ASU Baseball: Sun Devils fall 7-5 to GCU in emotional contest

(Photo: Joey Plishka/WCSN)

Arizona State Baseball sophomore right-handed pitcher Jared Glenn had Grand Canyon sophomore infielder Jacob Wilson in a two-strike count with a runner on. One more strike and ASU would escape the sixth inning tied with the Antelopes, possessing huge momentum after erasing a two-run deficit in the previous inning.

However, the WAC Player of the Week had other plans.

Wilson hit a rocket over right field, with no doubt in his mind that he had given the Antelopes the lead. The homer would deflate the Sun Devils, who hadn’t allowed GCU to string along any at-bats on the night. Wilson rounded third base, yelling toward his club’s dugout in celebration as he put the nail in the coffin for the crosstown showdown.

ASU couldn’t finish out GCU batters all night. Multiple times, ASU had the count in its favor but was not able to capitalize. Wilson and the Antelopes took advantage of the Sun Devils’ inability to put down their bats.

The GCU sophomore came into Tuesday on a 13-game hitting streak, and in his last five games, he was hitting 18-23 – .723 – with 13 RBI. His confidence coming into the game led to a four-RBI performance that gave GCU the win over ASU 7-5.

“I don’t like to lose,” ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “It bothers me when we lose, and I don’t care what the expectations of other people are. I expect to win. I expect this program to win and be successful, so I carry the losses very tough.”

The Sun Devils had redshirt junior left-hander Adam Tulloch on the mound, where he started his outing similar to how he ended his last one: bad.

His start in Corvallis on Friday against Oregon State saw him earn seven runs in 1.2 innings, and his start on Tuesday saw him only go a frame, where he allowed three runs.

“[Tulloch] hasn’t been as stellar as he’s been,” Bloomquist said. “He’s got tremendous stuff, and it’s just a matter of getting his mind right.”

Tulloch lacked control of the zone on Tuesday, uncharacteristic walking batters and loading up the bases for Wilson to take advantage of. The Thousand Oaks, Calif. native smoked a ball towards right field that hit the top of the wall before bouncing back in. GCU would still capitalize, driving in two runs to grab the 2-0 lead early.

Like the rest of the game for ASU pitchers, Tulloch couldn’t finish batters. He had his first four in two-strike counts. A sac fly later, and GCU extended their lead 3-0 at the end of the first side of the game.

“There’s going to be little bumps in the road along the way in a season,” Bloomquist said. “I just hope this is a minor speed bump for him and he gets back on the horse.”

ASU didn’t let GCU have much breathing room, as sophomore infielder Ethan Long hit a two-run home run to make it a 3-2 contest in the bottom of the first inning. His second dinger of the year came in similar fashion to what began his hot streak during his freshman campaign.

Long hit his second home run in 2021 against GCU before hitting 15 home runs in 15 games. Long would homer later in the game for a second time.

“Approach is to always hit it where it’s pitch,” Long said. “They were throwing me away all game, but I got two of them.”

Both teams allowed no runs in the second and third inning but in different fashions. For GCU, they had right-hander sophomore Carter Young, who, after allowing the two-run shot to Long, dialed in and fanned batters, retiring ten straight. For ASU, it was sophomore right-hander Christian Bodlovich, who was a lot less clean.

Bodlovich had two runners on in both frames, fitting the theme of ASU not being able to put away batters in favorable counts. Despite that, the right-hander still escaped both jams with no runs allowed. The unorthodox “bend, don’t break” approach by Bodlovich saw GCU leave seven batters on base after three innings.

ASU junior right-hander Chase Webster came in for relief for Bodlovich and, similar to his predecessor, couldn’t finish two-strike counts. However, this time GCU was able to take advantage with an RBI single, extending the Antelopes’ lead to 4-2 after the fourth inning.

“To me, a lot of it is just a mindset,” Bloomquist said of the bullpen struggles. “Attacking the strike zone, and these guys are capable of doing it.”

During this time, the Sun Devils’ bats were still struggling to get to Young, as the Antelopes were close to flawless through four, not making any mistake for ASU to take advantage of.

That was until the fifth inning.

After a dropped fly ball that put ASU sophomore outfielder Kai Murphy on second base, ASU’s bats came to life after going silent through the first half of the game. The self-inflicted mistake by GCU was enough for freshman catcher Ryan Campos to step up for ASU and take full advantage by hitting an RBI single, cutting the Antelopes’ lead to 4-3.

Sophomore outfielder Joe Lampe was able to keep the run going with a deep double to the center field gap. Campos dashed from first base to a close play at the plate that saw the freshman just beat the throw, tying the game at four and throwing some fire into the Sun Devils’ dugout.

ASU had a chance to steal the lead from GCU with runners on second and third base, but a 3-0 count turned into a full count strikeout by graduate infielder Conor Davis that ended the sudden burst by the Sun Devils.

The game then became identical to many previous games for the Sun Devils, who would see their bullpen not be able to hold off opposing batters. The next frame saw the Wilson two-run homer to give GCU a 6-4 lead. Glenn’s confidence seemed shaken as the Antelopes tacked on another run to leave the frame with a three-run lead of 7-4.

Long would get his second homer in the eighth inning to cut the deficit 7-5, but more memorable was what happened after the ball left the yard. As the ASU sophomore was rounding third, he talked to the GCU pitcher and then the catcher as he passed home plate, which riled up both dugouts.

“I was going into home, a little fired up [because] we’re losing [and] we shouldn’t be,” Long said. “I don’t really take any crap from anybody. I just told them that they ‘don’t deserve to be on the same field as us.’ He didn’t really like that.”

The majority of Antelopes’ bullpen ran into the infield before being waved to go back by the coaching staff, who was trying to save the pen from any ejection. Both clubs controlled their players before any conflict happened that could’ve seen severe consequences.

“You have a field full of alpha male types of personalities,” Bloomquist said. “I am not real thrilled when our guys use their mouths and chirp. I rather they go perform and play.”

After the antics from Long and GCU players, the adrenaline seemed to die down as both teams went dead during their at-bats for the rest of the game. In the final frame, ASU was able to gain a runner on third base, but again weren’t able to capitalize, losing the crosstown showdown 7-5.

“I do point the finger straight at myself,” Bloomquist said. “There is enough talent in there to be good. In my opinion, I still think there is a chance to do something special, but we got to get better, and it starts with me being able to coach these guys better.”

Bloomquist could be heard screaming from the locker room as a clear sign of passion from the first-year head coach who hates losses. He believes that the Sun Devils’ struggles are all mental.

Emotionally, the team is seemingly in a hard place.

Junior right-handed pitcher Will Levine was visibly upset after the game speaking to the media, taking the loss hard, but sees ASU getting through this together.

“We’re going to stick together first and foremost,” Levine said. “This is a tight group of guys, and we’re going to get this thing right, whatever it takes.”

Thus, it leaves ASU 9-13 and lost, looking for answers to turn around its season heading into its first home Pac-12 Conference series against Washington this weekend.

“If losing becomes the norm, I will walk away,” Bloomquist said. “If that ever becomes a stale thing: ‘Oh we lost another game,’ then it’s time for me to move along and find something else.”