This story was originally published on May 24, 2023.
The specter that has loomed large over Arizona State all season long reared its ugly head again on Tuesday in Scottsdale: the bullpen.
After performing admirably in a must-win series against UCLA to close the season, the bullpen failed against Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament opener, which the Sun Devils lost 12-3.
Head coach Willie Bloomquist opted to go with a bullpen game rather than one of his starters. He cited availability and concerns about health as the primary reasons for the decision.
“We went with our best available arm, and that was Josh Hansell,” Bloomquist said.
The bullpen has struggled already against Arizona this season. The 20-run blowout in Tucson came in another bullpen game for ASU.
Junior right-hander Josh Hansell was the opener in Tuesday’s game and it was evident early he did not have his best stuff. The Wildcats tagged Hansell for four runs in the first and another in the second. Two of the hits were home runs.
Hansell’s struggle to locate pitches set the tone for the day.
ASU gave the Wildcats 10 free passes, something which the coaches have pointed to time and time again as a major issue for the Sun Devil staff.
“We give up ten free bases, we can’t expect to win,” Bloomquist said. “I don’t care if you’re playing a little league team, you’re not going to win that game.”
It was Jekyll and Hyde compared to the regular season finale on Saturday when the Sun Devils issued zero walks.
The 10 walks were the high mark for the season, beating the nine issued to Oregon State in April.
The Wildcats waited out the Sun Devil staff and struck with runners on when the pitchers were pressing to throw strikes.
“We’re getting behind hitters and giving them leverage counts,” junior second baseman Luke Keaschall said. “End of the day, I think we just didn’t execute our plan.”
Junior right-hander Matt Tieding and sophomore right-hander Will Rogers struggled mightily and allowed Arizona to essentially finish the game in the fourth inning.
The lone bright spot and perhaps ASU’s best option for middle relief going forward was senior righty Nolan Lebamoff. The senior pitched 2.2 innings with three strikeouts and escaped a pair of jams, although he was charged with three earned runs.
This game appeared to be a climax of the bullpen’s (and staff as a whole) issues throughout the year. Unfortunately, it came during maybe the most important game of the 2023 campaign.
Now, the Sun Devils face a must-win game on Thursday with a bullpen and staff lacking confidence and struggling. The first pitch against Oregon State is scheduled for 10 a.m. MST at Scottsdale Stadium.
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