Quotables
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening Statement:
“Offensive approach was spotty, a little bit, if I'm being critical, we just swung at too many breaking balls early in the count and got ourselves out with weak contact. But Dean (Toigo) obviously got us on the board there in the first with his homer, we were able to piece a run together there in the fourth and obviously the seventh was the big blow, but up until then, it was in balance, for lack of better term, we just were having decent at-bats at times, but we just weren't stringing much together until the seventh, but able to score enough runs there to get a little bit of breathing room.”
On Cole Carlon’s performance
“(St. John’s) had a good approach against him, and he walked a couple guys that put himself in some situations there, but was able to lock in and make some big pitches when he had to to keep zeros on the board. But he did a good job, obviously limiting the damage and then pitching his way out of some things, and was able to throw a variety of pitches in there for strikes today. So it wasn't just fastball and slider. He was able to throw a curve ball in there. Had a strikeout or two on a changeup as well. So if he's starting to get four pitches working, it's going to be beneficial for him and us moving forward.”
On Landon Hairston’s hot streak
“Hitters hit, you know. I honestly don't think he's fully locked in yet. To be honest, he's getting hits. His two base hits today were kind of backside and hit one off the cap there to left field. But he just gives himself opportunities to get those types of hits, because the bat heads in the zone so long. And good hitters do that, they aren't in and out of the zone quick. He just has a knack for being able to put the barrel to the ball. And when you do that, you find holes a lot. So he's getting his hits, but I know there's more in there too.”
On the big swings from Toigo, Contrades, and Smaldino
“I think good swings ultimately resulted in home runs at times. And when you have those three, top to bottom, anybody in that lineup can put the ball in the seat. So that's what's kind of cool about it. But we're not one dimensional like we have been in the past. I think there's plenty of different ways we can beat you, with the running game, small ball if we have to. I feel much better as a complete offense this year than I have in the past, where we're not just living and dying on the long ball. Even though we did a little bit of that tonight, most of our runs were scored via long balls. But I do feel confident that this team is more dynamic than we've had in the past.”
Infielder Dominic Smaldino
On tonight’s approach:
“I was just keeping everything slow. We knew they were going to throw a lot of breaking balls. I was just making sure I didn’t speed myself up to where I was too susceptible to that. I was just sticking to my process.”
On his homerun tonight:
“I saw a slider over the middle of the plate, I saw it right out of hand. I knew they were trying to get away with that. We’re trying to take advantage of those ones up and over the plate.”
Outfielder Dean Toigo
On tonight’s home run:
“I took two changeups prior to being at bat. I had a feeling the fastball was coming. I was hunting a fastball up and he just threw it where I was looking, fastball up and in and I got it.”
On reaching his offensive potential:
“I don’t feel fully like my feet are wet yet. I’m still doing decent. We're winning and that’s all I care about. There’s still room for me to grow offensively. The more at bats I get the more comfortable I will feel.”
On improving runners in scoring position:
“Hunting the pitches up, sticking to the approach of getting heaters up and spitting on anything off speed in the dirt. If we do a better job in that in the next couple games and the rest of the year, that will be a much better number.”
Pitcher Cole Carlon
On his performance tonight:
“It felt good, staying active between innings and making sure my body and my arm feel good to go. I felt really good towards the end. It felt like the juices were flowing more towards the end of my outing. I definitely got it going again so I was excited about that.”
On what is needed ahead of Arlington:
“Really good recovery, lots of sleep, hydration, things like that. Still routine wise I’m going to keep my same process, attack the zone. I’m looking forward to that, I’m excited. That will be a fun game to pitch.”
On wanted Improvements ahead of facing Arlington:
“I let a couple of hitters get away there, a couple walks. I need to be relentless with each pitch. That’s a word I like to use, I just have to keep along those lines.
Infielder Nu'u Contrades
On his second grand slam of the year:
“It feels good. As a hitter you always dream about getting the opportunity to do it. I’m sticking to my process and it was definitely fun.”
On what he learns through wins like this:
“We’re just relentless. We’re going to try and keep that going. We come out here and compete and that’s all we can do.”
On tonight’s stolen base performance:
“We’re always going to be aggressive on bases. Some nights it happens. Our plan isn’t going to change, we’re going to stay aggressive. Our plans aren’t going to change.”
Up Next
Arizona State remains at Phoenix Municipal Stadium for a weekend series against St. John's beginning Friday. The games will be broadcasted on ESPN+ by the Cronkite School of Journalism.
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