(Photo: Sydni Griffin/WCSN)
After an impressive 4-0 start to begin the 2023 campaign, Arizona State Baseball traveled to Starkville to take on Mississippi State. In their first five games of the season, the Bulldogs lost games to VMI and Louisiana Monroe, a shaky start for one of the SEC’s most-improved programs.
The Sun Devils stayed undefeated to begin the series, getting off to a fast start thanks to junior infielder Luke Keaschall, who jumped on a 1-1 pitch in the first plate appearance of the weekend and hit a leadoff home run, leading to a 13-4 win on Friday.
But the Bulldogs returned to form over the final two games, with a pair of impressive pitching performances, allowing only four runs over the final 18 innings of play, improving to 5-3 while the Sun Devils dropped to 5-2.
Here are four takeaways from the series:
Sun Devil Offense Shines in Opener, Silenced Over Final Two Games
Over the first four games of the season, the Sun Devils rotation impressed, but head coach Willie Bloomquist harped on his team’s inability to create consistent run-scoring chances.
In the series opener against the Bulldogs, ASU’s lineup appeared to put those doubts to rest, scoring double-digit runs in a dominating 13-4 win. Keachall’s lead-off homer keyed a three-run first inning for the Sun Devils. Senior outfielder Wyatt Crenshaw extended his multi-hit game streak to five with a towering no-doubt two-run home run that extended ASU’s lead to 5-0 in the second inning.
Throughout the game, the Bulldog’s pitching staff struggled to find the strike zone, walking 12 batters and giving the Sun Devils plenty of free baserunners.
Despite the impressive start, ASU failed to maintain its offensive approach over the final two games of the series, scoring only four runs. One area that stood out as particularly glaring was the team’s strikeout total. In three games this weekend, the Sun Devils struck out 33 times.
Bloomquist decided to make a lineup change in the final game of the series, removing sophomore outfielder Will Rogers and freshman outfielder Isaiah Jackson from the batting order. They were a combined 1-for-18 at the plate with 13 strikeouts during the series.
Going forward, the Sun Devils will have to limit the punchouts in order to play at a high level offensively.
Luke Hill Continues to Thrive
While most of ASU’s lineup faltered following its 13-run explosion on Friday, freshman infielder Luke Hill remained consistent in the batter’s box throughout the entire series.
During the early stages of the season, there have been stretches in which fellow freshmen Nu’u Contrades and Isaiah Jackson have struggled to find their footing at the collegiate level. However, Hill has quickly emerged as a key offensive contributor for the Sun Devils, starting 2023 on a hot streak that he has yet to cool down from.
The Louisiana native was already effective at the dish coming into the weekend, going 7-11 at the plate with three RBI, three extra-base hits and two walks while striking out just once. Hill built on his early hitting success throughout ASU’s three-game series in Starkville with five hits, two RBI and his first collegiate home run in 12 total at-bats.
Starting the weekend batting eighth, Hill saw action at the seven-spot on Saturday before being promoted to fifth in the order for the final contest of the series. Bloomquist was rewarded for his lineup decision, as Hill contributed two hits and the aforementioned homer during ASU’s 16-3 loss on Sunday.
Going 1-2 in Starkville wasn’t what the Sun Devils wanted, but as far as individual performances are concerned, Hill continued to stand out.
Bullpen Has Up-And-Down Second Weekend
ASU’s pitching staff has been arguably the most-improved area of the program to begin the season. The stars of the staff have been the starters, who opened the season going 22.1 straight innings without conceding a run, but the ASU bullpen has been asked to carry the brunt of the workload due to the starters being on inning limits early in the season.
In the first game of the series against Mississippi State, the bullpen was once again asked to pitch the majority of the game after junior southpaw Ross Dunn threw just 3.2 innings. Provided a large cushion thanks to the offensive explosion, the bullpen threw mostly low-leverage innings in the win. Junior righty Owen Stevenson, who is expected to join the starting rotation at some point, was the only pitcher who gave up a run on the night, going three innings and surrendering four earned.
On what was an overall negative night for the Sun Devils, the second game of the series saw the bullpen shine in arguably its best outing of the season. Junior righty Khristian Curtis struggled in his 3.2 innings, snapping the starters’ scoreless streak by surrendering five earned runs.
But the ASU bullpen was lights out following his departure. Junior right-handed pitcher Matt Tieding dazzled, throwing three scoreless innings and not allowing a single hit. The bullpen combined to throw 4.1 scoreless innings only surrendering two hits and no walks.
Unfortunately for ASU, the rubber match of the series saw the bullpen surrender 10 runs. After junior lefty Timmy Manning struggled out of the gate, Tieding was called on to try and repeat his performance from the previous night. Instead, he recorded just one out and gave up three earned runs to the four batters he faced. Seven pitchers later, the Sun Devils ended the night surrendering 16 earned runs on 15 hits and five walks.
The weekend overall was up and down for the Sun Devil bullpen. They flashed solid stuff, but ultimately fell apart in the final game of the series.
Starters’ Scoreless Streak Snapped at 22.1 Innings
One of the many questions ASU was faced with at the beginning of the season was how an almost fully-overhauled starting rotation would fare. With three newcomers — junior left-hander Ross Dunn (Florida State), junior righty Khristian Curtis (Texas A&M) and junior southpaw Timmy Manning (Florida) — slated to fill the Sun Devils’ weekend roles, it was unclear what kind of results the rotation would yield.
ASU’s starters wasted no time getting into a groove. Three shutout opening-weekend performances from the aforementioned trio set the tone for junior right-hander Josh Hansell. Usually a reliever, Hansell got the nod for the Sun Devils’ midweek game against UNLV and didn’t disappoint, striking out three while only allowing two men to reach base in 3.0 scoreless innings of work.
This momentum carried over to Starkville, where Dunn notched four strikeouts and once again conceded no runs. Dunn’s exit from the game in the fourth marked 20 innings without ASU starters allowing a run.
But the streak was snapped the following afternoon with Curtis back on the mound, as it only took the Bulldogs two innings to finally break through. Curtis’ second start on the mound wasn’t nearly as strong as his debut — the Texas native struggled with control and allowed four hits, five walks and five earned runs in 3.2 innings on the bump.
Manning’s Sunday start didn’t go much better. In 3.0 innings of work, the former Florida Gator conceded six hits and six of Mississippi State’s 16 runs on the day.
While this past weekend wasn’t the best for ASU’s starters, the strong start to the season should be an encouraging sign for a pitching staff that desperately needed improvement after a disastrous 2022 season.
