(Photo: Reece Andrews/WCSN)
At some point during the inaugural Pac-12 Conference Baseball Tournament in Scottsdale this week, a pitcher from one of the teams present will be faced with a situation he doesn’t want to be in. There may be men on base against him, or a thunderous hitter at the plate. His arm may be wearing down, or the crowd or the opponent’s dugout may be chirping loudly.
It’s the type of scenario that can make the mind weary, or trigger sweat to drip down one’s head.
Except, in Arizona, that drip could be more like a fountain.
The heat of the southwest’s desert is what Arizona State Baseball, which enters the tournament as the No. 8 seed – the lowest one attainable – believes could be its biggest home field advantage entering Wednesday’s midday date with No. 1 seed Stanford.
As a result, the Sun Devils are asking to not be labeled as underdogs.
“We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity all season,” ASU redshirt sophomore outfielder Joe Lampe said. “The pressure of this tournament is going to be easy for us. I think we’re going to handle it really well.”
ASU redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Kyle Luckham added: “We’re going in like we have a chance to make a Regional, which we do. We know what’s at stake and that we have to win it. It’s a fearless mentality.”
ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist seems to agree with his center fielder and starting pitching.
“[The players have] responded all year long,” he said. “When you think things can’t get any worse, they have bounced back – ‘I can play better.’ I’m obviously hopeful that that is the case based on how we finished up [against Washington State]. But these guys have been able to bounce back and prove people wrong time and time again and hopefully that’ll be the case at the end of the tournament.”
Bloomquist didn’t cite the heat as one of the reasons why he believes ASU has a chance to save its 2022 season by winning the bracket. He said the Sun Devils have missed opportunities throughout the year to play their best baseball, whether it be due to a lack of focus or simply not playing up to their best ability.
“At times we have played up to our potential but for an extended period of time we have not,” Bloomquist said. “When we do play up to our capability, we’re with anyone. There’s no better time to get hot than right now. [And] we have to get hot right now.”
If that occurs, Bloomquist says, it’s a recipe for success throughout the entire weekend.
“Everything that has happened in the past is in the rearview,” Bloomquist said. “There’s nothing you can do about it.”
Lampe added: “I know that our pitchers have totally wiped out everything that has happened and that our hitters have wiped out everything that’s happened. Everyone’s got a zero ERA and a zero batting average and we’re ready to rock.”
Enthusiasm and confidence aside, neither Bloomquist or Lampe have been in a tournament like this week’s at the college level before.
Nor have the majority of players and coaches on ASU’s opponents either, though, which makes ASU senior first baseman Conor Davis, a sixth-year senior and former Auburn Tiger, once again the veteran on the block.
“You can’t make any game bigger than it is,” Davis, who’s delivered in the biggest moments in conference tournaments before, has preached to the Sun Devils this week. “It’s double elimination. Even if you take a loss or a tough inning or something, you have to try to keep the mentality positive because anything can happen in these tournaments in the postseason.
“You can be the 8-seed or the 1-seed and it doesn’t really matter.”
It’s not really about luck for Davis – it’s about tenacity.
“Whoever gets the ball rolling the right way at that time is going to win at the end of the day,” he said. “It’s just sticking with it and taking whatever comes and being thankful for being there.”
The first baseman sat out ASU’s final regular season series against the Cougars in Pullman due to a hamstring injury, which has nagged him for the last month or so. Bloomquist said Davis’ upper leg “isn’t great” but that it won’t stop the senior from competing in the finale to his college career.
“He’s earned that right to be in there,” Bloomquist said of Davis. “If he can go, he’ll go. I know he’s at the point of his career and his life where he doesn’t care –[you know], ‘let’s go’ – he just wants to play.”
Davis didn’t hesitate when asked about his playing status for the tournament.
“I’m going in feeling the best I can,” he said. “I’ll be a full go. I’m not missing this. This is the last ride for me. I’m ready for it.”
Still, Davis’ health will be worth monitoring this week, especially with sophomore infielder Ethan Long’s wrist injury likely keeping him out of the lineup. Bloomquist did say Long should be available on the mound if the Sun Devils need him during the tournament.
The fact that ASU views Long as an option heading into the tournament displays just how nuanced and complicated the upcoming days are for the Sun Devils. ASU could be looking at playing four games in five days if it advances as far as it possibly can. It’s not a situation anyone on the roster or the coaching staff is used to.
“It’s certainly a challenge,” Bloomquist said. “Guys are going to have to get out of their comfort zone a little bit and do things that we haven’t asked them to do all year long. They’re going to have to be willing and able to do that. We’ll play the situations accordingly as they get thrown at us.”
The round-the-clock aspect with the tournament is unforgiving, especially when future opponents are undetermined.
ASU takes on the Cardinal on Wednesday, but their road after that game is unclear. Either in-state rival Arizona or Oregon await the Sun Devils depending on their own success and the outcome of the Wildcats-Ducks game Wednesday morning.
ASU went 3-7 against the Ducks, Wildcats and Cardinal during the regular season.
“We understand that we’re going to have to play well to beat them,” Bloomquist said of Stanford. “But we’re capable of that.”
ASU will kick-off its pitching rotation on Wednesday by throwing Luckham against the Cardinal. He’ll get the nod over fellow redshirt junior and left-hander Adam Tulloch, who was the Sun Devils’ Friday night starter for much of the season.
It’ll also be Luckham’s chance for revenge after getting ejected from April 9’s match with Stanford in the Bay Area, where the right-hander missed a pitch high – up near a Cardinal batter’s head – and was surprisingly ejected immediately as a result. Bloomquist was also tossed following the matter.
“I’m pumped,” Luckham said. “We’ve been talking about it a little bit. History is in the past. We’re out to win a game, whatever it takes. I’ll try to set the tone for us right on Wednesday.”
Bloomquist added: “We had an unfortunate incident there with our starter getting thrown out in the first game that put us behind the eight-ball in that series. All of those games were very competitive and we were a big pitch or a big play here or there could have gone the other way.”
While the underdog narrative is extinct for the Sun Devils, ASU’s head coach knows his team will have to put together its best performance to upset Stanford in each team’s tournament opener.
“Depending on who they start, we understand their pitchers are very good, and they have some hitters who are capable of putting the ball in the seats and they’re very talented,” he said. “We’re going to have to execute our pitches properly and fastball location will be key. We’re going to have to play defense behind our guys and hopefully come up with some timely hitting as well.”
ASU knows it is going to win or lose on or off the field, because off or above it, it feels like it is among the favorites.
“We’re used to the heat, and teams traveling in aren’t used to the heat,” Lampe said. “We’re going to use that to our advantage. It’s also nice to sleep in your own bed and be able to go to the same cage you’ve hit in this whole year. Just keeping that same routine and knowing what to expect will help us for sure.”
Redshirt sophomore utility player Nate Baez added: “Playing for the first Pac-12 Tournament, it’s truly a huge thing for us. We’re excited to be a part of it, but we don’t want to just be a part of it.
“We want to win it.”
