ASU Baseball: Late Homers Save Sweep Over USC 9-8 After Blown Lead

(Photo: Joey Plishka/WCSN)

Sophomore outfielder Joe Lampe experienced a roller coaster of a game on Saturday afternoon for Arizona State Baseball. He tripled early to aid the early offensive push for the Sun Devils, establishing a five-run lead. But then, a costly error in the outfield allowed two runs in a stretch that saw USC score eight straight, stealing control from ASU.

Mental mistakes on the field and the mound was aligning to put a damper on an impressive weekend for ASU. However, Lampe stayed motivated by the blown lead and remained ready to step up big in the eighth inning to fix his costly error. The sophomore would succeed in his efforts, hitting a two-run home run over the right-field wall to steal the series finale from USC and secure ASU the sweep in a 9-8 win.

“Yeah, no doubt,” Lampe said on if this was the best moment in his career at ASU. “We needed a sweep, and I know we needed a sweep. So, being able to get that hit was awesome.”

The story heading into Saturday’s matchup was how compelling the Sun Devils’ bats had been the past four games. Fifty-three total runs – an average of 13 runs a game – subsided all of ASU’s problems for the moment. However, those issues would rear their ugly head once again for the Sun Devils, looking to be a repeat of the many similar outcomes earlier in the year.

“That was an emotional roller coaster,” ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “I was super proud of these guys for continuing to battle, not give in, be resilient, and [make it so] good things can happen.”

Both opposing pitchers faced resistance early to start the game, with multiple runners in scoring position in the first two frames. For ASU junior left-hander Adam Tulloch, the solid defensive presence of his infield – with sophomore infielders Sean McLain and Ethan Long both recording impressive double plays in the first and second respectively – allowed ASU to escape with no runs surrendered early.

The Sun Devils’ bats opened strong with the bases loaded in the first inning, but USC sophomore right-hander Charlie Hurley composed himself and did not allow a run. Hurley and Tulloch steered through the short turbulence, but the USC right-hander would soon succumb to hot ASU bats that continued their scorching offensive efforts.

Lampe extended his hit streak to six games in the third inning with a triple to open the frame. He wouldn’t wait long as McLain hit an RBI single on the first pitch to give ASU its first lead of the game 1-0.

Graduate student infielder Conor Davis kept the momentum going, smoking a ball to the left-field line that the USC third baseman could not control, which led to a double and the runner from first scoring to make it 2-0 ASU. Freshman catcher Ryan Campos was able to squeak an RBI single to left field before the Trojans could get out of the inning down 3-0.

“We have a really good [lineup],” Campos said. “When we all have the same goals, getting it to the next guy, [and] it’s a really scary nine.”

Tulloch, during this time, looked how he was at the beginning of the 2022 season, dominating through USC batters. The West Virginia transfer was slicing through batters, retiring six straight at one point and fanning two of them during that stretch. Tulloch was seen as the Sun Devils’ ace at the beginning of the year before a horrid Oregon State start that began a stint of consistently bad outings for the left-hander.

“[Tulloch] made a step in the right direction,” Bloomquist said. “He threw the ball better. It came out better and with more conviction. Trusted his changeup a little bit better today, [and] locating better as a whole.”

The bottom of the fourth inning saw ASU adds two runs off of zero hits. The cause was Hurley showcasing a lack of control after a rough third. After walking the bases loaded, the Trojan right-hander was able to recover similar to the beginning of the game as a sac fly and a wild pitch later saw the ASU lead extend to 5-0.

“It just knows what you want,” Campos said of the Sun Devils’ different ways of scoring runs. “Obviously, [Hurley] is trying to make his pitches, and more often, if he’s making his pitch, you don’t want to swing at it. So, it’s being disciplined. It’s that fine line.”

The Sun Devils were in the driver seat with all facets of the game clicking, but the Trojans began an eight-run surge. Tulloch would start to taper off, falling back into the bad habits in previous starts. He would open the USC side in the fifth, allowing a walk, double and another walk to load the bases.

USC sophomore infielder D’Andre Smith sneaked a single down the gap in the middle of the infield to drive in two runs, putting USC on the board down 5-2. That would be the end of Tulloch’s start, an encouraging one that ended in an undesirable way.

“I know [Tulloch] wanted to keep going,” Bloomquist said. “We just felt like at that point in time that he may be starting to lose steam. We didn’t want to take him from a positive performance into a negative one.”

The streak would continue for USC in the sixth inning, as it got two runners on early. Then, a costly error later by Lampe, who fumbled a routine outfield hit, allowed both runners to score, closing the gap 5-4.

“I kind of felt like we started giving some at-bats away offensively, and I felt like the intensity died down a little bit like we had this game won,” Bloomquist said. “I felt it, and maybe that’s why I got a little frustrated because I sense the momentum [shifting]. Then we miss a pop-up and start to play poorly, and I’m like, ‘Man, [we] went from happy weekend to ass-chewing time after this game,'”

ASU was on the ropes, and the seventh inning was the same story, with two runners getting on early for USC, leading to a sac groundout which tied the game at five. It wouldn’t be that way for long as the eighth frame saw the USC bats top off their offensive attack with a three-run inning, highlighted by a two-run RBI double by Trojan sophomore outfielder Rhylan Thomas which gave USC an 8-5 lead.

Bloomquist thought the Trojans were finished, but they slowly worked their way back into the game, and the first-year coach learned the necessity of keeping that pressure on the opponents.

“Tip your hat to [USC],” Bloomquist said. “I figured they were dead in the water after getting down five and losing the previous two games. They battled back and put us on the defensive.”

Bloomquist didn’t say a single word to the team despite the blown lead because he saw his players doing it themselves. So, when the bottom of the eighth inning came, Bloomquist wasn’t surprised when ASU came out firing on all cylinders.

The Sun Devils attacked the Trojans’ pitching, which wasn’t apparent in the previous three innings. It would lead to freshman designated hitter Jacob Tobias hitting a two-run home run to make the game intriguing at 8-7 USC. Then, after a double by sophomore catcher Nate Baez, Lampe would step up to the plate for his two-run homer, redeeming himself and ASU after an almost disastrous performance.

“I knew it had the distance, but I thought it was foul,” Lampe chuckled. “It was nice to see it get out of here, that’s for sure, just standing there watching for a second.”

During Thursday’s game, Lampe faced the USC reliever – sophomore right-hander Matt Keating – who allowed his home run and struck out.

He happy to get his revenge on Saturday.

“I knew I wanted a piece of him again because I knew I wasn’t going to be a sucker for that slider,” Lampe said.

ASU, during the 2022 season, has gone on multiple three-game winning streaks before dropping the fourth one disappointingly. However, Saturday’s game was different for the Sun Devils, as they secured their fourth-straight win heading into a midweek one-off against CSUN. Next, they travel down to Tucson for a tough series against in-state rival Arizona.

“I don’t know if I would ever say I’m ‘excited’ to go to Tucson,” Bloomquist said. “I’ll just go and throw that out there. We got to take care of business on Tuesday certainly, but after Tuesday, we’ll start planning for UofA. I’m sure that’ll be an emotional series, as well.”