s not acceptable.”
