Five Takeaways From Washington series and a look ahead

(Photo: Joseph Plishka/WCSN)

Heading into this weekend, No. 19 Arizona State baseball had passed the eye test. Winners of their opening four Pac-12 series, the Sun Devils shared a first-place spot in the conference with Stanford and cracked last week’s D1 Baseball’s top-25 poll – the first time they’ve done so with second-year head coach Willie Bloomquist at the helm – slotting in at No. 24.

Despite looking vastly improved in almost every facet from the 2022 campaign, there are still questions as to how big of strides ASU (25-10, 11-3 Pac-12) has truly made. Each of the Sun Devils’ first four Pac-12 opponents – Utah, Cal, Arizona and Washington State – currently sit at the bottom of the standings, making the three-game set at Washington (20-11, 7-7 Pac-12) their toughest test to date within the Conference of Champions.

The results were a mixed bag.

Things got off to a disastrous start, with ASU conceding eight runs in the first five innings of game one en route to an 8-3 loss. But Bloomquist’s squad flipped the switch a day later, tallying 15 hits in an 8-6 victory to set the stage for a series-deciding third game. This contest wouldn’t happen, however, as Sunday’s rubber match was canceled due to inclement weather in the Seattle area.

It’s unclear as to whether the third contest will be made up, but at the end of the weekend, ASU has sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 with one fewer loss than Stanford, who sits in second. With the series split and a midweek victory against GCU, the Sun Devils moved up to No. 19 on Monday.

Here are four takeaways from the abbreviated series.

Bullpen concedes four runs through last five Pac-12 games

One of ASU’s biggest questions marks heading into the 2023 campaign was its bullpen. Last year, the Sun Devils’ relievers were notorious for imploding on the mound and failing to preserve leads. But with several new faces joining experienced returners, they’ve been a pleasant surprise so far this season, getting through innings efficiently and preserving leads often.

The bullpen’s last five Pac-12 games show just how far it’s improved in just a year. Through its 22.1 innings of work during that stretch, ASU’s relievers gave up just four earned runs, two of which came this weekend in Seattle.

Friday simply wasn’t the Sun Devils’ night defensively. Only four of Washington’s eight runs were earned, as it capitalized on two errors and a passed ball. However, the Huskies failed to tack on another run in the six innings after junior starter Ross Dunn was pulled, as ASU’s bullpen only allowed three hits and three walks. Junior Dylan Gardner, junior Brock Peery, senior Will Armbruester and freshman Austin Humphres managed to get through the final five innings in 54 pitches, a far cry from Dunn’s 98 in four frames.

The circumstances inherited by the Sun Devil bullpen were much different during Saturday’s contest. While he conceded nine hits, junior RHP Khristian Curtis held Washington’s offense to four runs in five innings, and ASU led 6-4 when Curtis left the game. Following a combined two scoreless innings from Junior right-handers Peery and Blake Pivaroff, junior closer Owen Stevenson was able to seal the win despite allowing a pair of two-out RBI singles in the ninth.

Two more dominant performances this weekend continue a positive trend for the Sun Devils’ relievers, who have played a major role in their team’s success thus far.

Nick McLain builds on hot debut

Missing every game in 2022 at UCLA and the first 32 games of 2023 due to various injuries, redshirt freshman Nick McLain entered ASU’s lineup on Tuesday against GCU and didn’t disappoint. In his long-anticipated collegiate debut, the right fielder exemplified why he was in the mix for a starting role at the beginning of the season, going 3-6 with four RBIs and a two-run homer. McLain also displayed his defensive talent against the Sun Devils’ crosstown foe, throwing out a runner at third and almost nailing another at the plate.

While the second and third games of his career weren’t as memorable as his first, the Tustin, Calif. native was productive on offense and is looking like the fifth freshman capable of starting for ASU on any given day.

With his team trailing 8-2 on Friday, McLain led off the sixth inning by sending a no-doubter into left-center field for his second home run in as many games. While that streak ended the next day, he still had a solid showing in the Sun Devils’ win, recording a single and walk in four at-bats.

Recording a hit in each of this weekend’s contests, McLain now has five hits and five RBI in his first three contests – a very encouraging start to his career at ASU. However, he’s only had 14 at-bats in his NCAA career, so it’s too early to say how much of a contributor he’ll be down the stretch. After all, McLain is still adjusting to the college game, as shown by his three strikeouts this weekend. The biggest takeaway from his small sample size so far is that if all goes according to plan, McLain will be another weapon in Bloomquist’s already-loaded lineup.

Isaiah Jackson continues to impress defensively, remains inconsistent at the plate

Throughout his first collegiate season, ASU has been the beneficiary of consistent production from its freshman class on both sides of the ball. In game two against Washington, freshman outfielder Isaiah Jackson became the latest example of this, getting on base and making big plays on defense.

Perhaps the highest-touted recruit in the Sun Devils’ most recent class, Jackson’s first season in Tempe has been one full of highs and lows. The Houston Astros’ 18th-round selection in 2022 almost immediately made his presence felt in the field, making a highlight-reel catch seemingly every week. However, his adjustment in the batter’s box has been slower. While he’s shown flashes and put together solid stretches, Jackson has been mostly inconsistent at the plate, and a team-leading 39 strikeouts show there’s still much room for improvement.

Jackson’s two contests this weekend are almost a perfect microcosm of his streaky play this season. The freshman struggled during ASU’s loss, going 0-3 with two strikeouts while having a relatively routine workload in the outfield. But Jackson came alive on Saturday, providing the game-winning two-run shot in the sixth and making a pair of outstanding grabs, negating extra-base hits for Washington.

The center fielder’s first gem came with no outs in the fourth and a runner on first. Huskies’ sophomore outfielder AJ Guerrero knocked a fly ball into deep right-center field, only for a diving Jackson to bobble and make the catch at the warning track. Two innings later, ASU led 6-4 and needed another out to strand Washington runners on first and third. Redshirt junior infielder Will Simpson got all of an 0-1 pitch, but Jackson snagged the drive at the center-field wall to rob what appeared to be the go-ahead home run for Washington.

While it may take a bit for him to find a groove at the plate, Jackson has been a key defensive piece for the Sun Devils and again showed why on Saturday.

Ryan Campos out this weekend, hopeful to return this week

After exiting the GCU game in the ninth inning with an apparent injury, sophomore catcher Ryan Campos did not play in either of ASU’s contests against Washington. Following Tuesday’s win, Bloomquist revelaed Campos had an oblique injury and felt pain in his side, leaving the game as a precaution, but was unsure about the injury’s severity.

However, it seems he won’t be sidelined for too long. Devils Digest’s Jack Loder tweeted Saturday afternoon that Campos is improving and considered “day-to-day”, hoping to make his return to the lineup at some point this week.

Campos has been one of the Sun Devils’ most reliable hitters this season with a .413 batting average and .523 on-base percentage, both Pac-12 bests.

With Campos out of the lineup this weekend, redshirt junior catcher Trey Newman and redshirt senior catcher Bronson Balholm split time behind the dish, each playing a game. While the injury isn’t ideal, the Sun Devils’ ability to go 1-1 without their star catcher shows how much deeper they’ve become in 2023.

ASU remains ranked, top-25 series at home headlines week ahead

The Sun Devils were rewarded for a 2-1 record last week, moving up from No. 24 to No. 19 in the latest D1 Baseball poll. However, they’ll have little time to admire their season-high ranking, as four more difficult conference games are on the horizon.

ASU kicks off the week on Wednesday in Tucson, where it will wrap up its season series with Arizona. Completing a three-game weekend sweep of their archrivals in March and winning two games against GCU, the Sun Devils have a chance to finish the season undefeated against Arizona’s other two Division I baseball programs. The last time they achieved this in a season was in 2003, a year they reached NCAA Super Regionals.

So far, 2023 hasn’t turned out to be the season Arizona had hoped for. While they were projected to reach NCAA Regionals in D1 Baseball’s preseason predictions, the Wildcats are 6-12 in conference games and most recently dropped two of three against Washington State last weekend. With the second-highest ERA in the Pac-12, pitching has been a struggle, but Arizona’s offense has been hot all season and is top-five in the conference for batting average and on-base percentage.

After the final edition of the 2023 Territorial Cup, ASU will return to Phoenix for a three-game series against No. 21 Oregon State. Despite not looking like the National Championship contender it resembled in years past, the Beavers sit in sixth place in the Pac-12 and are surging fast. OSU is currently riding a six-game winning streak and heads into the desert fresh off a sweep of Southern California, who entered the series with a 9-3 conference record.

In addition to being its toughest league foe of the season up to this point, the Beavers are an intriguing matchup for Bloomquist’s group. OSU’s staff – which has the most strikeouts in the conference and the second-lowest ERA in the nation – could cause problems for a red-hot ASU lineup boasting the Pac-12’s highest batting average. On the flip side, the Sun Devils’ pitching and Beavers’ hitting rank in the bottom half of the Conference of Champions, meaning the series could be decided by which team is better at exploiting the other’s weakness.

Above all, the challenge that the week ahead presents will ultimately give fans a better idea of how improved ASU truly is this season.