Baseball moves to 7-0 behind series sweep over St. John's

Turning point
The first three innings of the contest were tough to watch, at best, with fielding errors, misjudged fly balls, lack of pitching control and general Sunday scaries reigning supreme. St. John’s took an early 2-0 lead on a sac fly and an error in the third but the Sun Devils responded quickly with a run on a groundout and wild pitch. Nu’u Contrades and Dominic Smaldino recorded a pair of base knocks for the first two RBIs of the game that actually came off base hits and ASU brought five across in the frame to take a 5-2 advantage.

Big moment
Holding on to a 5-3 advantage in the sixth, the Sun Devils pulled away behind a hitting clinic that featured four singles and a double - along with some solid base running - batting around for a six-spot that took a close game to a rout and an 11-3 advantage.

Final straw
Two five-spots weren’t enough for the Sun Devils, as the team added five more in the bottom of the eighth. The frame saw Cooper Clouser record his first hit while McGary picked up his third hit and run scored in the game. ASU extended the lead to 16-3 in the process and didn’t need to worry about St. John’s late rally in the ninth.

Inning by inning
First inning

Easton Barrett took to the mound for his second start of the season, striking out St. John’s first hitter.  Barrett gave up a walk, but got the runner out trying to steal second. A second walk and a single gave the Red Storm two runners, but Barrett delivered another strikeout to end the top of the first.  

Landon Hairston opened the bottom of the inning with a bunt single down the third base line, but was left as the lone runner on base for the Sun Devils after a lineout, strikeout, and flyout.

Second inning

A walk and a single opened the inning for St. John’s, and a sac bunt moved both runners into scoring position. Barrett induced a groundout back to the mound for the second out, and a foul out to Dominic Smaldino ended the scoreless frame. 

Smaldino led off the inning with a single to left, but was thrown out on a fielder’s choice. Beckett Zavorek then grounded into a double play for the second and third outs. 

Third inning

Barrett got a quick groundout to start off, but after issuing his fourth walk of the afternoon, was relieved in favor of Jaden Alba. He walked the first two batters he faced, loading the bases with only one out. A sac fly and an error allowed for two Red Storm runners to make it home, giving St. John’s a 2-0 lead. Alba finished the inning with a strikeout.

A single from Brody Briggs and a walk from St. John’s gave Arizona State two runners, and a wild pitch allowed Briggs to advance into scoring position. A second wild pitch gave Hairston a walk while bringing Briggs home, cutting the Red Storm’s lead in half, 2-1. An RBI groundout from PJ Moutzouridis tied up the game, and a walk from Dean Toigo put runners at the corners. A single from Nu’u Contrades allowed for Hairston to reach home and for Toigo to advance to second, giving the Maroon and Gold a 3-2 lead. A double from Smaldino helped extend ASU’s lead as Toigo ran home. A Garrett Michel sac fly allowed for Contrades to score, and a single from Beckett Zavorek put runners on first and third, but the Sun Devils couldn’t capitalize, leaving ASU up 5-2.

Fourth inning

Alba returned to the mound and made quick work of the St. John’s batters, getting a groundout and two strikeouts. 

The Sun Devils’ offense was kept quiet, ending the bottom of the fourth with ASU still leading 5-2.

Fifth inning

After a leadoff double, St. John’s loaded the bases on an error and a single, but Alba was able to limit the damage to only one run, picking up a strikeout, sac fly, and groundout. 

Contrades singled to open up the frame, and a base hit from Michel moved him over to third. A fielder’s choice and a foul out ended the inning, keeping the score at 5-3.

Sixth inning

Taylor Penn relieved Alba at the mound to start the sixth inning, surrendering a leadoff single. A pop out followed, but another single put a runner into scoring position for St. John’s. Penn was able to recover and get an inning-ending double play. 

Ky McGary started the bottom of the sixth with a single and advanced into scoring position following a single from Hairston. A Moutzouridis single allowed for McGary to reach home plate, furthering ASU’s lead, 6-3. Hairston was able to run it home after a Toigo singled up the middle. After Smaldino advanced on a walk, Michel stepped up to bat with the bases loaded. Moutzouridis reached home after a second walk from the Red Storm, and the Sun Devils went up 10-3 following a two RBI double from Zavorek. Niclai Coen was grounded out, but Michel was able to run to home plate. McGary walked, putting runners on the corners. The walk brought on the third St. John’s pitcher of the inning, Hairston flew out to right center to end the inning.

Seventh inning

Wyatt Halvorson was the next man out of the bullpen for the Sun Devils, pitching a quick 1-2-3 inning, capped off with two strikeouts. 

Arizona State was unable to get any runners on base, ending the inning up 11-3.

Eighth inning

Finn Edwards was the next pitcher up and kept the Red Storm’s offense quiet. 

Cooper Clouser pinch hit and singled for his first collegiate base hit to start the bottom of the eighth. Zavorek was awarded a walk, and Coen followed that up with an RBI single that brought Clouser home. A McGary single left the base loaded for Hairston, where he hit a sac flyout, extending the Sun Devils’ lead 13-3. Moutzouridis singled and due to a Red Storm error, Coen was able to run it home. Pinch hitter Ryan Darrah advanced to first due to a hit by pitch, loading the bases for pinch hitter Austin Roellig. Another error from St. John’s allowed both McGary and Moutzouridis to score. Jaxsyn Durst was the next pinch hitter up with runners on first and third, but wasn’t able to capitalize, ending the inning with the Maroon and Gold up 16-3.

Ninth inning

Eli Buxton was the next man to join the pitching rotation. After allowing two St. John’s runners to advanced to second and third, Buxton gave the Red Storm their first out of the inning. St. John’s scored off a single and scored again off of another single, making it 16-5. The Red Storm made it home again off of a groundout, leaving them trailing 16-6 with two outs. Nick Anello relieved Buxton on the mound, where he allowed a walk. A St. John’s flyout sealed the victory for the Sun Devils, 16-6.

Quotables
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist

Opening Statement:

“It got off to another rocky start there, and that was disappointing. A lot of walks, a lot of standing around, a lot of not very good baseball the first two or three innings, but we were able to withstand it, and come out on top and keep pushing on (St. John’s). Put together some nice at bats throughout the game, and we were able to put up some big innings against them, which obviously was a difference. So a lot of things to celebrate, and a lot of things that we got to clean up at the same time. So we're not going to get too comfy.”

On winning in a variety of ways so far

“Every win is important. The wins are great. The losses really sting in these types of games. And that's the biggest thing, the biggest takeaway over these first seven games is that we didn't let down to the point where we got beat. We had some letdowns, to where we weren't as sharp as we wanted to be, but it wasn't a complete flop to where we lost the game because of our mental mistakes or, at times, physical mistakes. So kind of the big takeaway of that is that we're deeper, we're better, we're versatile. We can beat you in a variety of ways. Today, I think we had 18 hits, and 14 of them were singles. So we can beat you by a thousand cuts too, versus the long ball the time. So we're going to need to be able to have a variety of ways to beat people moving forward.”

On Ky McGary’s first career start

“The guy is an electric player, has a lot of tools, and just trying to continue to match the tools with the baseball player with him, and the kid works nonstop, with an extremely positive attitude. Coming to the ballpark today was one of those days where I'm like, ‘I need to get this kid in there and give him an opportunity and see what he can do.’ A couple infield knocks, a nice base hit to left and walked a couple times. I can’t ask for much more on the offensive side, getting on base five times. It lets me know that he's going to be a contributor to this lineup, in some 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. But it was a great day for him. I was super excited for him. He's a kid that has sat and waited his turn very patiently, and I'm going to imagine, even though he doesn't show it, he's probably frustrated. I would be too if I were him. The bottom line, we understand that we have a deep team, and the guys that have earned the opportunity at the beginning have gotten it, and now he's waited his turn, got his opportunity, had a great day. So be ready for the next one.”

On preparing for the upcoming stretch of away games

“We're going to get challenged, of course, and these things that we have to get cleaned up will rear their heads a lot more against better teams like that. So we can't afford to have mental lapses. We have opportunities to score runs. We got to be able to push them across, because it's going to be a lot tougher competition. I think as we move forward this week, we’ve got good teams that are lined up against us, and starting with Oklahoma, we got two against them. That'll be our main focus.”

Infielder Beckett Zavorek

On the variety of wins the team has gotten so far:

“I think that just goes to show the style of team Willie [Bloomquist] and all the coaches brought in this year. I think we all compliment each other really well. We can just find a way to win any way we can, and that's what makes us good.”

On the team’s start this season when compared to how last season ended:

“I think it's obviously a great start. It's exactly where we want to be record-wise, but, we're still not exactly where we want to be. We got some things to clean up, but we're just getting better every day.”

On the upcoming week against top 25 ranked teams:

“I think we're just ready to go out and show the nation what we're made of and show what we could do. I think we're a little bit slept on right now, not a lot of people are talking about us, but that's exactly how we want it. We just want to fly under the radar and perform when it matters.”

Outfielder Ky McGary

On his first start:

“Shoot, that was an exciting one. Adrenaline’s still pumping, but I’m very excited. That was hopefully the first start of many, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.”

On making the most out of the starting opportunity:

“Everybody wants to play. I have a full extra season of pent up ready to play-ness, so when I finally saw my name on that starting lineup, I was overready. I was ecstatic.”

On adjustments to the offense made throughout the series:

“Sometimes offense just has it, sometimes they don't, so I don't think much changed. We're sticking to our approach and today it just worked out for us really well. We have a lot of grinders on our team, and they never give up. So constantly making adjustments to continue to get better, and I think that's just what we saw today.” 

Up next 
Arizona State will take its talents on the road for the first time this season, slated to take on four ranked SEC teams over five games beginning Tuesday. The Sun Devils will have their first true road games of the season in a pair of midweek tilts at No. 21 Oklahoma beginning Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. AZT. Wednesday's game will start at the same time. Both games will be streamed live online through ESPN+. ASU will then trek down to Dallas to take part in the Amergy Bank College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas beginning Friday. ASU is slated to take on No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 13 Tennessee and No. 24 Texas A&M in the competition. Games will begin at 10 a.m., 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Arizona time, respectively. All three games will be streamed live on the subscription-based FloSports.

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