Sun Devils sweep San Diego State with solid pitching and defense

(Photo: Xavier Litman/WCSN)

TEMPE – Last year, obtaining consistent quality starts from Arizona State baseball’s pitchers was a never-ending battle, with the program always struggling to get the necessary 27 outs.

In the opening weekend finale, ASU (3-0) not only managed to get 27 outs, but they also managed to do it without giving up any runs, defeating the Aztecs (0-3) 1-0. It is the first shutout under head coach Willie Bloomquist, and the first since March 28, 2021, when ASU shut out Washington state in a 9-0 win.

“We didn’t have a walk-off win or a shutout win last year, so we officially turn the page on that,” Bloomquist said. “For us to come out and put up that kind of performance from a defensive and pitching standpoint makes me happy.”

The starting pitcher tasked to complete the sweep for the Sun Devils was junior southpaw Timmy Manning. The Florida native had a tough act to follow, with the Friday starter Ross Dunn and the Saturday starter Khristian Curtis each succeeding to get through their outing without surrendering a run.

Manning not only succeeded in not giving up a run, but he might also have looked the best out of any starter this weekend. During preseason media availability, starting catcher Ryan Campos told reporters that Manning’s curveball was the “third nastiest pitch on the team.” On Sunday, it showed as Manning used the offspeed pitch as a setup or strikeout pitch.

“I didn’t have [the curveball] in the first two things,” Manning said. “I backed up that one and then hit the guy in the back. I just started ripping them off in the third, and the more I was out there, I just got more confidence in it.”

With the curveball struggling in the first two innings, Manning looked to his defense to help him make plays, none bigger than freshman center fielder Isaiah Jackson’s catch against the wall, arguably robbing a home run in the top of the second.

“I saw that inside fastball guy [and the] got hold of it,” Jackson said about his play in the second. “Usually, on lefties’ pull side, they have just a little bit of tail coming back to me. So I saw it well and just had to leap at the wall. I’m arguing with some people whether it went out or not. I still don’t know. But I got a good jump on it, so it felt great.”

After Jackson’s spectacular play, Manning settled in, retiring the next 10 batters and taking a no-hitter through five innings. Despite the no-hitter, Manning was on a strict pitch count with no expectations for a complete game.

In his sixth and final inning, the no-hitter was broken up by a double from junior infielder Caden Miller which was quickly followed by a single from junior outfielder Cade Carrigg. Facing his first trouble of the day, Manning was assigned junior two-way player Tj Fondtain as his final batter, and he struck him out.

Manning finished his first outing in the Maroon and Gold throwing 5 2/3 innings, giving up zero runs, only two hits, striking out six, and walking only one.

“That was a turning point in the game,” Bloomquist said of Manning’s final strikeout. “We felt that he could dig deep and give us one more hitter, and he did. He rose to the occasion and was outstanding. When he’s able to throw his breaking ball for a strike, kid is pretty tough. He did phenomenal today.”

Manning gave way to junior right-hander Christian Bodlovich, and with runners on first and second and two outs, Bodlovich succeeded in getting junior infielder Poncho Ruiz to fly out, ending the Aztecs’ first real scoring opportunity.

The Aztecs would then have scoring opportunities in the final three innings to close the game, getting a runner to third each time but failing to score. In total, ASU’s pitchers encountered nine at-bats with a runner on third base. Senior right-hander Jesse Wasinscott closed out the final 2 1/3 innings for the Sun Devils, and he was impressive.

In seven outs recorded for Wainscott, a whopping six of them were strikeouts, with a lot of his punchouts coming in high-pressure situations. With a one-run lead to protect, Wainscott began the ninth inning by giving up a leadoff triple to redshirt sophomore outfielder Shaun Montoya. In the highest pressure situation imaginable, Wainscott struck out the following two batters before getting the final batter to ground out, ending the game.

Despite only joining the Sun Devils last December, the Eastern Illinois transfer made such an impression that Bloomquist has been able to trust him with the closer role to open the season, a position Wainscott revels in.

“It means everything for me being an older guy and not having a fall with all the other guys,” Wainscott said. “It takes some time to get to know the guys’ everything, but you know, I came in and had a good preseason, and it just kind of helped my confidence going into the season and everything.”

The eight total runs the Sun Devil staff gave up this weekend was lower than any three-game series run total last year. It is a mark of how well Bloomquist was able to fix a pitching staff that was so broken last season. With no errors in the field and only one walk surrendered by the pitching staff, the Sun Devils’ managed to play clean baseball on opening weekend, a trend that has to continue throughout a tough non-conference schedule and an even tougher conference season.

“We’ve preached since day one, ‘don’t beat yourself,’” Bloomquist said. “We didn’t exactly beat the brakes off it offensively today. It was pretty dismal. But at the end of the day, we didn’t beat ourselves on the mound or defensively. We didn’t make an error the last two days, and we walked one hitter today. You don’t give up free bases, and you give yourself an opportunity to win games.”