After the disappointing end to Friday night’s game when Arizona State baseball was shut out 10-0 by Utah, and the losing streak extended to five games, the message from the players and coaches was that an offensive switch needed to be made to get the team back on track.
Saturday night, it looked like a switch had been made, at least temporarily, as the Devils righted the ship and won 8-3, dominating offensively.
“I think arguably today was probably the most complete game we played, in certainly quite a while, maybe the year,” ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist said following the win.
The first inning marked an impressive turnaround after the abysmal performance at the plate just 24 hours before.
Junior catcher Ryan Campos continued his impressive first inning with a double in the first, coming around to score on redshirt sophomore Nick McLain’s RBI sacrifice fly.
Junior first baseman Jacob Tobias followed that up with a single to center, redshirt freshman Brandon Compton drew a walk, and senior Kevin Karstetter drove Tobias in with an RBI double. Sophomore Kien Vu added a double of his own to score two, and senior Mario Demera singled to score Vu, giving the Devils five runs in the inning, four of them coming with two outs.
The Devils also sent all nine batters to the plate during the inning, forcing Utah starting pitcher sophomore Merit Jones to throw close to 30 pitches in the first inning alone.
“It was big, just to put it to rest, that the offense is here to play tonight,” Bloomquist said.
The offensive outburst in the first inning provided confidence for a group that was lacking it across the board coming into the Utah series.
In the bottom of the fourth, Tobias launched one over the wall in left-center, increasing ASU’s lead to six.
The Devils struck once more, scoring two in the bottom of the fifth. Vu led off with a pop-up over home plate that fell in for a hit, allowing Vu to get to second safely.
Demera singled right after, scoring Vu, and a few batters later, an RBI groundout from Campos scored Demera, putting the Devils up 8-1.
The defense took over for the rest of the game, and senior Hunter Omlid came on to pitch in relief for the Devils, only surrendering two runs and inducing two more double plays, all of which came in key moments for the Devils.
“We’re going to keep pouring everything we can into these guys and keep coaching them, and I just am extremely proud of the way they responded today,” Bloomquist said. “That’s what the guys that are competitive and have a competitive nature do, and I was extremely happy with how they turned the page on yesterday and came back out today, and played arguably their best game of the year.”
The much-needed wake-up by ASU’s offense provided hope in a clubhouse desperate for it and gives the Sun Devils a chance to take the series from the Utes on Sunday.
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