Sun Devils thrash SDSU to stay alive in Lincoln Regional

LINCOLN – In the early hours of Saturday morning, Arizona State was still playing a game that had started on Friday. The Sun Devils were still trying to move into the winner’s side of the bracket as they played Ole Miss.

As that game ended, ASU was left in despair.

Head coach Willie Bloomquist and his players were fighting back emotion postgame. However, in the NCAA Tournament, it was a short turnaround for the Sun Devils. They still had an elimination game to play 12 hours later.

While ASU (38-20, 19-11 Big 12) did start slow, it rallied to thrash South Dakota State (24-33, 12-15 Summit League) 17-0 in its second-largest margin of victory of the season. The win not only serves to keep ASU’s season alive, but also serves as a relief after Friday’s heartbreak.

“Huge resilience from our guys to bounce back today after a marathon game last night where they left everything on the field,” Bloomquist said. “We came up a little short yesterday, so for them to bounce back today was huge.”

On Friday, inconsistent offense doomed the Sun Devils. While they scored six runs, they were unable to string hits together and failed to score in the last seven frames of the 14-inning affair. ASU’s five through nine-hole hitters went 2-for-26.

Saturday’s game started in an almost identical offensive fashion. Senior right-fielder Dean Toigo opened the scoring early with a home run. Toigo has now hit home runs in three straight games.

However, after Toigio, the offense went cold. The Sun Devils failed to add another run until the fifth inning, with SDSU pitcher Drew McDowell dealing through the ASU lineup, allowing just one hit through four innings.

“Offense took a while to get going there,” Bloomquist said. “McDowell kind of had us off balance there through four or five innings, but we were able to get to the bullpen and put together a couple of big innings.”

In the fifth inning, the Sun Devils finally seemed to figure out McDowell’s stuff, or at least lay off of it. To start the frame, ASU worked two walks and a single to load the bases before McDowell was taken out of the ballgame.

“Had an idea what he was doing out there,” Bloomquist said. “Kept us off balance there for a few innings, and it’s again a good thing we got his pitch count up. That was one of the positives early on, even though we were coming up scoreless, we were having deep at-bats and making him work for his outs, which got his pitch count up.”

After McDowell was taken out, the Jackrabbits brought in Tristan Augedahl, who then walked in a run.

Every Sun Devil that appeared before the seventh inning reached base. Players like junior center-fielder Dominic Longo, who hadn’t recorded a hit since April prior to Friday, collected multiple hits in the rally.

Redshirt sophomore Austen Roellig hit his third home run of the season, the Sun Devils’ second grand slam of the day.

“Offensively, we turned it on there in the fifth,” Bloomquist said. “We were able to again get to the bullpen, take advantage of getting ahead in the count, and get some walks. But, our guys did a good job staying patient and taking what the game gave them again, super, super excited, super happy for our guys the way they bounced back.”

Still, one of its stars opened the game up.. The Sun Devils turned to redshirt-junior Nu’u Contrades with a three-run lead in hand, and the bases still full. Then, the ASU captain picked up from where he had left off the night prior, sending a low fly ball over the fence for a grand slam, and his 20th home run of the season.

Contrades’ grand slam knocked in four of the eleven runs the Sun Devils scored in the fifth inning, taking the game from a pitching duel to an onslaught. Contrades now has seven RBIs in the NCAA Tournament so far.

“I’ve been just trying to stick to my approach,” Contrades said. “Hard the other way is when I do the most damage, so just trying to stick with that and stay on the fastball. Timing has been the biggest, biggest key.”

Not only did the Sun Devils’ offensive masterpiece help back up a shutout pitching performance from senior pitcher Kole Klecker, but it also helped ASU clinch at least one more game in its season. The Sun Devils will await the loser of the game between Ole Miss and Nebraska in an elimination game on Sunday at 12 p.m. MST.

“We know we’re going to play somebody good tomorrow,” Bloomquist said. “Our message is, stay ready if we come and play our game, and stay mentally ready to play our best baseball. I don’t really care who we play, and that’s always been the message for our guys: play the best baseball we can. We’ll figure out tonight who we’re going to play tomorrow and figure out a starting pitcher, and we know it’s all hands on deck, so we’ll be excited, whoever we play.”