(Photo: Bryan Ross/WCSN)
PHOENIX — In the first three seasons of head coach Willie Bloomquist’s tenure at Arizona State, there has been a consistent formula to winning games. The Sun Devils were never going to beat you 2-1; they were going to out-slug you, put up crooked innings and never stop hitting the baseball. Even if they weren’t pitching well, which occurred often, their lineup usually played well enough to put them in a position to win regardless.
Coming into this season, the tone surrounding where ASU would excel was a bit different. Sure, the Sun Devils’ lineup still had lofty expectations, but with newly-hired pitching coach Jeremy Accardo and a brand-new pitching lab that provides pitchers with all the data they need, many believe this year’s staff was the best it’s been under Bloomquist.
“We’re ready to turn this into a pitching school,” junior lefty Ben Jacobs said before the season. “This is the year it happens.”
However, on Sunday against Ohio State, fans witnessed what has become commonplace at Phoenix Municipal Stadium: the Sun Devils’ staff didn’t give their lineup the support it needed. Despite a 17-10 victory to secure a three-game sweep, ASU (3-0) let a 10-2 sixth-inning lead slim down to a three-run advantage by the seventh and gave the Buckeyes (0-3) a legitimate chance to pull off an improbable comeback.
“I wasn’t overly pleased with our performance today, especially on the mound,” Bloomquist said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to do a better job on our end, defensively and on the mound.”
Through four innings, ASU appeared to have minimal issues on the bump. In his first start of his collegiate career, sophomore righty Jaden Alba put together a strong performance that put the Sun Devils in a great position. After a shaky first inning of work that saw him allow two runs and hard contact on several occasions, Alba settled in, putting up goose-eggs in his last three frames of the day.
“I felt pretty good,” Alba said. “The plan was to go right after them, attack them, and whatever happens happens, let your defense work. That’s pretty much what I was trying to do, just get ahead, get right after them. (My) defense made plays for me all day, so it feels really good.”
When Alba exited the game, the Sun Devils were in a good spot. They held a commanding 7-2 lead over the Buckeyes and turned to a bullpen that was solid in the two games prior, allowing a combined six runs in 8.2 innings.
Right-hander Josh Butler picked up right where Alba left off, holding Ohio State off the scoreboard and striking out two looking. Even when he conceded two hits and an earned run in the sixth, there was no sense of panic. Butler had things under control and ASU was very clearly in the driver’s seat.
All that needed to happen was for those who came in after Butler to limit the damage and keep the Buckeyes’ offense at bay for the remaining three innings. But credit Ohio State, who refused to roll over and began to take advantage of shaky pitching on ASU’s part.
With freshman right-hander Jake Neely making his collegiate debut to start the seventh, the visitors started to chip away. Three of the four batters Neely faced reached, with sophomore second baseman Lee Ellis knocking an RBI single into left-center. After that hit, Neely was replaced by sophomore southpaw Bradyn Barnes, but the problems persisted.
Ohio State scored three more runs in the frame, the last of which coming on a wild pitch from Barnes. Things didn’t improve when Barnes came back out for the eighth, as he issued a leadoff walk before conceding back-to-back home runs to junior catcher Matthew Graveline and senior third baseman Tyler Pettorini, making the score 10-7.
That spelled the end of Barnes’ day, but the Buckeyes managed to put two more runners on prior to right-hander Lucas Kelly escaping the inning.
“Things got a little hairy there for a while,” Bloomquist said. “When you have a 10-2 lead, you’re kind of hoping that you can maybe start mixing some younger guys in there, not only (on the) pitching side, but also (from) a position player standpoint, and get some guys some at-bats that have been waiting their turn. Blink your eyes, and they’ve got the tying run at the plate. That can’t happen, we’ve got to be better than that.”
While ASU ultimately closed the door and was the beneficiary of even shakier Ohio State pitching — it scored its final seven runs of the game with only one hit — the performance on the mound left a poor taste in Bloomquist’s mouth. This was not only because the Sun Devils nearly squandered a gargantuan lead, but in doing so forced their skipper to use Kelly and sophomore right-handed pitcher Derek Schaefer, two arms he wanted to preserve for Monday’s game against Austin Peay.
Needing to utilize two high-leverage pitchers to close out a win after leading by eight runs at one point is inexcusable. But this was a game that ASU needed to have considering its offensive output, and Bloomquist was willing to do whatever it took to seal the victory.
Letting a team claw back into a game after being up big is never ideal, but it’s worth noting that all of the Sun Devils’ relievers Sunday — excluding Kelly — had very limited college baseball experience heading into this season.
It will likely take time for those younger arms to find their footing, and that’s expected. But when every game is equally important and counts towards an NCAA Tournament resume, there is no room for a bullpen to generate stress when its team is cruising to a victory.
“Sometimes, when the lights come on, it takes a few times to get comfortable,” Bloomquist said. “Unfortunately, this isn’t the minor leagues. We don’t have time to develop guys and let them get comfy and struggle a few times.”
