(Photo: Josh Eaton/WCSN)
PHOENIX – It didn’t feel like baseball season at all.
Arizona’s springtime beauty was hidden for much of the day leading up to Arizona State’s night matchup against Omaha.
The sun refused to show its face, hiding behind clouds that offered a smattering of rain throughout the early afternoon. The uncharacteristic cool and gusty atmosphere of the Valley persisted into gametime at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
“We’ve had 80-degree weather the past two weeks,” Sun Devils head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “Then, we get to play, and we get this cloudy BS tonight, which kind of pissed me off a little bit.”
ASU’s offense, chomping at the bit to get the season started off right, seemed to channel the anger of its skipper–taking itout on the pitchers standing 60-feet-six inches away.
The windy conditions, demonstrated by the United States and Arizona flags blowing aggressively inward, resulted in the runs at Muni being scored in a different fashion than what one might usually expect from the bandbox. Still, they all counted the same.
Situational hitting, baserunning and overall small-ball tactics – supplemented by three strong pitching performances and good defense – were king in helping ASU (1-0) start the season off on the right foot Friday night, beating Omaha 7-2 and withstanding low 60s temperatures to replace any potential frustration with joy.
“We’ve been preaching to these guys early on in the season,” Bloomquist said. “The ball at night usually doesn’t go as well as it does when we start hitting March, April, late March and April. We’ll take advantage of it now, and we’ll have to get creative on ways to win.”
A season ago, the Sun Devils relied on extra-base hits, finishing fourth in the Big 12 Conference in home runs with 87, and first in doubles, with their 139 total being 12 higher than second-placed Arizona. In the season opener, the conditions helped to limit them to three, all doubles.
The second two-bagger served as a turning point for ASU.
Redshirt junior designated hitter Garrett Michel led off the fifth inning with a double over the head of Omaha right fielder Joey Craig, allowing his teammates to “get creative,” as Bloomquist put it, and take advantage of the few and far between extra-base knocks.
A bloop single to right off the bat of junior shortstop PJ Moutzouridis advanced Michel to third, setting up redshirt sophomore catcher Brody Briggs to drive him in with a sacrifice fly to center field, breaking the game’s 1-1 tie, and giving the Sun Devils a lead they would never give away.
“At the end of the day, we had some good at-bats,” Bloomquist said. “Scored runs when we needed to. Overall, I think our approach needs to improve a little bit from staying out underneath the zone.”
When the ASU lineup was able to stick to its approach, good things happened, even if the weather prohibited the full potential of big hits.
Redshirt junior second baseman Nu’u Contrades stayed steady throughout the night, reaching base four times, but fell victim to the conditions in the sixth inning.
The team captain got a pitch to hit to lead off the frame, and didn’t miss it, driving the ball to deep left-center field. The sound of the bat should’ve signified a home run, but when Contrades came to a stop, it was at second base.
Postgame, Contrades claimed, with a sly smile on his face, that he didn’t know if the wind got to that one. Bloomquist, on the other hand, was more willing to outright blame the conditions.
“We definitely hit probably three that I can think of that would’ve gotten out of here on a normal night,” Bloomquist said.
Once again, though, the Sun Devils were able to play small-ball to drive in a run, advancing Contrades to third on a flyout before Michel was able to bring him home by poking the ball through the drawn-in infield.
Small-ball was truly the name of the game, and arguably no one embraced the style of play more than Moutzouridis, who was part of a three-run spree in the eighth to give ASU some insurance.
Moutzouridis started it off by knocking in Contrades, who reached on a hit-by-pitch, with an infield single that slowly rolled to third base – the third hit of his night. He then took advantage of his speed and smarts, taking off from first base before stopping, drawing a throw to second base that went into the outfield and allowed first baseman Dominic Smaldino to score, before scoring himself on a Briggs single.
“When the wind’s not really blowing out, and homers aren’t really carrying,” Moutzouridis said. “It’s more staying low line drive and causing chaos on the basepaths. As long as we kept doing that, putting pressure on them, it’s a good spot for us.”
Contrades gave Moutzouridis a good blueprint to follow when he got the scoring started in the second, after a throwing error on a steal attempt of third allowed him to cross the plate.
The middle infield duo was a key cog on the defensive side of the ball, as well, linking together to help junior right-handed reliever Alex Overbay get ASU out of an eighth-inning jam.
With runners on first and second, only one out and a run already scored in the half-inning courtesy of a fielder’s choice, things had the potential to get out of hand. Instead, Overbay was able to induce a groundball to Contrades, who was making his collegiate debut at second base.
The veteran stayed calm and made the play, feeding the ball to Moutzouridis, who then fired the ball to first, forming the pair’s first double play.
“It was awesome,” Moutzouridis said. “Nu’u’s a phenomenal player, works really hard, so it’s pretty easy to go with him.”
The defense was nearly flawless, committing just one error on the night and making several difficult plays to help out the pitching staff, which was only required to go three-deep.
Junior left-handed pitcher Cole Carlon made his first career Friday night start after his 3.33 ERA led him to be one of college baseball’s best relievers a season ago. He only allowed one run through five, striking out just three, but avoiding hard contact for the most part.
Overbay and junior RHP Derek Schaefer, who finished off the game in the ninth, only added to Carlon’s strong start, pitching four innings of one-run baseball and creating a high standard for the bullpen to live up to over the rest of the weekend.
“Those guys are unbelievable pitchers,” Carlon said. “I knew that they were going to come in and shut the door behind me. Being able to finally watch them again in a game, it was just really cool to see. We’ll see it throughout the weekend; our whole staff will be like that.”
Quality and fundamentals in all aspects of the game won the Sun Devils the season opener, and the team will need to be sure to remember that going forward. Eventually, the home run atmosphere will arrive at Muni, and pitchers, on occasion, will be able to cruise through lineups with their strikeout stuff, but when the going gets tough, the ability to return to the basics is often a necessary one.
For now, though, ASU will just soak this one in.
“It’s college baseball, man,” Bloomquist said. “You got to enjoy the wins. It’s tough to win games in college; that’s the college landscape. I’m happy that these guys are excited.”
