This story was originally published on May 23, 2023.
A game to open Pac-12 Tournament play, in which Arizona State scored only three runs, failed to meet expectations, as the No. 8 seed Arizona Wildcats (31-23, 12-18) took down the No. 5 seed Sun Devils (31-23, 16-13) in a blowout fashion with a score of 12-3 Tuesday afternoon.
Arizona started hot out of the gate with a four-run first inning. Wildcats senior shortstop Nik McClaughry, who earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, blasted a solo home run to left field. Shortly after, right fielder Emilio Corona rounded around the bases for a triple and drove in two baserunners.
ASU starter Josh Hansell did not help in slowing U of A down, with 61 total pitches of 2.2 innings of play with three hits, five runs, and two home runs allowed.
Along with allowing 12 runs, 11 hits and ten walks, the Sun Devils also struggled offensively. ASU did not pick up their first hit until the bottom of the third with a single by Isaiah Jackson. The Devils remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single from Jacob Tobias.
The slow-started offense did not sit well with ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist.
“Dismal at best,” Bloomquist said. “It’s on the verge of getting ten runs before we decide to put together good at-bats. You can’t spot six or seven innings before you wake up.”
Allowing two or more runs in three out of nine innings, Bloomquist felt that the team needed higher offensive productivity throughout the whole game.
“No, that doesn’t give me any confidence,” Bloomquist said. “We just lost 12 to 3. We just got to play better from the first pitch. I’m not going to take any consolation that we got to play two extra innings.”
In the previous matchup between the in-state rivals in Tucson, the Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils 20-0. Arizona State junior second baseman Luke Keaschall shared Bloomquist’s sentiment following today’s contest.
“Offensively, we weren’t really getting on them and getting on base and putting them in pressure situations,” Keaschall said. “At the end of the day, I think we just didn’t execute our plan.”
Before Tuesday’s game, ASU ranked at No. 50 in the D1 Baseball RPI rankings.
In their second game of pool play, the Sun Devils face off with the Oregon State Beavers, a must-win game to hold on to any chance of competing in an NCAA Regional. Coach Bloomquist’s squad won two out of three games in Phoenix against the Beavers earlier this season. where they won the regular season series two games to one. The first pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. MST at Scottsdale Stadium on Thursday.
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