(Photo: Hailey Rogalski/WCSN)
PHOENIX — Sunday’s series finale against Oregon State marked a successful moment for head coach Willie Bloomquist, moving Arizona State baseball a step closer to achieving the “Omaha” goal he has strived toward since taking over the program after the 2021 season. The series became more than a regular Pac-12 weekend contest — it evolved into a prove-it moment.
The Beavers, who captured five Pac-12 Championships and three National Championships since 2000, is considered a top program in the conference, granting ASU an opportunity to test itself against some of the best competition in the region. The three-game series set up to be just that, as hosting No. 21 Oregon State, and the Sun Devils displaying a No. 19 ranking, marked the first time ASU played a series in which both sides were inside the top-25 since 2019.
Even winning the matchup against another top tier program granted Bloomquist the opportunity to express the significance, while also explaining he hasn’t achieved his ultimate goal.
“This program is built upon Omaha, National Championships, and for me, that’s the vision — whether we get there or not, we’ll see,” Bloomquist said. “But we are going to grind and that’s going to be the expectations. And In order to do that, you have to beat good teams.”
Defeating a good team is exactly what the Sun Devils accomplished on Sunday, taking the contest 12-10 and winning the series. The two wins propelled ASU to No. 17 in D1 Baseball’s rankings and No. 12 in Baseball America.
The 2023 season marked the first full cycle Bloomquist had to recruit players from the transfer portal and high school. Taking over in June 2021 limited his player options, effectively yielding a disadvantage for his first season.
Now after completing a recruiting season, Bloomquist feels he has a roster that can compete in many game.
“You get a bunch of tremendous individual players, you don’t win these type of games,” Bloomquist said. “You have to have grinders and guys that are willing to do whatever it takes for the guys next to him. We continue to bring those type of players in here, we’re going to be ok.”
While many players from the 2022 roster moved on from ASU, some stuck around in hopes year two could be different. Redshirt senior catcher Bronson Balholm is one of the few who returned to ASU in 2023, and acknowledge the difference a full recruiting cycle can have on a program.
“We had guys on the team that weren’t [Bloomquist’s] recruits, so this year it was a fresh new page,” Balholm said. “[Bloomquist] and Peraza were able to go out and get the guys that they want. And I think the biggest thing — I felt it last year, right when I got in there — I was going to do whatever it takes to be a part of the program and to win. Last year we didn’t really have everyone that was bought in.”
Clinching a regional round appearance — let alone a trip to Omaha — still requires an immense amount of work on ASU’s part, as its next two series are against Oregon and Stanford, both of which are ranked. With a tough task stretch ahead, and goals to play in Omaha evident, Bloomquist still believes the team can continue to grow to become a traditional Arizona State baseball team.
“We still got a ways to go,” Bloomquist said. “I think they’re getting the character and the resiliency down. But again, there’s a lot of things to clean up and we’re not going to be complacent with where we’re at. We know we have to get better. And are we capable of it? Heck, yeah, I think so. But, you know, we I’m not gonna keep the foot off the gas with them.”
