Arizona State entered its contest Saturday against the University of Utah losers of five consecutive contests, including a 10-0 loss in the series opener against the Utes on Friday night. ASU turned it around in a big way on Saturday, evening the series against Utah with an 8-3 victory.
Motivated by Friday’s loss, the Sun Devils came out on a mission. ASU scored five runs in the first inning, starting with a one-out double to right field by junior catcher Ryan Campos, which was booted by the Utah right fielder, allowing Campos to advance to third. Redshirt sophomore right fielder Nick McLain quickly brought home Campos with a sacrifice fly to put ASU on the board first.
Following the 1-0 lead with a single and a walk, senior second baseman Kevin Karstetter drove home another run with an RBI double. Sophomore center fielder Kien Vu added to the tally with another two-out RBI double, bringing home two more. ASU would add another run to go up by five just one inning into the game.
Transitioning from your first year to your second year can be tricky, and Vu feels like the game has come easier to him.
“I’m trying to slow everything down,” Vu said. “Especially on the hitting side of it, the base running side of it. Playing pitch to pitch, giving 100% each pitch has definitely helped me. Not focusing too much on stats.”
Not focusing on stats, and focusing on enjoying the game itself seemed to work for Vu, as well as the rest of the team.
“I think we had a little more fun tonight,” Vu said. “A little happier to be there. It could have helped that we scored in the first inning, but it seemed like everyone was having a little more fun.”
Friday was an embarrassing loss all around for the Sun Devils, and coach Willie Bloomquist did not sugarcoat how it was a turning point for his team.
“I prefer to turn the page on it,” Bloomquist said when asked about the previous loss. “It was probably the most miserable day of the season I had, for a number of reasons. Today was much better, guys came out with energy today.”
One of the guys Bloomquist referenced with more energy was junior first baseman Jacob Tobias. The Bakersfield, California native led ASU with four hits, including an opposite-field solo home run to stretch the lead to 6-0 during the fourth inning. Campos credited his mindset as to what helped his big night at the plate.
“Just trying to stay true to myself,” Campos said. “Staying on the fastball, and keep getting my swing dialed in.”
It seemed as though the entire team felt the blow that their blowout loss on Friday gave them, and it was a true team effort to turn it around just one day later.
“You never want to experience anything like that, and have a loss like that,” Campos said. “We all know everyone, 1-9 in that lineup isn’t trying to do that, we’re trying our best. We want to win.”
The overall team effort was not just on the hitting side of things. Senior left-handed pitcher Connor Markl went five innings, striking out five and holding the Utes at bay for his time on the mound.
Also not to be forgotten was senior right-handed relief pitcher Hunter Omlid. Omlid came in for Markl, and went the rest of the way, allowing only two more runs and striking out four, which was more than enough considering the circumstances of the big lead ASU had already built.
“I could probably name on one hand how many times we’ve had a complete win like we had tonight,” Campos said. “Swinging the bats well, pitching well. When we do that, it is really fun to watch.”
Arizona State and Utah finish their series Sunday at 1:00 pm, with the winner taking the weekend series.
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