Sun Devils stun GCU with ninth-inning comeback

(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)

PHOENIX — Arizona State baseball right-handed pitcher Hunter Omlid stood on the mound at Phoenix Municipal Stadium with the bases loaded after allowing a single to the first hitter he faced.

With an out on the board in the top of the seventh and his team leading crosstown rival Grand Canyon 6-4, there were two possible outcomes for the senior. He could either retire senior second baseman Dustin Crenshaw to generate some momentum or allow him to reach base and keep the Lopes’ rally alive. The latter occurred in the worst possible way for the Sun Devils.

Crenshaw took Omlid deep for a 409-foot grand slam into center field, giving GCU (15-12, 9-3 Wac) a late two-run lead. However, the Sun Devils rallied in the game’s final three innings to come storming back, as a walk-off single from redshirt senior Harris Williams clinched a 9-8 victory for ASU (15-14, 6-6 Pac-12), its fifth win in a row.

“(It was) a great team win,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “We got punched in the mouth and knocked down, but we bounced back. To me, that’s the important part, is they continue to grind and continue to battle… our guys locked in and battled, and we were able to get some baserunners during the ninth and come up with a big hit. (We) didn’t play great, but at the end of the day, the team rallied together, and that was what was important.”

The Sun Devils are no stranger to being down by multiple runs, as they’ve faced multi-run deficits four times across their current five-game winning streak. That grit was on display almost immediately after allowing the grand slam. During the bottom of the seventh with runners on the corners, senior third baseman Mario Demera reached thanks to a botched throw between shortstop Emilio Berreras and Crenshaw, allowing redshirt sophomore outfielder Nick McLain to score from third and cut the GCU lead to 8-7.

Junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Schiefer, who earned the final out of a tumultuous seventh inning, picked up right where he left off a frame later, holding the Lopes scoreless and allowing just one baserunner. But GCU sophomore right-hander Walter Quinn put ASU’s lineup down in order during the bottom of the frame, refusing to allow it to build off its rally the inning prior.

Despite posting nine runs, the Sun Devils appeared to sputter on offense at times, as it was retired in 1-2-3 fashion three times on Tuesday. That’s not to say the lineup struggled, however — it put several balls in play, but they simply didn’t fall.

“Just stay with it,” Williams said. “That’s what I noticed, especially from taking kind of a backseat view of our hitters. Everyone was just staying with it, continuing to put good (at-bats) together… it’s not necessarily results-oriented. We don’t need 30 hits every game, we just need to keep striking the ball well…”

Even after taking a gut punch two innings prior, ASU still found itself only trailing by a run heading into the game’s final frame. But for an instant, it appeared Crenshaw had one more haymaker left to hurl at the Sun Devils.

After sophomore lefty Ben Jacobs struck out junior infielder Blake Avila to lead off the inning, Crenshaw got ahold of a 3-2 pitch and took it for a ride, sending it off the top of the center-field wall for what looked to be his second home run of the night. However, the ball bounced back into play near sophomore outfielder Kien Vu, who successfully executed a relay with senior shortstop Steven Ondina and Demera to throw the GCU infielder out at third.

Vu displayed stellar awareness and instincts as he grabbed the ball before hurling it in the direction of third base — a potential game-saving play.

“I was just trying to catch it,” Vu said. “Right off the bat, I was like,‘I’m going to be able to get there.’ And I was nowhere near it. (McLain) said he thought it was a homer. But then I kind of had momentum going towards third base. So (I) just closed my eyes and threw it as hard as I could, and luckily it was right at (Ondina) and he relayed it perfectly.”

Only in need of one more out to end the half-inning, Jacobs ultimately did his job, inducing a flyout despite walking the two prior batters to set the table for the Sun Devils’ ninth-inning rally. At first, things looked grim, as junior infielder Jacob Tobias began the inning by striking out looking. However, Vu reached on a bloop single into center before redshirt freshman outfielder Brandon Compton and Demera drew back-to-back walks, loading the bases for Williams to deliver the game-winning knock into center field.

While the Sun Devils have shown improvement in several categories, most notably executing with runners in scoring position, what hasn’t changed is their approach. The team is practicing the same way it has all season and is still honing in on the small details, but Williams feels his group has simply done it better recently. Earlier results might not have reflected this, but resilient performances like the one on Tuesday are a promising indication as ASU enters the heart of its conference schedule.

“Obviously, we don’t like getting behind,” Bloomquist said. “But the great thing is we know that we can come back on anybody, and if we get down, there’s no quit, and we’re going to keep coming back. Tonight, the example (was) obviously getting the lead and then giving up and then having to bounce back again. That’s a sign of a good team to win late and be able to come back after you’ve given up a lead and respond to it.”