The tension was high on Tuesday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium as Arizona State baseball hosted No. 17 Arizona, and it had been boiling since the weekend.
Wildcats sophomore outfielder Brendan Summerhill expressed his team’s urge for revenge after the Sun Devils took the three-game series down in Tucson in March, saying “We want to score 100 and give up zero.”
In response, ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist chuckled, then echoed the same sentiment on Sunday.
“At the end of the day, we want to beat them by 100 as well. And if we get the opportunity, we won’t stop,” he said.
Additionally, both teams were looking to continue their respective hot streaks. The Maroon and Gold had won 9 of its last 11 while the Wildcats just swept Stanford at home.
While neither team scored 100, Arizona (30-17, 18-7 Pac-12) beat ASU (26-24, 14-14 Pac-12) 5-3 to split this season’s Territorial Cup.
“Going into it, if you would have told us we were gonna hold them to five based on where our pitching staff kind of was with available arms, I would have taken that,” Bloomquist said. “Our guys battled. We had guys step up.”
Bloomquist opted for freshman pitcher Wyatt Halvorson to man the mound. The righty, who has mainly played out of the bullpen, went 3.2 innings in his 19th appearance this season. He allowed five hits, four runs, and three walks while striking out five.
On the other side, Arizona head coach Chip Hale started senior pitcher Bradon Zastrow. Like Halvorson, the righty has seen more time as a reliever as he made his first appearance since April 21. Zastrow had a reliever-like appearance in the bullpen game, pitching one inning, and allowing one hit while striking out two batters.
Freshman outfielder TJ Adams hit his first career home run to give Arizona a 1-0 lead in the third inning. After Summerhill walked, sophomore infielder Mason White added to the Wildcats’ advantage, hitting a two-run shot off the Whiteman Family Performance Center.
Freshman infielder Andrew Cain added to Arizona’s home run total in the fourth inning with a solo shot.
The Sun Devils hit three consecutive singles to load the bases in the fourth. They got on the board with a pitch off senior infielder Mario Demera. But the Wildcats stifled a potential rally, pulling a 1-2-3 double play to end the inning.
The double play once again haunted Bloomquist’s side in the fifth. This time with two runners on base to keep the score 4-1 in favor of Arizona.
Summerhill added a run in the sixth with a sacrifice fly to right field. This gave way to a scoreless seventh before an RBI double from freshman infielder Ethan Mendoza in the eighth cut the Wildcat’s lead to three.
Junior righty Anthony Susac entered in the ninth, logging his second save of the season after he allowed a solo home run to ASU’s pinch hitter, graduate infielder Eamonn Lance.
“Five runs earned, that’s pretty good to keep us in the game,” junior catcher Ryan Campos said about his team’s bullpen. “We just didn’t come through (offensively).”
Hale called upon nine pitchers to get through the game. They allowed a combined 11 hits while throwing 10 strikeouts and leaving eight Sun Devils on the bases.
“I think that’s a way to keep their guys sharp, it’s effective,” Bloomquist said about Arizona’s pitching approach. “You don’t get a look at the same guy for more than one inning. We don’t really get to make adjustments on it. Their strategy was good.”
The Wildcat pitchers also stymied some key players for the Maroon and Gold. Redshirt sophomore outfielder Nick McLain, who was named NCAA Baseball’s Player of the Week for his efforts against UC San Diego and Washington, went 1-for-3. Sophomore outfielder Kien Vu, who holds the second-highest batting average in the nation, went 0-for-5. It was his first hitless outing since April 9 against GCU.
Both teams had players go 3-for-4. Mendoza did it for the Sun Devils while Cain and Adams did it for the Wildcats.
ASU returns to action with a road trip to Stanford this weekend (20-25, 11-13 Pac-12). The three-game series kicks off on Friday at 6:05 p.m. MST.
As the season draws to a close, and an opportunity to beat a ranked team is missed, the Sun Devils’ postseason chances dwindle. It’s all hands on deck for Bloomquist’s squad.
“We’re gonna need everybody to step up and hopefully play their best baseball these last few weeks of the regular season and then hopefully beyond,” Bloomquist said. “It’s that time. We gotta get the best out of everybody right now.”
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