Explosive Offense Leads Sun Devils to Series Victory Over Arizona

(Photo: Aiden Longbrake/WCSN)

TUCSON – After surrendering a four-run lead as part of a seventh-inning collapse on Friday night, Arizona State looked as if it were a boat headed for an iceberg. While there was no panic from the team, head coach Willie Bloomquist expressed deep concern about the trends that his team was showing, especially following their series loss to then-No. 17 West Virginia.

When asked how confident he was in his players’ ability to get out of their comfort zones, Bloomquist said, “We’ll see”.

Instead of backing down, the No. 25-ranked Sun Devils (23-9, 7-5 Big 12) took Bloomquist’s words as motivation as they steered the ship back on course by defeating their arch rivals, Arizona (10-21, 3-9 Big 12), 15-6 behind a heavily improved offensive performance to seal the season series against the Wildcats.

“Guys bounced back today,” Bloomquist said. “It was nice to see that. To come out, jump out to an early lead, and then stay resilient in this game. We didn’t pull the parachute early, and we kept on grinding offensively. We kept putting up runs.”

The Sun Devils responded to Bloomquist’s challenge immediately after the first pitch, as they put up six runs in the first inning, including batting around the order and fixing one of Bloomquist’s biggest grievances from Friday night: hitting with runners in scoring position.

“We were able to do damage with runners in scoring position,” Bloomquist said. “We put together some good at-bats, not trying to do too much. Take out hits instead of getting big. The guys executed a lot better today.”

Following a 1-for-10 showing with RISP on Friday, ASU went 5-for-6 in the first inning alone, and finished the game by going 10-for-20, their second-highest hit total of the season with RISP. Bloomquist believes the inconsistencies simply come down to an ability to keep their composure in crucial moments.

“It’s amazing what a little focus will do for you,” Bloomquist said. “We had some discussions about that last night and again, today, pregame, to just stay on it mentally. Every at-bat is important. You have to lock in every at-bat.”

Even more impressive was the fact that ASU’s early offensive burst came while their star hitter, sophomore left-fielder Landon Hairston, accounted for two of the three outs in the opening frame. Bloomquist has discussed all season long about not wanting to be too reliant on the top of the lineup, and the Sun Devils answered that call as all nine players in the starting lineup recorded a hit.

“Matt Polk coming in, giving us a huge spark on the offensive side of things,” Bloomquist said. “Dom Smaldino is swinging the bat as well as he has all year long today. It was huge to have other guys contribute, other than Landon Hairston. It was nice to talk about some other guys.”

Polk, a graduate transfer from Vanderbilt, had only started three games this season before Saturday night. Junior outfielders Sam Myers and Dominic Longo started the season hot, leaving Polk without a consistent spot in the lineup.

With Longo’s and Myers’ recent struggles, Polk took his chance and made his case to stay in the lineup, as he went 4-for-5 against Arizona on Saturday. With the jolt that Polk gave the offense on Saturday, he seems to have made a case for himself to stay in the lineup as ASU progresses through conference play.

“We’ve kind of been fishing for that other outfield spot to get us going,” Bloomquist said. “We’ve had several guys get opportunities out there, Sam Myers, Dominic Longo, Ky McGary. Some guys have been mixing out there trying to find that spark of who’s going to start generating some offense. [Polk] has been in the cooler the longest, and got an opportunity tonight and made the most out of it.”

Smaldino, on the other hand, has been in the lineup all season long but has been struggling as of late, going three for his last 20 at-bats coming into Saturday. Similar to Polk, Smaldino found his rhythm, hitting a career high five RBIs, along with the Sun Devils’ first home run of the series.

“Just being intense,” Smaldino said. “Not tight, but intense. I have tried to be laid back and relaxed, but I don’t think that’s who I am as a person. So, I made it my goal today to be not tight, but intense and focused.

ASU got four innings with four runs allowed from senior pitcher Kole Klecker, along with another four innings with two runs allowed from redshirt junior pitcher Colin Linder. The two pitchers combining for eight innings helped the Sun Devils rest their bullpen after utilizing seven arms out of the pen the previous two nights.

Bloomquist said after Saturday’s win that the three pitchers who started against the Wildcats would be the same three going next weekend against Utah, with the order still to be determined.

While Saturday’s rubber match didn’t have the same drama as the previous night, the same emotions that come with the rivalry still bled through. In the ninth inning, with ASU up seven runs, junior shortstop PJ Moutzouridis attempted to lay down a bunt.

Arizona head coach Chip Hale did not take kindly to the gesture and exchanged heated words with Bloomquist as he exited to the Wildcats dugout. The Sun Devils showed similar frustration in Friday night’s defeat, with Hairston flipping his bat after getting hit by a pitch, expressing just how much this rivalry means to both sides.

“[Bloomquist] really has a disdain for those guys,” Polk said. “We really love [Bloomquist]. We are behind him. He says he wants them on a platter; that is our job to get them on a platter. Just seeing his emotion about the series really brings the emotion out of you.”

The Wildcats became an iceberg-like obstacle for the Sun Devils, and they will likely not be their last. The Sun Devils will return to their course on Tuesday as they remain on the road to take on GCU at 6:05 p.m. MST.

“It’s good to beat them wherever,” Bloomquist said. “This rivalry is what it is. A few years ago, they beat us 20-0 down here, and that didn’t seem to be an issue then, so it is what it is. We’re happy to come down here, get a series win, and get back home.”