PHOENIX – Headed into the final game of its three-game series, Arizona State had amassed 14 home runs on the young season, the most fence-clearers the Maroon and Gold have had to start a season since 2012.
But in Sunday’s victory over St. John’s, the Sun Devils took a different route.
ASU recorded 18 hits, but 16 were singles. Only racking up two doubles and no home runs.
And yet, the Sun Devils (7-0) recorded their second-highest run total of the season in a 16-6 win over the Red Storm (1-6) at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. ASU used timely hits and its bullpen to continue the team’s best start since 2019.
The variety of ways the Sun Devils showed they could score was a positive. They’ve shown promise in their home run production with the players they added through the transfer portal. However, today they showed that coach Willie Bloomquist’s squad doesn’t live or die by the long ball.
“We can beat you by 1000 cuts too, versus the long ball all the time,” Bloomquist said. “So again, we’re going to need to be able to have a variety of ways to beat people.”
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Easton Barrett got the start on the mound for ASU, hoping to rebound after his outing against Omaha last Sunday. He only went 1 ⅓ innings, allowed four earned runs and walked six batters in his first appearance.
Although today was better for the Utah native, command remains an issue and needs to be worked on. Barrett allowed four walks in 2 ⅓ innings, but he got the run count down to one.
“Last two outings, it hasn’t come out like we were hoping. This raises a little bit more concern today with a couple of them that just haven’t been real sharp, and his ball hasn’t been exploding out of his hand like it was this fall and the spring,” Bloomquist said. “So we’re going to have to take a peek at that and see what ultimately is going to be best for us moving forward.”
Junior right-handed pitcher Jaden Alba came in to relieve Barrett, pitching 2 ⅔ innings.
“He did a good job, kind of settling in there as best he could, and gave us three innings of work there that we needed,” Bloomquist said.
On the other side, one of the stars offensively was sophomore outfielder Ky McGary, a native of Phoenix who made his first career start for the Maroon and Gold.
McGary was 3-of-3 with two walks on the day, crossing home plate three times. All three of his hits were singles.
“He’s going to be a contributor to this lineup in one way, shape or form. Whether it’s coming in late or getting starts and continuing to make the most of his opportunities when he gets them,” Bloomquist said.
“I’m very excited,” McGary said. “That was hopefully the first start of many and (I) can’t wait to see what’s next.”
ASU went 9-of-19 with runners in scoring position on the day, a stat that the team struggled with in the series against St. John’s.
“We’re sticking to our approach, and tonight or today, it just worked out for us really well. And we have a lot of grinders on our team, and they never give up, so constantly making adjustments to continue to get better,” McGary said.
The Sun Devils are now entering what is arguably the toughest stretch of games they’ll face all season.
First, they’ll travel to Norman to take on No. 21 Oklahoma on Feb. 24 and 25. Following that, it’s a trip to Arlington – the site of last season’s Big 12 Conference tournament – for a competitive weekend.
ASU will play No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 13 Tennessee and No. 24 Texas A&M in a series that will be a true resume definer for Bloomquist’s squad.
If the Sun Devils can squeak out some wins against ranked competition, it’ll help improve their confidence and could be a force to be reckoned with by the time May rolls around.
But for now, Sparky is taking things one game at a time and not getting ahead of itself.
“We have to get better. We’re going to be facing good teams this week, we have a lot to prepare for. We haven’t even started conference (play) yet, so with these guys, anybody that starts talking about postseason, we’re just a tick premature on that,” Bloomquist said. “We’re seven games into a 56-game schedule, so we need to focus on where we have to get better first.”
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