ASU relies on bullpen arms Tieding and Fitzpatrick in win over California

(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)

Arizona State baseball has a Sunday starter issue that percolated to Thursday, but redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Matt Tieding turned that narrative into an afterthought.

Entering the weekend, the Sun Devils had their Fridays and Saturdays established with freshman right-handed pitcher Thomas Burns and senior left-handed pitcher Connor Markl, respectively. ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist did not want to change the pitching schedule with no game on Easter Sunday, so that rotating door moved to Thursday with a new name in the mix.

Bloomquist gave junior left-handed pitcher Matt Cornelius the nod for his first start as a Sun Devil, who made a name for himself when he had five strikeouts in 2 1⁄3 innings against Ohio State on Feb. 23. However, his last three outings were putrid, with Cornelius allowing six earned runs in a combined 1 ⅔ innings. It was more of the same for the junior on Thursday as he failed to record an out while letting the first five Golden Bears reach base.

It was a true low point when Cornelius ended his outing with eight-straight balls, but Tieding limited the damage by inducing a couple sacrifice flyouts to keep the deficit at four runs. After that, the righty plastered zeros on the scoreboard and the offense reignited to give the Sun Devils (12-14, 4-6 Pac-12) a 14-8 victory over California (15-8, 5-5 Pac-12).

The redshirt senior had a 6.75 ERA entering Thursday and did not pitch more than two innings in an outing this year, but he is one of the few returning pitchers from last year’s squad, so Bloomquist knew he could rely on him as a middle relief arm. Tieding is accustomed to throwing multiple innings as he has done it several times as a Sun Devil, but his performance against Cal was certainly his best with four strikeouts in a career-high scoreless five innings and 68 pitches.

Tieding’s ability to pitch the bulk innings was crucial because that was certainly not what Bloomquist expected going into the game.

“We were just hoping to probably get a couple innings out of (Tieding),” Bloomquist said. “The ball was just coming out good and he wasn’t losing anything (velocity) from inning to inning. I could tell the last two hitters, it started to flatten out a little bit and lose a little bit of late snap, but he was able to battle and get through it. To get five (frames) out of him, that was a blessing.”

Tieding’s outing allowed the offense to get back into the game, but sophomore left-handed pitcher Sean Fitzpatrick also had his best game as a Sun Devil to keep the lead. The Arkansas transfer was primarily used as a matchup pitcher against lefty bats as he never pitched more than an inning in any outing this season, but he stretched out to three frames against Cal.

It helped that the ASU offense kept piling on with 14 unanswered runs to give the pitching a big cushion, but Fitzpatrick still did his job with three scoreless innings and five strikeouts while only allowing two hits. The lefty only pitched 2 ⅔ innings for the Razorbacks last year, but he did stretch out over the summer as a multi-inning high-leverage reliever for the Walnut Creek Crawdads of the California Collegiate League, so he is capable of giving this length with his strikeout stuff.

“I was just attacking hitters,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think I did a good job establishing the fastball command pretty well. That allowed me to use the slider, cutter (and) changeup. Just getting ahead and working with what I got helped me a lot.”

With these two pitchers covering eight innings and only allowing a combined one walk, it was a huge boost for Bloomquist as he has implored for starters to step up. Even though the starters have not always produced, some relievers have pitched big innings.

For example, senior right-handed pitcher Hunter Omlid pitched 5 ⅓ innings against Utah Valley on March 19 and Tieding on Thursday with another five frames, both of which resulted in victories. Bloomquist referenced these moments as “Get Out of Jail Free cards”, which is good to have, but not necessarily sustainable for winning in the future.

The combination of Tieding and Fitzpatrick meant that Bloomquist did not need to use his two best relievers — junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Schiefer and sophomore left-handed pitcher Ben Jacobs. The latter will likely start on Friday because Burns is dealing with an injury.

“Tommy is going to be out this weekend. He’s got some shoulder stiffness and tendinitis,” Bloomquist said. “The good news is, as of right now, it’s nothing structural major, just kind of irritated and pissed off, so we got to calm it down and get ahead of it. He’s a valuable commodity for the program, so we have to take care of him and make sure he’s healthy and ready to come back when he is.”

Bloomquist said Jacobs would have come in to close the game if it was close or start tomorrow, but he needs to check with pitching coach Sam Peraza to make sure if that is the direction they want to go in. Burns will continue to be the Friday starter when he returns, but just not this week.

It’s a blow to a rotation that is already rather shallow, especially with Markl skipping a start earlier this season because of tricep tendonitis. There is no timetable as to when Burns will come back, but he is a freshman arm who has thrown at least 90 pitches in his last five outings, so it’s in the team’s best interest to protect him now.

The Burns news puts a damper on a great team win, but the Sun Devils still won their second-straight game after a four-game skid, so there is plenty to be proud of. If there is something they learned in that losing streak, it’s that playing on the road is difficult, so the Devils are certainly happy to be back home.

“(Phoenix Municipal Stadium) is the best,” Tieding said. “It’s why we chose to come here. It’s why we love playing here, so playing at home is always really fun. After a long road trip, it makes it even better for sure. It’s great to be here. Great to be in front of our fans and not anyone else’s. We love playing at home.”