(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)
PHOENIX — On Tuesday night, Arizona State baseball played host to Kansas State, the 24th best team in the country, in a ball game that came down to the final out.
For the third straight game, the Sun Devils (3-1) found themselves in a back-and-forth battle of the offenses resulting in a 9-6 win over the Wildcats (2-2). A huge midweek win over a ranked opponent.
“We’re not going to have any cakewalks,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “They’re a ranked team for a reason… given all the adversity that we faced today and all the self-induced wounds that we gave ourselves, we still found a way to win.”
With ASU scoring double-digit runs and 38 total runs over the first three games, it’s become clear how explosive its offense can be, but the pitching is still looking for improvement. The offensive versatility helped make up for some of those pitfalls tonight, and with a sufficient enough bullpen and a stout defense behind the mound, ASU had the recipe for success.
“We can beat you in more ways than one,” Bloomquist said. “We don’t have to rely on home runs to beat you, we can steal bases, play hit and run, go the other way… good offenses are dynamic and have more ways to beat you than one and that’s what we’re striving to do”
For Arizona State, freshman righty Adam Behrens got the start on the bump and did what he needed to when facing a strong team such as Kansas State — keep his offense in it.
The Devils struggled to score in the first two innings against Wildcats starter Owen Boerema while Kansas State found success against Behrens, as senior third baseman Danniel Rivera left the yard in the second inning followed by a no-doubter in the third over the left field wall from the No. 28 MLB prospect Kaelen Culpepper.
Down 3-0 in the third, the Sun Devils bats began to catch fire at the top of the lineup starting with sophomore third baseman Nu’u Contrades who notched an RBI double down the right field line to kick-start the scoring. ASU would tack on two more runs at the hands of juniors Ryan Campos and Jacob Tobias.
He may be hitting in the six-spot, but sophomore outfielder Isaiah Jackson could certainly qualify as a “top of the lineup” kind of guy. In the fourth inning he proved it by breaking the 3-3 tie and crushing a pitch he liked over the wall in center field. Jackson now leads the team in homers with three, a huge improvement from some of his consistency struggles last season.
“I was really just focusing on balance (in the offseason) to my whole swing, just hammering that which brought consistency,” Jackson said. “That brought confidence, just trusting it and obviously it’s been able to show a little bit.”
A bases-loaded walk knotted up the game at four apiece, but in the bottom of the fifth, the Sun Devils were able to take the lead once again on an RBI single from redshirt senior outfielder Harris Williams. Through the seventh and eighth innings, the Wildcats were only able to tack on one more, while ASU extended its lead to four runs thanks to two RBI from Jackson, a fielder’s choice hit by Campos and an RBI single from senior designated hitter Kevin Karstetter.
With victory in sight, Bloomquist opted to bring in his freshman closer Cole Carlon in the ninth. The talented freshman got the job done on Saturday against Santa Clara, but Tuesday’s story was different. Carlon struggled to land pitches and after allowing one run on three walks and one hit, he was pulled from the game with two outs and the bases loaded.
Bloomquist went to a player he trusts in senior Matt Tieding in need of the final out. Tieding left no chance for Kansas State to creep back into the contest as he struck out the final batter to strand three and win the game.
“Moment like that are always so fun,” Tieding said. “Coming in with a chance to save the game for the team is always a blast. The adrenaline was obviously super high and it was so much fun.”
Despite the ups and downs of the bullpen on Tuesday, ASU grinded out a win over an extremely talented squad — a full team win at that with eight pitchers making appearances on the mound.
“We’ve got 20 guys who are able to come in and pinch hit…” Jackson said. “We had a bunch of defensive changes coming in and out of the game, just a lot of team stuff that went on that led to that win.”
