(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)
PHOENIX – To open the 2024 season, Arizona State baseball wowed fans as it mashed its way to double-digit runs in five of its first seven games. The Sun Devils offense flashed the potential to score double-digit runs in any given game, and they didn’t even have junior outfielder Nick McLain yet.
However, what once was thought to be arguably one of the best offenses in the country fell into a horrible slump even after adding McLain. For a stretch that lasted exactly a month across 16 games, the Sun Devils failed to score double-digit runs, and the team suffered for it, going 5-11 across the stretch.
On Monday against UNLV, it looked like the streak would continue with the Sun Devils down 7-1 after the first inning, but ASU finally put together enough offense to reach the 10-run mark and hold off the Running Rebels 10-9.
Three days later, the Sun Devils were facing a similar situation. Down 4-0 to California after one, ASU needed another comeback fueled by its offense in order to take game one of a near-must-win three-game set. And after not scoring double-digit runs for a whole month, the Sun Devils’ offense has done it in back-to-back games as ASU (12-14, 4-6 Pac-12) defeated Cal (15-8, 5-5 Pac-12) 14-8, totaling a season-high 18 hits.
“Just starting to get back to guys not trying to do too much to stay within themselves and put together good at-bats, and I think hitting with more of a plan,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said about what has been clicking recently. “… The last five or six games, we’ve started to kind of get back to, I think, what makes us better at-bats and putting good contact on things. Hopefully, that continues because it’s a fun offense when it gets going.”
Leading the way for the offensive performance was the man who began the season missing out on all of those offensive explosions. Since returning from a broken left hamate bone, McLain has had no trouble reaching base, but the consistent power and contact have been absent. Through 17 games, McLain had hit just .254, but thanks to 16 walks, possessed an on-base percentage of .429, adding three homers.
On Thursday, those constant good at-bats from McLain turned into two huge hits. In the bottom of the third with ASU down 4-2, McLain stepped up in the right-handed batter’s box and turned on an 88-mph fastball from Short and deposited it into the Cal bullpen in left field, giving ASU a 5-4 lead.
Three innings later, again with two runners on, but this time with McLain standing in the left-handed batter’s box, he lined a ball into right-center field, scoring both runs and pushing ASU over the double-digit mark for the first time in over a month. McLain finished the night going 2-for-5 and with a team-high five RBI.
“Slumps are going to happen. I just got to remember I’ve been hitting my whole life,” McLain said. “I grew up hitting with my brothers and everything, so it’s something I know I can do. There are slumps, so I’ll probably have 100 more in my career.”
Thursday, the Sun Devil lineup looked a lot different than it normally would. Graduate outfielder Harris Williams got the night off, so junior catcher Ryan Campos slid up to the leadoff spot and graduate infielder Eamonn Lance got his first start of the year, hitting sixth as the designated hitter. Lance made the most of his opportunity.
In the third inning, following McLain’s homer, Lance drove in junior infielder Jacob Tobias with a double that was laced into right-center, giving ASU some breathing room with a two-run lead.
Two innings later, in the bottom of the fifth, Lance stepped up again with a runner on, but instead of a double, the Santa Clara transfer decided to hit his first home run as a Sun Devil. The ball left the bat at 103 mph and dropped 422 feet later into the Cal bullpen, extending ASU’s lead to five at 9-4 and putting the game out of reach for the Golden Bears.
“The frustration was there, but that just fuels me more,” Lance said. “Then when I finally get my opportunity, I’m just gonna break out harder. I felt really confident coming in today, didn’t necessarily know what I was going to do, but I was just going to compete. I’m on my way, so I was happy to contribute in between the white lines.”
Last season, Lance was an everyday player for the Broncos, and the adjustment to riding the bench and seeing only spare pinch-hitting appearances has been rough on the Fairfax, California native. However, Bloomquist repeatedly told Lance to stay ready and prepared for when his number was called. Bloomquist benched Williams to find a place for Lance in the lineup, and Lance did not disappoint.
“(Lance) has been a trooper as much as he can be,” Bloomquist said. “He’s a competitive kid and wants to play. He’s expressed that to me a couple of times, and I respect that. I just figured today was kind of a good matchup to give him and get him in there … Maybe I should have played him a little bit earlier on, but he’s he earned his stripes today, and we’ll continue to find ways to get him in the lineup.”
While the final eight inning of the game couldn’t have gone much better for ASU, the first inning was one they are going to want to forget. Junior lefty Matt Cornelius exited the game with an infinite ERA on the day, facing five batters and retiring none of them while allowing two runs on two singles and two walks.
Bloomquist had the quick hook, replacing Cornelius with veteran righty Matt Tieding. Throughout his time as a Sun Devil, Tieding has often been called on as the “do everything” pitcher, boasting experience as both a starter and a long relief option.
Entering the first innings with two runs already crossed and the bases loaded with no outs, Tieding was in attack mode out of the gate. The junior got three straight flyouts — two being sacrifice flies — but the damage was minimized, giving the ASU offense a chance that they cashed in on later.
Tieding wasn’t done after one. Over the next four innings, Tieding was just as dominant, producing weak contact from Golden Bear after Golden Bear. He finished the night with 5 innings pitched, no earned runs, three hits, one walk and four 4 K’s in what was by far his best outing of the season.
“The ball kept coming out good, and he wasn’t losing anything from inning to inning,” Bloomquist said. “I could tell the last two hitters he was starting to flatten out a little bit and lose a little bit of late snap, but he was able to battle and get through it. To get five out of him that was a blessing.”
The Sun Devils will be without freshman righty Thomas Burns for at least this weekend with what Bloomquist described as “shoulder stiffness and tendonitis”, making Tieding’s five innings even more valuable to keep as many arms fresh for the final two games.
“(Burns’) a big piece of our rotation, a big piece of our staff, but we’re gonna have to pick up the slack,” Blooomquist noted. “Somebody’s got to step up, and guys who want opportunities, here you go.”
