(Photo: Janae Bradford/WCSN)
PHOENIX — When Arizona State Baseball went down to Starkville, it went in with a starting rotation that put the mind of every Sun Devil fan at ease about not replicating the horrors on the mound of years past. However, since losing the series against Mississippi State, ASU’s starters have failed to match those performances from opening weekend.
That fear started to creep back into vision with the Sun Devils losing seven of eight, with pitching taking much of the criticism. Nevertheless, the negativity didn’t affect the program’s performance on Friday and now Saturday, with junior right-hander Khristian Curtis putting out an ace outing for ASU.
Curtis’s control was his most significant problem in his last two starts, surrendering nine free bases on route to allowing ten runs. Against UC Davis, the junior right-hander evaporated those concerns. In his 5.2 innings pitched, Cutis allowed only two hits and two walks with five strikeouts to earn the win as ASU tops UC Davis 6-4.
“I think it was getting ahead of the count and starting early, getting a lot of swings and misses early in the count,” Curtis said. “That’s the main thing that kept me going.”
The former Aggie had his fourth start on the mound rocking the maroon and gold on Saturday and looked locked in from the first pitch. Curtis had a sense of urgency and used his power to strike out two in the first frame with complete control on all sides of the plate. It wasn’t just his power, as the next time on the mound showcased his versatility to search for contact on his off-speed to force a five-pitch second inning.
“It’s executing the small things,” Curtis said. “If you don’t have attention to detail on those aspects, you’re going to leave those at-bats uncompetitive.”
Meanwhile, sophomore left-hander Bryan Green came into Saturday only surrendering one run and three walks in his previous three starts. However, in the first inning alone against ASU, he tripled his run total and doubled walks, having a tough time with his control. Green had the bases loaded before even recording an out, and the Sun Devils were in a prime position to put this game away early.
While Green allowed a two-run RBI single by freshman infielder Luke Hill and walked in a run, a double play by sophomore outfielder Will Rogers essentially killed the momentum for ASU and had the program only 3-0 heading into the second.
“We had a chance with them on the ropes big time there in the first,” Bloomquist said. “Only coming out there with three runs was almost disappointing.”
Green’s sloppy performance in the first was only a tiny bump for the sophomore as he quickly matched the masterful pitching by Curtis. Entering the fifth, the duo allowed only one base runner and looked locked into a high-pressure pitching duel. Bloomquist wasn’t thrilled about those results coming from the plate.
“We jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and then [we act] like we’ve done something. We completely lose focus and get away from our approach, and that can’t happen,” Bloomquist said. “It’s not like we’re facing 98 MPH arms here. We got to have a better approach and a better idea of what we’re trying to do.”
While the bats floundered, Curtis was perfect through three innings and didn’t allow a hit until the fifth frame. Bloomquist credited the Texas A&M transfer’s location and not giving away free bases. The junior right-hander only surrendered three free bases on the night, and with him pounding the strike zone, it made UC Davis’ batters a rough time.
Sophomore catcher Ryan Campos wasn’t too keen to continue letting the starters have all the glory when he slammed a two-run shot over the left field wall to extend ASU’s lead 5-0. After the first time up to bat, the Sun Devils reverted to old habits, unable to record baserunners, but the Campos moonshot was a big jolt of adrenaline for the club.
“It’s just said hitting where the ball is pitched,” Campos said. “I’m not trying to do too much at the plate.”
The two-run shot made UC Davis more urgent stepping to the plate. Curtis faced severe turbulence to end his stellar start, having the bases loaded with zero outs. Poor control and tough calls at the plate had the Groves, Texas native, back against the wall with the ASU lead in jeopardy.
However, Curtis didn’t crumble under pressure and continued to pound the zone, fanning the next batter and forcing a flyout. After seeing Curtis get the first two outs, Bloomquist went to the fireman, junior right-hander Christian Bodlovich, to get the final out and escape the frame without surrendering a run.
“[Curtis] was still throwing the ball decently there in the sixth, but [UC Davis] started off timing him off a little bit with a base hit and then a walk, and then a hit batter. You can tell the fatigue maybe was setting in,” Bloomquist said. “To his credit, he dug deep and got a couple of hitters out.”
Those hopes were quickly dashed with Bodlovich surrounding an RBI walk and a two-RBI single to make the game 5-3.
“20/20 hindsight, I probably should have given [Curtis] one more hitter,” Bloomquist said. “That’s [Bodlovich’s] job to come in and get us out of that. We can’t walk that guy. We can’t walk in a run right there, and he knows that.”
The Sun Devils escaped the inning with the lead, but it wasn’t an encouraging sign. Bloomquist desperately tried to find an arm from the bullpen to come into the game and match the quality that Curtis illustrated. Nobody could come close to that, with only redshirt senior right-hander Jessie Wainscott the only other arm to pitch more than 1.0 IP.
Wainscott was one of the full pitchers to come into the game and be the aggressor on the mound. Bloomquist credited the right-hander’s ability to get Aggie batters into two-strike counts and finish them when in that position.
“My mind going into a two-run ball game or one-run ball game in the eighth is like, ‘this game is over.’ That’s got to be the closer mentality,” Wainscott said. “That’s one thing that gets me locked in.”
The offense during that stretch remained disappointingly quiet. After opening the game with five baserunners via walks and hits, ASU only recorded four more baserunners in the subsequent seven frames. Bad bunts, caught stealing, and other ill-advised miscues slowed the Sun Devils offense to a standstill, with ample opportunity for the Aggies to storm back.
“We need to be better across the board in executing,” Campos said. “We’re giving them too many strikes, and we’re swinging at balls. Then, we’re getting into two-strike counts, and they kind of have their way with us. We just got to be better at staying aggressive.”
Entering the final frame, ASU was able to tack on another run in the eighth and hand Wainscott a bit of cushion in his attempt to get the save. The redshirt senior didn’t need it because of his power on the bump. Wainscott sliced through Aggies’ batters with ease to record the two-inning save and the 6-4 win for the Sun Devils.
“This was a game that I needed to bring him in right there and ask him to get me two innings,” Bloomquist said. “I didn’t want to mess around and try to bring somebody else in there to try and get us to the ninth because we may not have got to the ninth with the lead…I have confidence in him, and he threw the ball well tonight.”
Saturday’s win is ASU’s first series victory since opening weekend and gives the club some life with conference play on the horizon. Despite the win, Bloomquist wasn’t happy because of the lackluster and inconsistent play on the mound and at the plate. The hope is that the program can eliminate those problems before it comes back to bite the Sun Devils.
“Wins are great, but how you go about playing the game on a daily basis is more important to me right now,” Bloomquist said. “It’s a mentality. It’s a mindset of staying locked in and being ready.”
