(Photo: Zina Garcia/WCSN)
PHOENIX — Fans in attendance at Phoenix Municipal Stadium most likely didn’t have any reason to suspect they were about to witness program history when the bottom of the second inning began. Arizona State had already jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on top of the fact that a series victory had already been secured coming into the contest.
Little did they know that when junior center fielder Isaiah Jackson and freshman catcher Brody Briggs crushed solo shots into the Sun Devil bullpen back-to-back, it would start a home run parade that put ASU up 13 runs while breaking two team milestones.
Arizona State (28-16, 14-7 Big 12) broke its record for most home runs in a single inning and most home runs in one game on the way to a 16-6 win over BYU (20-21, 6-15 Big 12) for the team’s second in-conference sweep of the season.
“I just was kind of trying to manage the game,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “They just kept hitting them out of the ballpark. There wasn’t much to manage, so just let them go and keep getting pitches to hit and stay on them and keep the foot on the gas. I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of something like that.”
Before first pitch, ASU unveiled the addition of No. 4 to its retired numbers in honor of former center fielder and member of the 1969 national championship team Paul Ray Powell.
The Sun Devils wasted no time in attempting to top their six-home run performance the night prior when senior shortstop Matt King smoked a two-run blast over the left field wall in the bottom of the first inning. Two at-bats later, junior right fielder Kien Vu remained red-hot after hitting two home runs on Friday with a one-run rocket to right field.
Then, the fun really began. Despite the two home runs from Jackson and Briggs, the bottom of the second appeared to be coming to a close when a line out from junior second baseman Kyle Walker left the Sun Devils with only one more out to work around.
After freshman left fielder Landon Hairston left the door open on a base hit, BYU starting right-handed pitcher Garrison Sumner was taken out of the game for senior righty Hayden Coon. King greeted the Cougars’ top bullpen arm by smashing a fastball hanging over the plate to deep center field for his second home run of the night.
“I told (Landon) the other day, I’m trying to make you the most scored player in the Big 12,” King said. “I told him that the other day and he was like, ‘I’m going to get on for you.”
Three pitches later, senior first baseman Jacob Tobias joined in on the fun with a no-doubter that parked near the batter’s eye to put ASU up 8-0.
The Sun Devils had no interest in ending the conga line of offense just yet as Vu notched a single through the right side and both junior third baseman and sophomore designated hitter Brandon Compton walked. With the bases loaded and the count full, Jackson turned on a ball that sailed over the national champions panel in right field for a grand slam that made him the second player with two home runs.
To top it all off, Briggs’ second home run of the night off the scoreboard cemented ASU’s new record of six home runs in one inning and eight home runs in a single contest.
“I don’t think that’s ever been done in baseball, the eight and nine-hole going back-to-back in the same inning,” Jackson said. “That was an insanely fun inning. It was fun to be a part of that energy and seeing all the boys get barrels and hit homers.”
On the pitching side, Bloomquist made an interesting decision to start by having freshman lefty Easton Barrett get the nod over regular third-day starter sophomore righty Jaden Alba.
The usual bullpen arm got off to a strong start with two consecutive scoreless frames, but the prolonged bottom of the second inning wiping away his momentum led to him giving up three straight hits including a solo home run during the third.
Bloomquist then pulled the trigger on Alba coming in on relief, and despite immediately giving up a three-run homer, the Long Beach native eventually found his groove to the tune of two innings of no-run ball on top of six strikeouts.
“We think about these things and try to figure out the best matchup,” Bloomquist said. “We just kind of worked backward, knowing that we had Carlon for at least two and Lucas Kelly for at least two if we needed.”
“It wasn’t that Jaden lost the job on Sunday or anything. We just liked that matchup a little better against these guys.”
Sophomore righty Josh Butler and junior righty Lucas Kelly locked down the remaining three innings, giving up only two hits and one earned run. While it can’t be expected that every game includes leaving the yard eight times, ASU having a tag-team effort in the batter’s box and on the mound has helped the team move up to fourth place in the Big 12 standings and build up steam at precisely the right time.
“That would be great if we could do that all the time,” Bloomquist said. “We’ve talked about a lot of stuff, but that’s one thing that’s of importance for us, if we can continue to compliment each other. Knowing that it’s a team, it’s not always going to be perfect, but keep that momentum going to where our offense goes to work and stays at the bat rack for a while.”
