(Photo: Connor Gleason/WCSN)
PHOENIX – The word implosion can be defined as the abrupt, violent collapse of an object inward on itself, occurring when external pressure outweighs internal pressure. When junior right-handed pitcher Derek Schaefer walked out to the mound in the top of the ninth with a 6-3 lead, there seemed to be little pressure on him.
After all, Schaefer had done the job time and time again.
Schaefer got the first out with ease before allowing a double to put the first Oklahoma State runner on. A wild pitch, then a throwing error by redshirt sophomore third baseman Austen Roellig, put the first Cowboy runner across the plate. A couple of at-bats later, Arizona State head coach Willie Bloomquist elected to put the tying run in scoring position, walking the Big 12’s leading home run hitter, Kollin Ritchie.
“I would do it again tomorrow,” Bloomquist said.
Not only did the tying run come across the plate, but a two-out, three-run home run by Campbell Smithwick gave Oklahoma State the lead, the exclamation point on the Sun Devils ninth-inning collapse.
Friday night’s ninth-inning implosion left No. 16 ASU (33-16, 16-9 Big 12) defeated 9-6 at the hands of OSU (32-17, 15-10). Despite the losing result, Bloomquist remained positive about how his team played.
“That was a game that, until the ninth inning, there was a lot of good competition on both sides,” Bloomquist said. “It is kind of a shame we end up losing the way we did. We can’t give a good team six outs in the ninth innings and expect to win.”
While conceding the lead in the ninth inning certainly stung for the Sun Devils, they can still hang their hats on the fact that they got another dominant performance from their junior pitching ace, left-hander Cole Carlon. Even if it’s expected for the junior to go out and work through the opponent’s lineups, Friday night’s start did not take the traditional path.
Carlon started the first two innings struggling with his command, walking batters, and even allowing a run in each of the first three innings. It got to the point that Bloomquist himself walked onto the mound in the second inning to try to settle him down.
Following his early stumbles, Carlon did not collapse under pressure, instead posting seven innings, striking out 11 batters.
“A lot of great things,” Bloomquist said. “I was really, really impressed with how Cole Carlon rebounded after not being able to find the strike zone there in the first few innings. He came back and was throwing the ball his best at the end of the game. He dug really deep and threw the ball outstandingly.”
Toward the end of his start, in the seventh inning, with his pitch count over 100, the Sun Devil ace waved off Bloomquist’s visit to the mound and told him, “I’m not coming out of this game.” Carlon proceeded to strike out Ritchie, who was 17 for his last 18 coming into the at-bat.
The fiery left-hander walked off the mound, pumping his fists and letting out a scream, energizing the crowd and his teammates.
“We got up over that 100 pitch mark,” Bloomquist said. “It’s like, man, the ball is coming out better now than it was in the first two or three innings. And I went out just to make sure he was still feeling good, and I got the response I kind of wanted, I guess, and let him keep going. And he stepped up in a big way.”
Carlon’s performance ignited the Sun Devil offense that had been quiet for much of the game. After scoring three runs in the first inning, ASU failed to put a runner in scoring position until the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Sun Devils were able to score six runs on the night, including three to give them the lead after Carlon’s exit. However, much of the success came with a few lucky bounces. Five of the six runs scored by ASU came off misjudged pop flies, either due to the sun or miscommunication.
“It doesn’t change our approach,” Bloomquist said. “We’ve been a great hitting team all year, and they made some mistakes in the air. They are a damn good team, and we took advantage of their miscues tonight. I would like a better offensive approach than we had tonight.”
Even as the offense struggled to find its footing on Friday, the Sun Devils went into the ninth inning with a lead. Although the ASU bullpen has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks, Friday night serves as a reminder that the Sun Devils have blown multiple leads this season.
Whether it was conceding a seven-run seventh inning against Arizona or fumbling a seven-run lead in the ninth against Utah, ASU has had its struggles with holding onto leads late in games. Despite the concerning trend, Bloomquist remains confident in his team’s ability to bounce back on their own.
“We’ve been together long enough that it’s not going to do any good to go in and rip them,” Bloomquist said. “They know where they messed up. It certainly wasn’t a rah-rah speech, but it wasn’t a scream and yell. It was, hey, there were a lot of competitive things tonight up until the ninth inning.”
Much of his confidence stems from the fact that the Sun Devils have been winning their games, despite working through hurdles. ASU has lost only one weekend series this season and has yet to lose a rubber match game.
“They’ve done it all year,” Bloomquist said. “We’ve been down before, and had people doubting us plenty this year, and they bounced back. I love this team. I love the character and the makeup of those guys in there. We’re not going to be perfect. This one stings because we had it.”
ASU will attempt to take the positives from Friday and pair that with the improvements from the ninth-inning implosion. The Sun Devils will have a quick turnaround to do so as they try to force a rubber match on Saturday.
“I feel like you just learn from it,” Carlon said. “Move on and just focus on tomorrow. We still have an opportunity to win the series. The biggest thing is not to dwell on it too much. Just be ready to go.”
