Five Takeaways: Sun Devils suffer three-game sweep to Washington State

(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)

Willie Bloomquist found himself at a loss for words following Arizona State baseball’s 7-5 midweek defeat to Utah Valley last Wednesday. At that point, the Sun Devils’ third-year head coach was searching for answers after a tumultuous start to the season, as a two-game split against a struggling Wolverines squad was only the latest piece of adversity his group faced. A string of wins was needed for ASU to turn the tides on its season, especially with the meat of conference play just on the horizon.

But then, it headed up to Pullman for a three-game series with Washington State. And on the way back down to the Southwest, Bloomquist is likely still without words to describe his team’s recent performance.

ASU was swept by the Cougars, who were picked to finish last in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll, for the second time this century — both times occurring during Bloomquist’s three-year tenure as skipper. After an 8-7 loss on Friday that saw the Sun Devils score their most runs in a game since Mar. 2, WSU prevailed in a Saturday pitching duel that saw both starters go over six innings, escaping with a 3-2 victory. ASU fell into a 5-1 hole in the third inning of Sunday’s game and never recovered, as an 8-6 loss cemented the three-game sweep.

The Sun Devils are now 10-14 on the season with a 3-6 mark in Pac-12 play, and have lost two of their opening three series of their conference schedule for the first time since 2018.

Here are five takeaways from ASU’s forgettable weekend series on the Palouse.

Combined Success Is The Key

On opening weekend at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, it seemed as if the Sun Devils were set for a season filled with offensive explosion while pitching would hang in the balance. ASU’s combined 38 runs in its first three games against Santa Clara proved evidence of that. However, in recent weeks, such as last weekend in Tucson, the bats went cold while the pitching improved. Pitchers like junior righty Schiefer and senior southpaw Connor Markl have stepped up just as Bloomquist hoped. Now the question is whether the offense and pitching can get on the same page.

WSU sat dead last in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll but pulled off the sweep over ASU this weekend. Each loss for the Sun Devils is the result of the same outcome: when the bats are hot, the pitching lacks, and when pitching is on fire, the bats go cold.

On Sunday, ASU took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of a game where they would score six runs. The issue is that through the first three innings, WSU put up five unanswered runs. ASU attempted to crawl back into the ball game but being down 8-5 in the ninth inning is an unfavorable position for any team, and the Sun Devils are no different. The blame of an 8-6 loss can’t be placed on the offense, who was fighting from behind nearly all game.

Where blame can be placed on the offense is in the prior game on Saturday, where Markl gave ASU 6 ⅔ innings on the mound giving up the only three runs of the game for WSU. A fantastic performance from the starter and the ‘pen. What does Arizona State have to show for it? A 3-2 loss against Wazzu starter Connor Wilford, who had given up four or more runs in four of his last five outings.

These trends can be seen throughout the entire season, such as the 4-0 loss to No. 7 Texas A&M that was immediately followed up by a 11-9 loss to No. 5 TCU. It’s unreasonable to expect perfection every game, but the one-sided losses show that ASU lacks stability in its offense and pitching. If it wishes to have even a shot at the postseason, they have to click at least partially at the same time.

– Justin Carter

Missed Offensive Opportunities Continue to Plague ASU

Even though this number gradually improved in each game of the weekend series, the amount of batters stranded on base by the lineup continues to be alarming. Headed into the weekend series, one of the largest concerns for the Sun Devils was missed opportunities on offense, especially with runners on. This issue persisted against WSU.

In the weekend series opener on Friday, the 13 batters left on base nearly doubled the seven runs ASU put on the scoreboard. Then on Saturday, the nine Sun Devil batters left on base almost tripled the mere two runs they scored. Sunday’s ratio of six runs to five left on base was improved, but ASU was only 7-for-18 (.389) on advancement opportunities whereas WSU was 12-for-25 (.480). This turned out to be a key difference in a game decided by two runs. On average, the Sun Devils have stranded just under nine batters left on base against Pac-12 conference opponents.

Earlier in the year, this was hardly ever a concern for ASU. In the first 10 games of the season, the Sun Devil batters collectively averaged 8.5 runs batted in per game. Over the next 11 games, the amount of RBI per game regressed to a mere three-point-nine. The five RBI per game average against WSU came closer to what the Sun Devils averaged in the last eleven games prior to the weekend series. ASU’s 37 total RBI in Pac-12 play ranks ninth in the conference.

– Tyler Weiss

A New Constant in an Ever-Changing Rotation

Markl pitched 25 ⅓ innings so far this season, but split that in half and there is a tale of two different stories.

Bloomquist announced in the preseason that Markl would be the Saturday starter. The lefty was the only weekend starter who played collegiate baseball last year as right-handed pitcher Thomas Burns is a freshman and his fellow righty, redshirt sophomore Tyler Meyer, missed last year due to injury.

Markl played at Grand Canyon for the last three years, but he never had an ERA below five in any of those seasons. That reality reared its ugly head again this year when the former Antelope allowed 10 earned runs in 12 ⅔ innings pitched during his first three outings as a Sun Devil.

Despite allowing an abundance of runs, the GCU transfer always has great strikeout stuff as he had more strikeouts than innings pitched in all three years for the Lopes and had 15 punchouts in those 12 ⅔ frames. After this mixed bag of performances, Markl skipped his start against Oregon because of “tricep tendonitis,” but it appears to be the reset he needed.

In his last two starts, Markl allowed two earned runs with 14 strikeouts in 12 ⅔ innings to begin Pac-12 play. The southpaw said after his best collegiate start against Arizona that the pitch mix of the fastball and slider was working really well for him, and that continued for him against WSU. The starter had six strikeouts with three runs allowed — only two earned — in a career-high 6 ⅔ innings and 102 pitches against WSU.

Markl has clearly flipped a switch, but something he still needs to manage is preventing contact as he has allowed more hits than innings pitched in four of his five starts, including against the Cougars with seven hits allowed in those 6 ⅔ frames. The Scottsdale native established himself as the solidified second starter with these last couple outings, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.

– Justin de Haas

Nick McLain, Ethan Mendoza Finding Consistency at the Plate

The Sun Devils arrived in Pullman on Friday looking to remedy a major issue — its offense struggling to put runs on the board. In the nine games between the conclusion of its Texas road trip on Mar. 5 and this weekend’s series opener against the Cougars, ASU failed to put up over five runs even one time. This trend wouldn’t be as concerning if the Sun Devils possessed an average lineup, but that simply isn’t the case, as they entered the 2024 campaign with expectations of being one of the best offenses in the Pac-12, and after their first two weekends, maybe the country.

However, it appears ASU has made at least some headway, eclipsing that five-run mark twice in three-game series against WSU. While converting with runners in scoring position remains an area in need of improvement, the Sun Devils’ offense has taken a step forward, albeit against one of the Pac-12’s weaker staffs. Redshirt sophomore outfielder Nick McLain and first-year second baseman Ethan Mendoza led the charge for ASU’s offense, both putting up monster weekends at the dish.

Mendoza, the No. 46 overall Texas high school prospect in the 2023 class, has enjoyed a strong start to his freshman year, slashing .291/.345/.380 with 11 RBI. He, along with redshirt freshman Brandon Compton, has blossomed into one of ASU’s best first-year players, and again showed why against the Cougars.

While he went 1-for-4 and 1-for-3 respectively in losses on Friday and Sunday, Mendoza shined less than 24 hours later, as he recorded a knock in all four of his at-bats on Saturday afternoon. His knocks weren’t taken advantage of — he was stranded after all four of his hits — but Mendoza’s repeated success built on a promising start to his collegiate career.

On the other hand, McLain’s big weekend likely provided the redshirt sophomore a breath of fresh air on the heels of a sluggish opening stretch to his season. After missing the beginning of the year while recovering from a left hamate bone injury, he went 8-for-43 (.186) across his first 13 games. This lack of early production came as a slight surprise, as McLain hit .298 last season with eight home runs and 24 RBI.

But the Tustin, California native looked like his old self in his three games in Pullman, posting a treble of multi-hit outings. McLain finished the weekend going 6-for-11, four extra-base hits including a home run, two walks and six RBI. McLain hit a two-run triple in the sixth inning of Friday’s game to tie the game at six and clobbered a seventh-inning two-shot on Sunday to bring ASU back within striking distance.

There is still a lot of room for growth if the Sun Devils lineup wants to return to the dangerous, potent offense it was expected to be at the beginning of the season, but steady contributions from McLain and Mendoza could very well prove a springboard for the rest of ASU’s hitters.

– Sean Brennan

Sunday Shuffling

Earlier this week following ASU’s embarrassing 7-5 loss to Utah Valley, head coach Willie Bloomquist was asked if one of the solid arms out of the bullpen such as sophomore lefty Ben Jacobs or Schiefer could transition to the starting rotation and take over the Sunday role.

Bloomquist was hesitant to take Jacobs or Schiefer out of the bullpen, not wanting to move some his strongest bullpen arms. He also admitted that him and pitching coach Sam Peraza,“haven’t even looked at Sunday.”

The Sunday role for ASU began in the possession of junior righty Tyler Meyer, but the California native has struggled returning from the shoulder surgery that kept him out all of last season. So far this season, Meyer has pitched 16.0 innings to the tune of a 10.69 ERA, and he was taken out of the starting role and replaced by freshman righty Adam Behrens.

With Markl missing his usual Saturday start against Oregon, Bloomquist gave the start to Behrens, and the freshman was solid, throwing 4.0 innings allowing three runs. Behrens was then rewarded with the Sunday start in Tucson against Arizona. However, Behrens lasted just 1.1 innings and surrendered five runs.

That forced Bloomquist to go to freshmen righty Wyatt Halvorson this weekend against the Cougars. Bloomquist has cycled through practically every option that could start, and Halvorson was the next one up. Unfortunately, Halvorson, tasked with the role of avoiding a sweep, did not perform. Once again, Halvorson gave up five runs, this time across two innings.

After Mendoza gave ASU an early lead in the top of the first, Halvorson immediately gave it back, allowing a walk and a double to the first two batters of the game, both of which scored on a two-RBI double by junior catcher Jacob Morrow. Halvorson surrendered three more runs in the second and his day was done.

ASU is floundering right now for a multitude of reasons. The offense is struggling, the bullpen inconsistent and Bloomquist and his staff have no idea who can give them innings on Sunday, much less any of the midweeks.

– Sammy Nute