(Photo: Maya Diaz/WCSN)
PHOENIX – Phoenix Municipal Stadium has long been known as a hitters’ ballpark. Arizona State’s pitching staff has discussed the advantages that hitters have when they come to the Sun Devils’ ballpark. The dry, warm weather allows the ball to fly out of the ballpark even when hitters don’t make great contact.
However, when it comes to situational hitting, the gorgeous Phoenix weather hasn’t yet been able to get the job done for ASU. Following their series sweep over Omaha, head coach Willie Bloomquist talked about the necessity of the Sun Devils improving their situational approach and ability to score in different ways.
While it did seem as if the Sun Devils did improve that on Tuesday against UConn, Friday’s game against St. John’s proved that ASU has much more work to do in the hitting department. ASU finished the night 1-for-9 with runners in scoring positions, but won 9-1.
“There’s still room to get better,” Bloomquist said. “Happy not satisfied. We have to keep grinding these guys. Once you think you’ve got it figured out one day, you look awful the next day.”
In a game decided by 8 runs, the glaring questions tend not to fall upon the team that won. Nevertheless, the Sun Devils ‘ series-opening win raises the question of why ASU has struggled in its at-bats with runners in scoring position. The Sun Devils have an overall .380 average with RSIP, but much of that came from the win against UConn.
One of those reasons could stem from the type of pitchers the Sun Devils faced. St. John’s pitcher Liam O’Leary is known for his ability to throw a breaking ball, which Bloomquist said ASU struggled to deal with at times on Friday.
“We talked about it pregame,” Bloomquist said. “We knew this kid had a really good breaking ball and was going to try to pitch with that to keep us off balance. I think we just got over anxious up there and were trying to do too much.”
Although the Sun Devils did appear to struggle with breaking balls, they were able to keep their strikeout count low, only getting punched out twice. ASU replaced the strikeouts with weak hit ground balls to the infield, grounding out on five occasions when it faced O’Leary.
“Our offensive approach was spotty if I’m being critical,” Bloomquist said. “We swung at too many breaking balls early in the count and got ourselves out with weak contact.”
In the preseason, along with the early season, Bloomquist has talked about his desire for ASU to by a dynamic offense.
“We’re not one-dimensional like we have been in the past,” Bloomquist said. “I think there are plenty of different ways we can beat you. Running game, small ball if we have to. I feel much better as a complete offense this year than I have in the past.”
While Bloomquist says that he believes his team can score in many ways, so far, it has been one modality that has been most effective. Seven out of the nine Sun Devil runs came off the long ball. In the overall season, ASU has gotten 50% of its runs via the home run.
Fifth-year right fielder Dean Toigo has hit three home runs, but Bloomquist has said he doesn’t feel as if Toigo has been locked in. Part of that may be the fact that while he’s hitting the long ball, he hasn’t been as locked in the short game and helping score runners.
“I don’t feel fully like my feet are wet yet,” Toigo said. “I’m still doing decent, and we’re winning. That’s all I care about. I think there’s more room for me to grow offensively. I think the more at-bats, I’ll get more comfortable.”
On the positive side for ASU, for a team that is struggling in such a key aspect of the game, it is still 5-0 and has won by an average margin of 6.2 runs per game. The Sun Devils will have two more games on Saturday and Sunday to touch up before going to take on some high-level SEC opponents next week.
“We’re not a finished product by any means,” Bloomquist said. “These are the learning things. It’s much easier to learn after a win than after a loss. So, we’ll address some of these things tomorrow and continue to try to get better.”
