No. 20 ASU completes 7-0 comeback to defeat GCU on the road

(Photo: Connor Gleason/WCSN)

PHOENIX – With no outs in the seventh inning, in a game that Arizona State had trailed 7-0, sophomore catcher Coen Niclai, who hit a walk-off single against Grand Canyon when the two teams last met, stepped up to the plate with a chance to flip the contest on its head. The score was 8-4, and the Sun Devils had managed to load the bases with nobody out.

As Niclai watched the 1-0 pitch leave GCU pitcher Jace Smith’s hand, his eyes lit up. The hanging slider was left right down the middle, and he knew it. As he swung the bat, and the ping of the ball hitting the metal rang, everyone in the stadium knew it was gone, with the ball flying over a fire truck in right field to tie the game up.

Niclai’s grand slam helped fire the No. 20 Sun Devils (24-9, 7-5 Big 12) into a 12-8 comeback win over the Antelopes (11-22, 3-6 Mountain West) in the pair’s second midweek matchup of the season. The victory pushes ASU to 8-1 in its midweek contests this season.

“You obviously don’t like digging yourself a seven-run hole,” Bloomquist said. “That’s going to eventually bite you, but I am proud of the way our guys continued to battle and not panic. I might have panicked a little bit after the second inning, but our guys didn’t, which is great.”

Niclai’s home run was his second of the game, after he launched a solo shot in the fifth inning to chip away at the GCU lead. In his freshman campaign in Eugene, the Oregon transfer hit just one home run. After just half a season this year, Niclai is up to four home runs, with three of them coming against the Antelopes.

The sophomore’s offensive rise also comes with having to split time with the other sophomore catcher, who had already been at ASU last season, Brody Briggs. Briggs’ defensive play has kept him in the lineup, while Bloomquist has utilized Niclai for his ability with the bat.

“Coen has done a great job splitting time with [Briggs],” Bloomquist said. “Waiting for his opportunities and being a phenomenal teammate and supportive of Briggsy when he is out there. When he gets in there, he puts together great at-bats. And tonight, two big home runs for us.”

Joining Niclai was the Sun Devils’ old reliable hitter, sophomore center-fielder Landon Hairston, whose two-run home run that gave ASU a 10-8 lead to cap off a six-run seventh inning after starting the game 0-for-4. The Golden Spikes midseason watch list member is now up to 19 home runs, just eight shy of Mitch Jones ‘ single-season record of 27.

“Regardless if he’s 4-for-4 or 0-for-4, Landon’s usually going to put together a pretty solid at bat,” Bloomquist said. “I think every time he comes up, regardless of what he is, he’s a threat to do something special. He did tonight.”

Over the weekend against Arizona, the Sun Devils hit just two home runs, with both coming in the series finale. On Tuesday night, however, ASU put up all 12 of its runs through the long ball, with junior shortstop PJ Moutzouridis and junior first baseman Dominic Smaldino getting in on the action.

“Sometimes you kill them with 1,000 cuts,” Bloomquist said. “Other times, you hit them with a sledgehammer with home runs. I guess the good thing is, we’re capable of doing both. We can win that way too, if we have to.”

In Friday’s loss to Arizona, the Sun Devils were handed a sizable start from their ace, but squandered it with the bullpen allowing a seven-run seventh inning. Tuesday night was the complete opposite, as sophomore starting pitcher Easton Barrett only lasted 1.1 innings, allowing six earned runs, helping dig ASU into that 7-0 deficit.

After Barrett came out, junior pitcher Jaden Alba stepped up into the game and allowed a home run on the first pitch. However, after that, Alba went 3.2 innings and kept the Antelopes run total at seven. Tuesday was the third time Alba has gone more than three innings this season, all coming after a bumpy outing from the starter.

“Can’t say enough about the job the bullpen did,” Bloomquist said. “Starting with Jaden Alba coming in, after the first pitch giving up a home run, settling in after that, and giving us three zeros. It gave our offense a chance to inch back into the game.”

Once Alba brought ASU into the sixth inning, graduate pitcher Colby Guy was trusted to right his wrongs from Friday’s collapse in Tucson, when he recorded just one out and allowed four of the Wildcats’ seven runs.

Despite allowing a solo home run on his third pitch, Guy settled in and struck out three batters in 1.1 innings of work.

“Much better job of attacking the zone,” Bloomquist said. “Gave up the one long ball there, but settled in and threw it pretty well. Attacked the zone with conviction, and he has a really nice live, quick arm, and when he’s throwing strikes, he’s tough to hit.”

Bloomquist has said that as the season progresses, the Sun Devils will need more than their three starters to pitch well, given that his previous teams had missed the NCAA Tournament partially due to a lack of quality depth on the mound.

Comebacks such as Tuesday’s have become more of a normal under Bloomquist, as the Sun Devils have won five games when trailing by seven runs or more since he took over, having previously not won any since 2000. While ASU has not completed every comeback this season, there have not been many games in which the Sun Devils have looked as if they had lost the game early.

ASU will now quickly turn the page, as they take on UNLV, which almost completed a 12-run comeback against the Sun Devils this season, at 6:05 p.m. MST at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Wednesday.

“It was a great comeback win,” Bloomquist said. “The challenge for us is just not to get complacent, not take this for granted, and look at the why. How did we come back and score 12, and how did we give up seven? Those are the things we have to teach and keep grinding upon.”