(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)
PHOENIX — In baseball, a lot can change in the span of one pitch. It simply doesn’t matter how well a team plays up to a certain point, as a single swing can be extremely unforgiving and turn an entire contest upside down.
That’s just baseball.
Arizona State (7-8, 1-2 Pac-12) witnessed that sentiment materialize in front of its eyes during Sunday’s rubber match against Oregon (11-4, 2-1 Pac-12), with the Ducks capitalizing on shaky pitching to create big moments and momentum swings that fueled its 8-5 win.
“If you look at it today, there’s a lot of good,” redshirt senior outfielder Harris Williams said. “There’s a ton of good and I think it comes down to just being locked in for one more pitch. If you look at that game pitch-by-pitch, we were a handful away from really blowing that game open, and we came up short today, came up short yesterday.
“We just need to continue to build on that and continue to take it pitch by pitch, and eventually we’re going to string them together, and we’re going to put up a lot of runs and a lot of zeros defensively.”
While the Sun Devils’ fortunes on Sunday changed in a series of single pitches, it was the results leading up to those key moments that left a sour taste in head coach Willie Bloomquist’s mouth. With his team up 2-0 and only in need of one more out to escape the fourth inning, redshirt sophomore starter Tyler Meyer conceded a grand slam to junior first baseman Jacob Walsh that gave Oregon a lead it wouldn’t relinquish for the remainder of the afternoon.
During the game’s first three innings, Meyer was very much in control of the game, holding the Ducks scoreless, facing the minimum in each frame and tossing four strikeouts. However, his fourth inning of work is when problems began to arise. After inducing consecutive outs — one via the strikeout — Meyer plucked junior catcher Bennett Thompson, conceded a double and issued a walk, loading the bases. Walsh, the next batter, sent the first pitch soaring over the left field wall to put the Ducks up 4-2.
“(Meyer) threw the ball better today,” Bloomquist said. “Walked one guy, but that was in the fourth inning. We had a walk and a hit and then the (Phoenix Municipal Stadium) home run there to left field where he made a pretty good pitch on and got (Walsh) up front… It’s not the home run that killed us, it’s the walk and hit batter prior to the home run that really leaves a scar.”
Following an inning-long outing for senior right-hander Matt Tieding that saw him concede a run, Bloomquist turned to trusted southpaw Matt Cornelius to navigate the sixth with his team trailing by a run. For Cornelius, it wasn’t only one pitch that proved detrimental: it was multiple. Facing four batters, the junior failed to record an out, and the final straw was when he issued a bases-loaded walk to freshman second baseman Ryan Cooney that increased Oregon’s lead to 6-4.
Cornelius allowed four baserunners — two hits and two walks — and mightily struggled to throw strikes on Sunday, as only five of his 14 pitches landed inside the zone.
“I’ve seen the ball come out a lot better from (Cornelius’) hand before, and it just wasn’t coming out very good,” Bloomquist said. “And combine that with not hitting your spots… He’s got to be better than that, and he knows that.
Junior righty Ryan Schiefer, Cornelius’ successor, inherited a difficult situation with the bases still juiced. While he walked sophomore center fielder Mason Neville in his first at-bat of the day, which brought in an earned run credited to Cornelius, Schiefer induced a lineout two pitches later, allowing him to settle in and prevent any further damage in the inning.
Through his next two innings of work, the Gilbert native remained stellar. His seventh frame wasn’t seamless, as he totaled two walks — one intentional — and a wild pitch, but kept the Ducks off the board before tossing a 1-2-3 eighth inning.
The key to Schiefer’s successful relief appearance? Taking things one step at a time.
“Just going one at a time, one batter at a time,” Schiefer said. “I can’t get the next guy out before he’s up, so just doing what I can to get ahead on that batter and try to get them out, maybe a double play.”
Finding a concrete solution to ASU limiting opponents’ big offensive moments out won’t be an easy task. On Saturday, freshman closer Cole Carlon conceded a go-ahead two-run shot to junior designated hitter Jeffery Heard in the ninth inning that eventually proved the game-winning play, even though the Sun Devils had led for most of the game. Those issues resurfaced again on Sunday, so the quest to fix this issue is one that’s ongoing.
“I’m getting grayer every day,” Bloomquist said. “Trying to find the right mix, there’s days where we’re doing really well and putting guys in the situations that they were successful the previous outing in that situation, and then the next time, whether they are or aren’t, it’s trying to find the pulse of when they’re going to be on and when they’re not.
“That’s the challenge… These kids are in college right now and they’re not at the professional ranks yet. But they’re not going to be perfect. I guess what I’m talking about is, even though you’re not perfect, you still got to have the guts and the desire to still compete and get after it and find a way to be successful without your best stuff.”
