(Photo: Paige Cook/WCSN)
TEMPE – The beginning of Arizona State Baseball head coach Willie Bloomquist’s tenure wasn’t the only debut on Friday night.
Graduate first baseman Conor Davis made his first start in an ASU uniform after missing all of 2021 due to a torn ACL. In his first at-bat in nearly two years, Davis did something that could only be described as poetic.
“In that first at-bat, I saw the slider well,” Davis said. “I was like, ‘If I see it down, I’m not gonna swing but if he lets it hang, I’m gonna let it rip.’
“Thankfully he let it hang.”
After falling behind in the count, Davis popped a 376-foot home run over the left field wall at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, part of what ended up being a 2-for-4 night for him.
“It’s been an emotional day and week,” Davis said. “I don’t know if it’s the universe working in crazy ways for me but I’m just blessed to be back out here. I’m just excited, and to be back out here with all these guys feeling success just makes me happier.”
Davis’ magic moment helped the Sun Devils notch their first win of the new season on opening night against Dixie State, topping the Trailblazers 3-1. Redshirt junior left-handed pitcher Adam Tulloch also made his first appearance in an ASU uniform after pitching coach Sam Peraza gave him the Friday night nod earlier in the week.
The transfer from West Virginia proceeded to twirl 4.1 hitless innings before being replaced by redshirt sophomore right-hander Christian Bodlovich in the fifth.
Tulloch punched out seven – and struck out the side in the first – while allowing just two walks.
“It was awesome,” Tulloch said. “This place got pretty packed tonight, it was a cool experience. You put in a lot of hard work for this and it’s nice to see how the results pay off.”
The bullpen had its first true test of the year from that point forward, and it didn’t falter. Bodlovich and redshirt junior right-hander Will Levine in particular stood out on the night, teaming up for 4.1 innings of one-run ball.
Levine inherited an eighth inning jam after sophomore right-hander Brock Peery only managed to get one out and left two men aboard. Levine retired the next two hitters and exited the frame unscathed.
He did give up an RBI single to sophomore outfielder Keith Davis – which proved to be Dixie State’s only run of the night with two outs in the ninth – but Levine notched the save. The Sun Devils held the Trailblazers to just four hits on the night.
“That’s why you play the game,” Levine said. “It seemed like I was the only one that wasn’t nervous. I was the only one besides my teammates that knew I had it.”
Outside of the two-run second inning, the Sun Devils struggled mightily to bring runs home offensively. ASU had tangible run-scoring chances in the third, fifth and sixth but stranded a pair in each of those opportunities.
The most crucial opportunity came in the eighth, where both redshirt sophomore catcher Nate Baez and redshirt sophomore outfielder Kai Murphy reached and were stranded after both redshirt sophomore second baseman Sean McLain and center fielder Joe Lampe struck out. Eleven runners were left on base at the end of the night, something Bloomquist is confident won’t continue.
“We got to do a better job with situational hitting,” Bloomquist said. “We did get some base runners but I think we are capable of swinging the bats better than we did tonight. All in all we’ll take the win.
“I’m confident in our offense. We’re gonna score runs and we’re gonna get things right.”
Freshman designated hitter Jacob Tobias – who went 2-for-4 with a double in his collegiate debut – advanced to first on a dropped third-strike that turned into a wild pitch in the fifth, allowing Lampe to score the third and final ASU run.
Regardless, the win was special for Bloomquist, whose family was in attendance among the 3,193 fans who showed up for the opener.
While the new head coach is focused on Saturday, he knows moments like Friday don’t come around often.
“It was very special,” Bloomquist said. “There was a lot of support and a lot of messages on the phone today from people who were wishing us luck and excited for this to start. I’m excited, I’m gonna celebrate tonight but we gotta get geared up for tomorrow.”
