(Photo: Sammi Maxwell/WCSN)
PHOENIX— Arizona State baseball did not receive much of a challenge when they faced Texas Tech in a run-rule victory on Thursday, but that changed in the sequel on Friday.
The Sun Devils were down by two runs entering the bottom half of the sixth inning, but despite swinging some of the hottest bats in the country, ASU didn’t need to swing the bat a single time to complete the comeback.
Working four-straight walks off Texas Tech junior left-handed pitcher Brendan Lysik, the Sun Devils cut the deficit in half, and then a wild pitch over the head of freshman designated hitter Brendan Compton tied the game.
All of this action occurred with no outs, so once the lineup chose to start swinging the bat, there was not much the Red Raiders (31-24, 12-17 Big-12) could do as the Sun Devils (31-24, 17-13 Pac-12) plaster a seven-run crooked inning on the board to take a five-run lead, eventually coming out on top 17-11.
Eight of the nine ASU starters finished with a hit as the team totaled 16 on the night, but what ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist is proud of is the patience the top of the batting order showed when Lysik was struggling with command.
“Passing the torch from one guy to the next,” Bloomquist said. “Guys not trying to do too much and just continuing to put together solid at-bats one after another and not trying to be the hero. Just pass the torch to the next guy. Do your job and give it to the next one, so when they do that and get the line moving, it’s fun to watch them.
“We’ve been talking about it all year on doing that type of stuff. Baseball is a sport to where you just can’t talk it into existence. You have to go out and put it into action, and you’re not going to do it every night. It’s not going to be perfect every night, but as a whole, that’s what we’ve tried to preach to these guys is just solid at-bats.”
The Texas Tech pitchers combined with walking ten Sun Devils, but half of those free passes were in that pivotal seven-run sixth inning. Taking walks forces the pitcher to throw pitches over the plate, which allows the ASU offense to deliver the dagger.
ASU crushed three home runs, including one each from sophomore first baseman Jacob Tobias and Compton as the fourth and fifth hitters in the order. They combined for four hits and six RBI to produce runs as the heart of the lineup, but what will be remembered is their at-bats in that sixth frame.
Tobias’ walk gave Compton a bases-loaded opportunity with no outs and a huge chance to capitalize, and that’s what he did. It wasn’t easy, as he had to duck out of the way of a pitch coming toward his head during the at-bat, but the freshman stayed composed to take the lead with an RBI single through the left side of the infield.
“It wasn’t comfortable at all,” Compton said. “I told him, ‘Come on, dude.’ I feel like he didn’t know where it was going, but he was throwing strikes and I had to compete and do my best. I was fortunate to get a nice hit the other way and to get a run, so just pass it on to the next guy.”
The rest of the lineup followed through as senior third baseman Kevin Karstetter and junior catcher Ryan Campos — who started the rally with a leadoff walk — had RBI knocks in the frame to provide insurance runs. Campos finished 4-5 with three extra-base hits, but yet that becomes normalized when the offense is hitting like this.
Bloomquist said ASU needed its offense to come through as senior pitchers Connor Markl and Hunter Omlid did not set the proper tone on the mound. The pitchers combined to allow nine runs in the first five innings, but the bullpen picked them up.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Sean Fitzpatrick and senior right-handed pitcher Jonah Giblin picked up the slack as they combined for 4 ⅓ innings pitched and had matching stat lines, with each allowing just a hit, walk, and one run along with two strikeouts.
“I think (Fitzpatrick) did a great job coming out and throwing strikes,” Giblin said. “He’s been doing a really, really good job of that. I love coming in after him because it’s just a different look. One has sink and one has ride, and that helps a lot more than people know. Fitz did a great job (and) I just came in and tried to fill the zone up.”
The fact that Bloomquist only needed to use four arms is huge as everyone else can be available tomorrow for the final regular season game of the season. The manager does not know who will start yet, but he can confirm that freshman right-handed pitcher Thomas Burns won’t be out there. The hope is that the freshman can get ready for the Pac-12 tournament next week where he can be used as another arm to provide an inning or two.
The Pac-12 Tournament is ASU’s final chance to punch a ticket into the postseason, but it has one more game it needs to win in the regular season against UNLV tomorrow. The Sun Devils came out on top 10-9 in a March midweek matchup in Las Vegas, but it will be Senior Day for the Devils on, ramping up the emotion. It is an important day, but it also can’t be much different than any other game, as ASU needs the win for its tournament resume.
“Ideally, I don’t want them to be any different than how they’ve been,” Bloomquist said. “Just come ready to play and play with energy and enthusiasm, and hopefully, on Senior Day (they) show up ready to go tomorrow. Whether or not we try to get those guys in, I think it’s first and foremost we got to try to win tomorrow, but I imagine it will be an emotional day for a lot of those guys. It’ll be a little emotional for me for the effort that those guys have put in.”
