In a stark contrast to the first two games of the series where Arizona State outscored USC 29-3, the Sun Devils looked overpowered and outmatched in the series finale on Sunday. They ultimately fell to the Trojans 11-6.
The loss brought them to 22-22, an even .500 with 12 games left to play before the Pac-12 Tournament.
Unlike in the first two games in which ASU got off to a hot start, the Devils started the game in a hole, as freshman starting pitcher Wyatt Halvorson gave up a two-run double in the first inning. He pitched to the minimum in the second but couldn’t get out of the third after he gave up four more runs.
In his last-minute spot start for senior Hunter Omlid, Halvorson only lasted 2.2 innings, giving up six runs, all earned. A revolving door of relievers followed, with three out of the five relievers giving up runs.
“He’s had better outings,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “Today I think sped up on everybody a little bit, just with Omlid not being able to go. Everyone was sped up, but we got to be better than that and overcome it. The command wasn’t where it needed to be today.”
In the bottom of the third, it appeared things might start turning around for the Devils, as they got on the board with an RBI single from sophomore right fielder Kien Vu. Vu, who had been swinging a hot bat as of late, went 1-5 with two strikeouts and two groundouts.
Junior first baseman Jacob Tobias reached on a fielder’s choice, and Vu was safe at second base after a replay review. Designated hitter senior Eamonn Lance flew out to center to end the inning, stranding Vu and Tobias.
USC got the run back on a wild pitch from freshman relief pitcher Cole Carlon, but the Devils responded in the bottom of the fifth when junior catcher Ryan Campos hit a solo home run to left center field, his tenth home run of the season.
From there, things got out of hand, as junior Ryan Schiefer gave up two runs in the top of the seventh and junior Jonah Giblin surrendered two runs in the top of the eighth.
In what could be viewed as a metaphor for ASU’s season so far, a scorcher to first base picked out of the dirt expertly by Tobias turned into a 2-run play complete with two throwing errors, one from Tobias and one from senior third baseman Mario Demera. The botched play allowed the Trojans to increase their run total to eleven and extend their lead to nine.
“[Tobias] makes a diving catch. And, trying to make the play, just sailed over Giblin’s head, and then the result after that was kind of disappointing,” Bloomquist said. “We had that kid dead to rights rounding third base and threw it away at the plate. That turned into a little bit of a fire drill right there, so that play was kind of ugly.”
In the bottom of the eighth, the Devils responded with a bang, as redshirt freshman Brandon Compton came off the bench, pinch-hitting for Demera, and hit a 2-out grand slam to center field, bringing ASU’s run total to six.
“I always struggle when I try to do more than I need to,” Compton said. “I mean, it’s easy to get tight and muscle up and try to do a lot but it’s trying to see the ball, hit the ball. I feel like it’s the best way you can go to the plate, just trying to pass it onto the next guy on deck and do your part.”
Senior shortstop Steven Ondina followed that up with a single, forcing USC to make a pitching change, however, Campos lined out to left to end the Devils’ threat, and Vu, Tobias, and Lance were sent down in order in the ninth, ending ASU’s five-game win streak.
“I’m greedy. I wanted the sweep,” Bloomquist said. “There’s history here. I’m not satisfied with two of three. As a whole, played great the last two days, we didn’t play so good today.”
With USC and ASU matching up for one final time as Pac-12 foes, Bloomquist expressed his hope for the Devils and Trojans to match up again in the future.
“I would like to make it a yearly thing, and we’re trying to do that, to get them and UCLA to remain on the schedule in some capacity,” Bloomquist said. “I think our fan base deserves that. We’ve got a lot of history to let that just blow up in smoke. I’m going to try not to allow that to happen on my watch. I’d like to try to keep that rivalry going.”
Leave a Reply