(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)
PHOENIX — Ask any media member who has attended a Willie Bloomquist press conference over his last three seasons as Arizona State baseball head coach, and they will tell you that Bloomquist delivers some of the best quotes. Ask him one question, and he’ll answer for two full minutes, delivering huge blocks of quotes to use in stories.
That’s why his comments after ASU’s (10-11, 3-3 Pac-12) embarrassing 7-5 loss to Utah Valley (8-13, 4-2 WAC) were so jarring.
“I am quite frankly at a loss.”
Bloomquist struggle to find the right words comes after arguably ASU’s worst performance in a string of bad offensive performances that stretches back 11 games to ASU’s final game in Texas. Over their last 11 games, the Sun Devils have scored more than five runs just once, a 6-3 win over UT Arlington. Through six innings on Wednesday, the Sun Devils were more worried about notching their first hit.
On the back end of a back-to-back in the middle of the week, the Wolverines attacked the Sun Devils with a unique pitching situation. Opening the game with senior righty Chase Hennessey, Utah Valley threw three different pitchers two innings each. Hennessey was followed by a couple of innings from senior right-handers Braden Boisvert and Eli Sundquist.
All three pitchers combined to throw six innings of no-hit baseball, striking out only three Sun Devils but continually producing weak contact out of the once-potent ASU lineup.
“At the end of the day, we feel like we’re giving these guys the information they need,” Bloomquist said. “We just aren’t getting it done, and that’s discouraging for a coaching staff. I think those guys are discouraged, too, and I don’t know if they are trying too hard or what’s going on. I wish I had an answer because right now, it’s pretty dismal at best.”
ASU finally broke the no-hitter in the seventh thanks to a double down the left-field line from junior first baseman Jacob Tobias. From there a four-run seventh inning followed, vaulting the Sun Devils back within one run. Sophomore outfielder Kien Vu knocked a single through right side of the infielder for two-RBI and his first hit since March 3.
If you want to get a picture of ASU’s season on offense in a nutshell, look no further than sophomore center fielder Isaiah Jackson. The Arizona native started off the year on fire as one of the best hitters in the country, knocking in 15 RBI and four home runs over the first two weekend series. Since the conclusion of the Ohio State series on Feb. 25, Jackson had tallied just four hits entering Wednesday, all singles.
In the ninth inning against Utah Valley, Jackson placed one just over the center field wall, resulting in his first extra-base hit in nearly a month. Cutting the deficit to two was not enough, as the next three Sun Devils went down in order to end the game.
“Did those guys have the velocity to blow us away? Did they have nasty breaking stuff to keep us off? No,” Bloomquist said. “We’ve faced arms, every bit of that so far this year, and we’ve done very well against those types of arms. But for me, it’s a lot of focus and being ready to play mentally. I think that has a lot to do with it.”
Jackson is not the only one who has been struggling. In that same time period, junior outfielder Nick McLain went 5-for-28, good for a 1.78 batting average. At the same time, despite some heroics over the last few weeks, freshman infielder Ethan Mendoza has gone just 6-for-37. Tobias and junior catcher Ryan Campos have still played well recently, but the power that was so abundant at the beginning of the season has evaded ASU over the last few weeks.
Bloomquist has continually blamed his team’s occasional lack of focus for their struggles, but now he is done preaching and is ready for results.
“We are giving them every possible thing we can to accommodate their inability to focus and play,” Bloomquist said. Maybe I’m enabling too much, but at some point in time, they gotta grow up and learn how to play. If these guys want to play at the next level of pro ball, you don’t get days off in pro ball. It is what it is, and you got to show up to play every day.
“These guys are getting three, four days off a week where they’re not playing games, so don’t give me the mentally fatigued thing, just learn to show up ready to play.”
Following the game, Bloomquist said he did not have a long message for the team, stating,”some things are better left unsaid.” However, the players still went forward with their own player-only meeting. We will never know what was truly said in that meeting, but going forward, Sun Devil fans better hope that the message finally sinks in and bats come back alive.
“I shouldn’t have to motivate every single day,” Bloomquist said. “At some point in time, you got to look in the mirror and get ready to play. These guys are good kids that care, but it’s like, man, come ready to play, button your chin strap, and be ready to go punch somebody in the mouth. From a competition standpoint, be ready to go. We can’t sit and wait until six-and-a-half innings before we decide to wake up offensively. That’s got to be from pitch one.”
