Sun Devils fall down concerning path with loss to Utah

(Photo: Connor Gleason/WCSN)

PHOENIX – A familiarity heuristic is a psychological term for a rule-of-thumb saying that people search for familiarity when faced with unknown and testing circumstances, though such familiarity is typically a distraction from a larger issue.

When Arizona State baseball saw redshirt sophomore catcher Brody Briggs and head coach Willie Bloomquist get ejected in the fifth inning, the Sun Devils found themselves in a demanding situation down six runs.

Moments after the chaos, sophomore outfielder Landon Hairston stepped into the batter’s box to bring familiarity during trying times. What more recognizable way to do so than sending the first pitch he saw well beyond the outfield wall at Phoenix Municipal Stadium?

Hairston hit his 20th home run of the season to cut ASU’s deficit to only three runs. But as with the familiarity heuristic, the Sun Devils comeback proved to be invalid, as the effect of Hairston’s home run wore off to the distractions of their overall struggles.

ASU saw many of its tribulations from Wednesday night’s 7-5 loss to UNLV carry over to its 10-4 loss to Utah (17-13, 6-7 Big 12). The No. 20 Sun Devils (24-11, 7-6) have now lost consecutive home games for the second time this year, after dropping two to West Virginia at the end of March.

“We’re facing our first real test of adversity right now,” Bloomquist said. “We’re being tested with the amount of games we played in this window. With what the expectations are, I think our guys are getting caught up in winning.”

ASU’s adversity wasn’t just seen through the team having to play without its head coach and starting catcher — it was seen through the lack of offensive production.

Although Hairston finished the day with two hits and three RBIs, the rest of the team combined for only two hits and one run batted in. Two days prior, the Sun Devils plated five runs via eight hits, but three of the runs and four hits came in the final three innings.

“Not ready to hit the fastball,” Bloomquist said. “We kept fouling heaters over the opposing dugout, and that’s just not what we’re designed about and that’s not what we teach here.”

Utah’s starting pitcher, Colter McAnelly, struck out just three batters in his 4.1 innings, but allowed two hits and two runs. McAnelly produced the majority of his outs by forcing ASU to create weak contact on the ball.

McAnelly was also ejected during the chaos of the fifth inning, but the tone was already set for ASU’s offense.

“When we’re good, we are on the fastball timing and adjust to breaking balls,” Bloomquist said. “A lot of guys are caught in between, and if you’re caught in between, you aren’t going to hit.”

The Sun Devils stayed “caught in between” for the rest of the game, as following Hairston’s home run, no ASU player had another base hit.

It certainly didn’t help that the Sun Devils found themselves behind early for the third consecutive game. While they could come back to win against GCU, the script from UNLV would repeat against Utah, as the damage had already been done.

Following up on one of his best performances of the season against Arizona, Carlon couldn’t have looked much farther from the heights shown in Tucson. In the Territorial Cup matchup, Carlon struck out 12 Wildcats in six scoreless innings.

Back at home, Carlon threw 105 pitches across 4.2 innings, as he allowed seven runs and eight hits.

“It seemed like he was pitching high-leverage situations the whole time,” Bloomquist said. “If you want to get length and be a starter and have longevity throughout the year, we have to be efficient.”

In four of the five innings he started, Carlon allowed the lead-off batter to reach base. What made it likely more frustrating for Bloomquist is that three of the four reached by either walking or getting hit by a pitch.

One similarity between Carlon’s last two outings is his growing pitch count. A reliever in his first two collegiate seasons, Carlon has now thrown over 100 pitches in back-to-back outings. In his last six outings, Carlon has gone over 95 pitches in each one.

“He wasn’t as sharp today as he normally is,” Bloomquist said. “This has been a goal of his – to be a weekend starter – and he’s prepared for it physically.”

Bloomquist also mentioned that his concerns didn’t lie with Carlon’s pitch count, but rather when his pitches came. Too many times, Carlon found himself behind in counts, and as Bloomquist said, wasted pitches led him to get into trouble.

Carlon was replaced by redshirt junior Colin Linder in the fifth inning, who allowed a pair of runs to extend ASU’s deficit.

Now, the Sun Devils have to find a way to return to the win column and climb the Big 12 standings.

“Sometimes when you have success, you can get complacent on things, instead of continuing to grind and stay locked in and do what you have to do to get better,” Bloomquist said. “My ultimate goal right now is to address our problems that we have and get better.”

A year ago, ASU faced its own adversity, but was unable to overcome it. As the No. 5 seed in the Big 12, the Sun Devils fell to No. 12 BYU in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. The downward momentum carried into the NCAA tournament, when ASU failed to advance out of the regional.

To improve their results from last year, the Sun Devils will look to reverse the concerning trend of late, but it starts with two more games against Utah.

“We can’t go about our business the way of just expecting to roll out there with an A-S on our uniform and win,” Bloomquist said. “You have to go out there and prove it. You have to go out there with intensity and know that you’re not going to be denied.”