The Arizona State Sun Devils were beaten 11-5 by the Utah Utes in the series finale. This marks ASU’s third series loss in its last four against conference opponents.
The Sun Devil bats started off hot. They jumped all over Utah freshman right-hander Colter McAnelly, starting the bottom of the first with back-to-back-to-back home runs from the lefty-heavy top of the lineup.
“We came out and established the tone really well, then we kind of fizzled off,” Head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “We gave up the momentum there in the sixth inning, gave up a five-spot and weren’t able to kinda piece it back together.”
First, junior catcher Ryan Campos hit one over the right field wall to get the scoring started in Tempe.
Then, sophomore center fielder Kien Vu went right over the 395 sign in center field, and junior first baseman Jacob Tobias followed with another dead-center blast.
Graduate student designated hitter Eamonn Lance then worked an 11-pitch walk which knocked McAnelly out of the game. From there on, the offense was tough to find for the Sun Devils.
At the postgame press conference after ASU’s win in the series finale against UC Berkeley, Bloomquist mentioned several players as guys that he was trying to find more playing time for, including Vu.
Since then, Vu has seen consistent time as a starter, and his play has not faltered with the new role.
He’s hit .375 with three homers, four doubles, and walked four times in eight games since that game against the Golden Bears.
“He’s taken advantage of his opportunity, and no matter what role I ask him to do, he’s done it tremendous,” Bloomquist said “Whether that’s pinch-hit or pinch-run or late defense, and now get an opportunity to start more frequently, he’s continued to produce and put up numbers.”
The Utes offense relied heavily on the home-run ball, and Utah got theirs with runners on base, in part due to free passes issued by Sun Devil pitchers.
Redshirt senior TJ Clarkson was a problem all day long for the ASU pitching staff. He homered in the second off of redshirt senior starter Matt Tieding and then hit a go-ahead two-run shot off of junior reliever Ryan Schiefer in the sixth. The Sun Devils ended up intentionally walking him twice.
The big rally for the Utes was started by Clarkson’s second homer. Right after the homer, the next two batters were hit by pitches.
The Utah nine-hole was an interesting lineup spot all day long. Senior second-baseman Bruer Webster started the day there, and in his first at-bat, drove in the Utes’ first run with a sacrifice bunt. Then, after he struck out his second time up, he was pinch-hit for in the fifth.
Senior Karson Bodily took that plate appearance and walked. He was then replaced by redshirt sophomore Matt Flaharty, who crushed a three-run homer off of the National Champions signage in right-center field in his first at-bat.
Flaharty then went yard again in his second at-bat. They were his first two homers of the year.
“That’s kind of an unusual suspect there that we weren’t anticipating burning us the way he did,” Bloomquist said.
For a lot of the game, it felt as if some of the contact made by ASU hitters was better than the eventual result.
“That’s kind of a little bit of a hangover of Friday night when their guy went [complete game] against us,” Bloomquist said. “They didn’t have to burn any of those arms in the bullpen and they had their best relievers coming out of the ‘pen.”
In the bottom of the sixth, ASU went down in order, but every out was a fly ball to the warning track. The third and final out, made by Vu, was the closest to leaving the yard, and he may have even been robbed of a home run by sophomore left fielder Kaden Carpenter.
“All in all, I thought we swung it pretty good today,” redshirt freshman left fielder Brandon Compton said. “We hit every ball it felt like to the warning track, and it was just caught.”
The Sun Devils pitching staff is thin as guys try to work their way back from injuries, but it’s led to a lot of starts being made by guys who were originally penciled in as relievers.
That depth will truly be tested with five games in six days from Tuesday to Sunday.
After the upcoming road trip from April 16 to April 21, the Devils will play nine straight at home, and 12 of their last 15 regular season games at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
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