(Photo via: Grace Johnson/WCSN)
PHOENIX— Over the past year, one of the biggest questions for Arizona State Baseball has been — and continues to be — pitching. After Florida State junior transfer Ross Dunn started on Friday, all eyes were on junior righty Khristian Curtis, who got the nod on the mound for game two against San Diego State.
Curtis didn’t disappoint.
The former Texas A&M Aggie was locked in from the get-go and put together a dominant start on the hill that set the tone for the remainder of ASU’s 5-3 win over the Aztecs. ASU improved to 2-0 with the series-clinching win, while SDSU dropped to 0-2.
In five innings of work, Curtis allowed just two hits and three walks while dishing out six strikeouts. While he occasionally had lapses in command, the Groves, Texas native threw an efficient 41 strikes in 72 pitches and hit 97 mph on his fastball during an appearance that he labeled as his “first painless outing in three years.” But what’s even more impressive is how well Curtis responded when faced with adversity.
After conceding a double to SDSU sophomore outfielder Tyler Glowacki in the third, Curtis walked two batters and faced a bases-loaded jam with only one out. The right-hander forced junior second baseman Caden Miller into a weak pop out before ringing up junior outfielder Cole Carrigg, one of the Aztecs’ best hitters, to end the inning.
“Let me give all the credit to the coaches,” Curtis said. “They prepared us for those moments like that to stay cool, don’t let the moment get too big (…) so that was one of those moments where really, it just hit me and I just had to bulldog my way through it.”
The Sun Devils’ offense got going as early as possible, as junior second baseman Luke Keaschall, their first batter of the day, turned the first pitch he saw into a leadoff home run. An inning later, freshman center fielder Isaiah Jackson followed up Keaschall’s solo shot with one of his own, making his first collegiate hit all the more unforgettable.
“Man, it was a blur,” Jackson said about his homer. “I just completely blacked out when it happened. Glad I got it out of the way, first hit and first home run.”
At the end of the first two frames, it appeared the Sun Devils were well on their way to putting the game away early. However, ASU’s bats then went stagnant, as it didn’t get another man on the basepaths until the sixth inning.
This offensive struggle was largely due to lights-out pitching from Aztecs’ starter Chris Canada. Aside from the two homers, the sophomore lefty allowed two baserunners and retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced.
“The two-strike hitting was disappointing a little bit today,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “Our approach was disappointing in my opinion, that we have to be better at staying hard up the middle off a guy like that [Canada]. He carved us up pretty well today and changed speeds, and that’s a guy we have to be better (against and have a) more mature approach off somebody like that.”
But an offensive resurgence in the eighth frame is what ultimately won ASU the game. RBIs from freshman shortstop Luke Hill, freshman third baseman Nu’u Contrades and sophomore catcher Ryan Campos punctuated a three-run, ten at-bat half-inning that seemingly put the contest out of reach for SDSU.
The Sun Devils’ middle-inning offensive struggles didn’t come back to bite them thanks to a solid showing by the bullpen. In two innings of work, junior right-hander Matt Tieding kept the Aztecs off the scoresheet. Junior reliever Blake Pivaroff succeeded Tieding in the eighth and preserved the shutout until the final inning of play.
In need of only three more outs, the right-handed pitcher ran into some trouble. ASU found itself in a bases-loaded jam with two outs after Keaschall was a little too late with his potential game-ending putout throw to second — a play in which the umpire ruled the runner as safe. Carrigg proceeded to hit an RBI single, and Pivaroff was replaced by junior closer Brock Peery, who conceded a two-RBI single before ending the contest with a strikeout.
“I take the blame for [Pivaroff] there,” Bloomquist said. “He dealt the first inning, he had a long, long inning there on our offensive half of that inning. I probably shoudn’t have run him back out there and that’s on me.”
Despite the late-game scare, the Sun Devils were able to hold on and remain undefeated on the young season. And while there are aspects of ASU’s game that need to be cleaned up, Bloomquist is encouraged by all the good things his team did in its first two contests.
“Obviously, you’re not going to be perfect,” Bloomquist said. “You’re going to have ups and downs throughout the year (…) but for us, it’s just a matter of staying resilient and responding to adversity that gets thrown at us (…) And I expect that type of mentality and personality out of our players.”
