Arizona State (7-6) secured its first Pac-12 win Friday night in walk-off fashion against Oregon (9-4) at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, beating the Ducks 5-4.
After the Sun Devils offense went quiet in the middle innings, the lineup found ways to wear down the Ducks’ hurlers, scoring in the eighth and ninth innings to tie and ultimately win the ballgame.
“We’ve got to get better offensively than we are right now,” Arizona State manager Willie Bloomquist said. “So, we’ll take the win, certainly, and be happy for that. But we understand we’ve got to get better in a lot of areas.”
The night began later than usual, after precautions for a thunderstorm, which never came, delayed the game nearly a full hour. At 7:15 pm, Arizona State freshman pitcher Thomas Burns toed the slab.
Burns navigated 5.1 stressful innings against the reigning Pac-12 Tournament champions, dodging disaster nearly every inning.
In the first inning, Burns walked two batters and put them both in scoring position, but picked up a pair of strikeouts to escape the jam. I
n the next inning, Burns loaded the bases with two more walks and a base hit with nobody out. Burns again avoided any damage by striking out the side.
The Sun Devils jumped out to an early lead in the first, courtesy of an RBI groundout by freshman second baseman Ethan Mendoza, scoring junior catcher Ryan Campos.
Redshirt freshman designated hitter Brandon Compton added to the lead with a towering solo shot to center field which gave Arizona State a 2-0 lead after two innings.
The Ducks rallied to tie the game with a home run by junior catcher Bennett Thompson in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fourth by sophomore third baseman Carter Garate.
Compton had another answer for Oregon, a nearly identical home run to center field in the fourth which put the Sun Devils back in front.
Compton finished his career day at the plate with two home runs and three RBI, the last of which came from an RBI single in the eighth inning to tie the game. His 17 RBI lead the clubhouse, while his four homers this season are tied for the team lead.
“I just carried over what we did in Texas. I was swinging it well,” Compton said. “I was missing some stuff, so I was trying to just be super aggressive and hit the first strikes I see that look good.”
Compton has been crucial for the Sun Devils high-powered offense, which continues to be the primary thing keeping ASU in games.
“Compton, what more can you say,” Bloomquist said. “He’s doing outstanding. Swinging the bat good, hitting lefties as well as righties, can’t ask much more from him.”
The Ducks, who swung hot bats against Grand Canyon earlier in the week, utilized a more patient approach at the plate. Oregon drew ten walks in the game, nine of which came against Burns. Despite only recording four hits in the contest, the Ducks responded to each Sun Devils’ score by walking and taking advantage of poor defense by the home squad.
In the seventh, Central Arizona College transfer junior pitcher Ryan Schiefer allowed a base hit to Oregon’s Thompson to lead off the inning. San Francisco transfer redshirt senior left fielder Harris Williams misplayed the hit in left field, allowing Thompson to reach second base.
A few pitches later, Thompson swiped third base, but Campos’ throw sailed into left field, gifting the Ducks its first lead of the night. While the defense cost the Sun Devils the lead at the time, the bullpen continues to mature in high-leverage spots.
“We knew that those guys were going to have some growing pains, and that’s not to say they’re over,” Bloomquist said. “They’re still going to have some ups and downs. I think each time they tow the rubber they’re getting more and more comfortable, and again, us as coaches are starting to figure out which guys fit into which roles a little bit better.”
After a rough start, Oregon’s junior starter RJ Gordon and sophomore reliever Grayson Grinsell dominated the middle of the game, retiring eleven straight Sun Devils until junior first baseman Jacob Tobias smacked a double to open the eighth, which later scored from Compton’s single.
The ninth inning showed Arizona State could be patient at the plate as well. Williams and UCLA transfer redshirt sophomore Nick McLain drew walks and Campos reached on a fielder’s choice. With the bases loaded, Mendoza got an opportunity to win the game that he was more than ready for.
“When [Tobias] popped out and the guy didn’t go home, I was low-key happy because I wanted to get that one,” Mendoza joked. “I knew I was going to get the job done and it just worked out for me.”
Bloomquist recognized Mendoza’s confidence as a factor in his ability to continue to produce in big moments as a young freshman.
“Even with our big guns in Nick [McLain] and [Tobias] coming up, I wanted him to stay focused. I told him when he was in the hole, ‘You’re going to win this thing. Stay locked in and be ready to win this game. He just kind of looked at me like, ‘yeah, no kidding.’”
Mendoza hit the ball just soft enough to force a tough play for Oregon’s sophomore second baseman Drew Smith. The Ducks couldn’t turn a double play as Williams scored on the ground out, and the Sun Devils spilled out of the dugout to mob Mendoza at first base.
Coming off a road trip to Texas that saw the Sun Devils take three losses to top ten teams TCU and Texas A&M, twice, Bloomquist looked back at the weekend as a positive moment for the team’s future and ability to come through in the clutch like they did Friday night.
“We’re being battle-tested,” Bloomquist said. “We’re facing good arms and good teams. There’s not going to be any brewing to the finish line with the teams that we’re playing. We’ve got to be ready to have a dogfight for 27 outs.”
Arizona State’s walk-off win marked another step in the right direction for the bullpen and a positive start to conference play. Saturday’s tilt will be a battle of freshmen as the Sun Devils send freshman Adam Behrens to the bump against Oregon’s freshman southpaw Toby Twist at 6:35 P.M. at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
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