After a fifth straight loss, frustration has become the theme of Arizona State baseball’s 2024 season.
The team was shut out by Utah senior lefty Bryson Van Sickle. The crafty senior needed just 82 pitches to carve through ASU’s offense. In a word, the Sun Devils are lost.
“We’re just finding ways to lose games,” junior catcher Ryan Campos said. “It’s just frustration because everyone knows we could be playing better but you know, there’s no pointing fingers in there which is good.”
Campos detailed how both he and his teammates are failing to implement the scouting reports at the plate. As time slips away, the continual blaming of a lack of doing the little things persists in the ASU clubhouse.
“It looks like guys are thinking. When you’re playing good, everyone has the same answer: you’re not thinking,” he said.
Dejected and demoralized, the Sun Devils continue to play with inconsistency that has puzzled head coach Willie Bloomquist all season. When things looked to be working with a five-game win streak, the proverbial wheels fell off the bus again.
“I’m not going to lie, the guys are frustrated, I’m certainly frustrated,” Bloomquist said.
The coach wore his heart on his sleeve during and after Friday’s ugly outing. With the stadium full of alumni there to honor the late former ASU head coach, Bobby Winkles, Bloomquist couldn’t hold back how he felt.
“I care. I want this program to do well and I want these kids to do well,” he said.
The problem with baseball is that there is often no answer to a team’s questions. He has opted to look for the simplest solution.
“I took this as an opportunity after the game to remind these guys on what’s expected of them from a fundamental standpoint,” he said. “I think guys are I’m assuming pressing really too hard and overcomplicating the game and trying to do too much.”
His message to the team was to focus on winning every pitch and breaking the game down as much as possible.
While it has rapidly become easy to dwell on the season’s trajectory, all was not lost in the 10-0 defeat on Friday night from Bloomquist’s point of view.
“I still have high expectations for this team and I have expectations for a lot of individuals in there,” he said. “So I take it personally when we’re not attaining what we’re capable of doing in my opinion.”
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