(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)
PHOENIX — Willie Bloomquist sat in his postgame press conference with an obvious look of dejection across his face.
The Sun Devils head coach didn’t mince words on his team’s performance on Wednesday, one that saw it score only four runs against a New Mexico team that has conceded the second-most runs in the Mountain West Conference so far this year. Dropping two of three to Oregon — last year’s Pac-12 Conference Champions — is one thing, but repeatedly botching scoring opportunities against a squad with shaky pitching simply isn’t acceptable in Bloomquist’s eyes.
It didn’t matter that ASU (7-9, 1-2 Pac-12) remained within striking distance of the Lobos (11-6, 3-0 Mountain West) for all of Tuesday’s game, as an inability to muster timely hitting is what ultimately cost Bloomquist’s squad in a 6-4 loss.
“That’s an embarrassing performance on our part,” Bloomquist said. “Just guys not sticking to what we preach and what our offensive mindset should be. We’re representing very poorly this program, and to me, that falls on my shoulders. We just discussed it now, and that’s something that I’ve got to do a better job (of).”
Heading into the 2024 campaign, ASU’s highly-touted offense was expected to be among the most dangerous in the Pac-12, and through 16 games, it has mostly lived up to those lofty expectations. And early in Tuesday’s game, New Mexico’s shaky pitching appeared a perfect matchup for a Sun Devil team aiming to get back to .500 on the year.
In his first inning of work, junior right-hander Andrew Neil displayed a lack of command, plucking redshirt senior outfielder Harris Williams before walking junior catcher Ryan Campos and redshirt sophomore outfielder Nick McLain. With the bases loaded and no outs, redshirt freshman Brandon Compton had an opportunity to set the tone early, but the outfielder grounded out at first, driving in a run but delivering a slightly disappointing result.
Neil’s outing concluded relatively quickly after that, as he induced another out but also helped ASU score two more runs, both off of wild pitches. However, when junior righty Dayne Pengelly took Neil’s spot, the tide quickly turned in favor of the Lobos. Across the next eight innings, New Mexico’s staff held the Sun Devils to just one run and five hits. ASU finished the night 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position despite being walked eight times.
“We didn’t really cash in on those eight walks very well,” Bloomquist said. “(In the) first inning, they literally gave us three runs… And we did our best to not let them give us three runs with our offensive approach… We got lucky they threw a couple balls to the backstop to give us three runs.
“Otherwise, we’re walking out of a tailor-made situation to blow a game wide open out of the gates. They gave us three and that’s all we could muster. With this capability of our offense, that’s embarrassing.”
Pengelly provided the Lobos with 4 ⅓ scoreless innings, allowing six baserunners while fanning five. He did run into some trouble in the second frame, however, as he walked three consecutive hitters — Williams, Campos and McLain — with two outs on the board. However, Compton, who left four Sun Devils on base in the contest, grounded out to dash any hopes ASU had of building on its lead.
While New Mexico’s offense started slow, it eventually found its footing before breaking through in the fourth. In the first start of his collegiate career, freshman righty Wyatt Halvorson tossed six strikeouts while allowing a hit and walk in three innings, but things changed when he was replaced by right-hander Cole Carlon. After the freshman walked senior catcher Kyle Smith, Carlon conceded a two-run blast to senior first baseman Reed Spenrath, instantly propelling the Lobos back into the game.
Senior Devon Dixon tied the score in the same inning with an RBI groundout, but New Mexico was far from finished. Two innings later, with sophomore southpaw Sean Fitzpatrick on the mound, the second baseman clobbered a three-run shot into center field, suddenly putting his team up 6-3.
Overall, ASU’s pitching put forth a solid showing, but it was two big moments that left a stain on the staff’s evening.
“(Halvorson) threw the ball great,” Bloomquist said. “Came out and impressed and did very well, I was happy for him. (Carlon), every situation he’s come in, it’s just been to win or lose the game… and we felt like it was important to try to get him (to) lengthen out a bit… just to get him more comfortable throwing some different pitches and getting a little more work than he has in the past… Obviously he got touched up a little bit.
“(Fitzpatrick) was just throwing the ball good there and then it happened real quick. It was a hit and a walk and then a three-run homer. We had confidence he could get that bottom of the lineup out, and that didn’t happen.”
For ASU, the silver lining from Tuesday’s loss is that it’s now in the past, and it can be used as a learning experience for the remainder of the season. But to Bloomquist, his team needs to hold itself accountable if it plans on competing for a spot in the postseason — the standard for one of college baseball’s most storied programs.
“There’s 37 tremendous kids (in the locker room),” Bloomquist said. “But the problem is we need a little bit more edge. We need a little bit more willingness to call each other out… When it comes to playing competitive, winning baseball, you have to have a little bit of that friction in the clubhouse for you to be any good in my opinion. And right now I think we have a bunch of guys that are phenomenal kids that I think are a bit tentative to do that with each other… So when we start getting that, I think the tides will turn very quickly.”
