ASU lineup finds joy focusing on Utah after disappointing series opener

(Photo: Sam Fenway/WCSN)

PHOENIX — Arizona State baseball’s lineup hit a low point after only getting three hits, none for extra bases, on Friday night, but it changed the narrative quickly on Saturday.

The series opener against Utah was supposed to be a special day for the Sun Devils after unveiling a statue of legendary former manager Bobby Winkles, but the offense did not get the memo. ASU had its second Maddux — a complete game in less than 100 pitches — thrown against them in the last four games, but this time it was only in 82 pitches.

ASU’s five-game losing streak caused some concern especially with the lineup averaging less than four runs a game during the skid, but it flipped the page on that story by scoring five runs in the first inning on Saturday. This scorching start set the tone for the rest of the game as the Sun Devils (16-19, 7-10 Pac-12) earned a complete 8-3 victory over the Utes (22-11, 8-6 Pac-12) to force the rubber match on Sunday.

Head coach Willie Bloomquist said that Saturday’s loss was “probably the most miserable day of the season.” The team needed to straighten up its act for the next day, which it certainly did.

“Baseball is meant to be played with energy and fun and getting after it. It’s not meant to be played tight and nervous and quiet and in the doldrums and not supporting your teammates,” Bloomquist said. “We addressed it today and at the end of the day, it’s on those guys to create the energy. I’m not going to be down there cheerleading. That’s not my role. My job is to get them ready to play and then they go play, but the energy’s got to be there and the body language and the effort level.

“All that stuff is non-negotiable. We have to play with that type of stuff and if we don’t, then we got to find new guys that will and that’s what this program deserves. The wins and losses are one thing, but if you don’t go play with energy and a pride in this place, you’re in the wrong spot.”

As a former Sun Devil player, Bloomquist’s role is to instill the Maroon and Gold culture into his ball club. The offense did not do it on Friday after honoring Winkles, but it played with that much-needed energy on Saturday.

It’s not just the positivity that helps the lineup produce, as staying focused is another key component for the offense to succeed. A great example of this is sophomore outfielder Kien Vu, who has been one of the team’s better hitters lately, and he kept that trend going with a couple doubles against Utes.

“I’m trying to slow everything down,” Vu said. “I’ve noticed that — especially on the hitting side of it and the baserunning — slowing everything down, playing pitch to pitch and giving 100% each pitch has definitely helped me. And then the prep is just keeping a loose, free mind and not focusing too much on stats. It’s just focusing on how I can help the team win, so if I give my all in every pitch and it helps the team win, that’s a win in my books.”

Bloomquist echoed this sentiment when he said that the reason a player is in a slump is usually because they either do not have a clear head or they are not swinging at strikes. The issue for the Sun Devils on Friday was that Utah senior left-handed pitcher Bryson Van Sickle was able to operate in the lower half of the strike zone and get the batters to swing at balls outside the zone. The ASU manager credits his hitters’ ability to force sophomore right-handed pitcher Merit Jones to throw up in the zone, which they barrelled up.

The bottom half of the lineup had itself a day as Vu and senior third baseman Mario Demera both had multiple hits from the seventh and eighth spot respectively. These were the players that cashed in on the two-out rally in the first inning in which ASU scored four of its five runs in the frame with two outs.

Demera’s three hits against Utah was a great opportunity for him to showcase himself as potential solidified starting third baseman after news broke on Friday night that sophomore third baseman Nu’u Contrades is out for the season with a back injury. With season-ending injuries to Contrades and freshman infielder Jax Ryan, Bloomquist needs players like Demera and senior infielder Kevin Karstetter — who came back a few games ago after getting some “health issues cleared” — to step up in their stead.

“Mario (Demera) played a significant amount here the past two or three weeks,” Bloomquist said. “He’s been mixing in quite a bit over there at third base and we’ve been running our infielders out there pretty much every day…We don’t have many infielders. (Senior catcher) Trey Newman has pounded me that he wants to play infield too now. Trey is actually serviceable out there, so who knows? Maybe one day we’ll get him out there, but bottom line is those guys are going to play and they’re going to have to run out there.”

ASU has a plethora of outfielders to choose from, but that’s not the case in the infield as they deal with the battle of attrition. Despite some of the injuries, the lineup bounced back after a rough stretch with a crooked number to start the game with a big lead and it never looked back.

It was not just the offense that showed up as the pitching also performed well. Bloomquist only needed to use two pitchers with seniors Connor Markl and Hunter Omlid combining to allow only three runs over the course of all nine innings.

There have been times where the offense produced and the pitching did not or vice versa, but the team talked all season about what if it was able to put it all together. The hypothetical finally came to fruition.

“I could probably name on one hand how many times this year I feel like we’ve had a complete win like we had tonight where we swung the bats well (and) pitched well,” sophomore first baseman Jacob Tobias said. “When we do that, it’s really fun to watch and you really want to see because I feel like we can go up there and compete with anybody if we do that. Obviously we’ve had a long process of finding who we are and trying to find what all works for us and so just trust in that and continue to trust it and working with each pitch and focusing on the little things. I think we’ll be okay.”