Trailing 7-5 and hanging onto its final out, Arizona State baseball head coach Willie Bloomquist brought on Eamonn Lance to pinch hit in the bottom of the 10th inning.
The graduate student infielder went down to his final strike against sophomore pitcher Grant Cunningham, one of the best closers in the country.
Many would have folded. But Lance and the Sun Devils went to work. After working his way to full count, the Santa Clara transfer hit an RBI double to halve the Huskies’ lead.
Senior infielder Steven Ondina followed. He launched a double in a 1-2 count off the outfield wall to tie the game at seven. Ondina popped one pitch up in foul territory but luck was on his side as Washington catcher Colin Blanchard tumbled and failed to haul it in behind the plate.
After Cunningham intentionally walked junior catcher Ryan Campos and sophomore outfielder Kien Vu, redshirt sophomore outfielder Nick McLain stepped to the plate.
“I’ve never second guessed myself, but I kind of went up there and I was like ‘Oh God, I can’t do it again,'” said McLain, who struck out on his chance to win the game in the ninth inning.
His second opportunity was a change from the first. A grand change.
McLain, who was 0-for-5 before the at-bat, hammered the ball over the left field fence to clear the bases, giving ASU (25-22, 13-12 Pac-12) the 11-7 win over Washington (17-21-1, 8-14 Pac-12) on Friday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
“Baseball’s a beautiful game,” Bloomquist said. “Sometimes, it treats you great. Sometimes, it humbles the heck out of you. But tonight was one of those poetic endings. You can’t make that stuff up. So, (it was) pretty cool. Just super proud of the resiliency of our guys at the end of the day.”
Bloomquist called upon his sophomore pitcher Ben Jacobs, who has been the Friday fireball over the past four weeks, to start on the mound. The southpaw threw 6.0 innings, allowing four hits, four runs, and three walks while logging nine strikeouts. Additionally, the UCLA transfer took a no-hitter into the fifth inning.
On the other side, Washington’s starting pitcher, redshirt senior Jared Engman, had a short stint on the mound. The righty only threw two pitches before leaving the game with an injury.
Engman’s reliever, freshman Matt Fraser, pitched 5.0 innings, tying a career record. He allowed six hits, four runs, and one walk, while tallying one strikeout in 70 pitches.
However, Fraser was tested early in his outing. Three pitches in, the righty allowed a two-run dinger from sophomore outfielder Kien Vu that traveled 451 feet. After Fraser also conceded three consecutive doubles and had three errors in the first inning, the Sun Devils led 4-0.
“I think that’s what we’re capable of as a team,” Lance said. “When we’re firing on all cylinders and we get rolling, it doesn’t matter who’s up there. We’re gonna get it done and we’re gonna dominate. So, I think for us, it’s just figuring out how can we stay hot more often and carry that first inning momentum.”
After four hitless innings, the visitors started to claw into the lead. Sophomore infielder Sam DeCarlo got Washington on the board in the fifth inning with a two-run shot to left field.
Two juniors, outfielder Braeden Terry and infielder Cam Clayton, followed with solo home runs. When the Sun Devils took the plate in the sixth inning, they were only up 5-4.
Then, the Huskies equalized the game in the ninth, with an RBI single by pinch-hitter freshman outfielder/pitcher Dylan Osbourne down the right-field line.
After ASU failed to take the game, Washington took the lead in the tenth. Redshirt first baseman Jeter Ybarra popped the ball at a 52-degree launch angle to right field. To the surprise of both sides and the 2,254 in attendance, it carried out for a two-run homer.
“This is the ballpark we’ve played in all year,” Bloomquist said. “We get it. It’s a tough place to pitch. You get forgiveness as an offensive player at times to where you miss hit a ball and hey you’re trotting around the bases. This is our Muni, and we embrace it, we understand it.”
Nonetheless, the Maroon and Gold showed its resiliency, putting up six runs in the tenth inning.
“The dugout was like ‘we’re winning this game, let’s go,'” Bloomquist said. “There was no quit, there was no sense of we’re not winning this game. We’re winning this game. Someone get on (base).”
The Sun Devils outhit the Huskies 13-10, with four coming in the first inning, and four in the final one. Additionally, they won the extra-base hit battle seven to five, including four against Cunningham.
ASU returns to action against Washington on Saturday looking for its ninth win in ten games as the team fights for its postseason chances. In a season subdued with struggles, Bloomquist can start to sense a change of energy within his team.
“At times, this season hasn’t been pretty,” Bloomquist said. “But these boys are playing their butts off, they’re playing hard. Just when you count us out, we still got a heartbeat and we’re still here. Don’t let the Devils get hot because we’re starting to get hot.”
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