PHOENIX– Under cloudy and windy conditions, Arizona State’s (1-0) pitching staff showed out to a rowdy student section in a 7-2 victory over Omaha (0-1).
“I could hear them down there,” ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist said. ‘They were saying some pretty funny stuff.”
ASU pitching shines
Junior left-hander Cole Carlon and junior right-hander Alex Overbay combined for eight innings of two-run ball.
Carlon focused on pounding the strike zone, allowing only three runners to reach base. He allowed just one walk over five innings.
Bloomquist confirmed after the game that Carlon would continue to stretch out his pitch count, with the plan being to get him to 75-80 pitches.
“It was really good to get out there against another team and compete,” Carlon said. “It was a lot of fun, could not have scripted it any better.”
Of the seven hits Sun Devils’ pitchers allowed, three of them came to lead off the eighth inning. Bloomquist applauded Overbay for keeping his composure and managing to escape a bases-loaded, no-out jam mostly unscathed.
“When they got bases loaded, nobody out, and we’re down three, we’re starting to reel a little bit there,” Bloomquist said. “Alex kept his composure, kept making pitches, and we were able to pick it up behind him and make the plays we’re supposed to.”
Wind limits offense on both sides
The duo had some help from the elements, with the wind blowing in from the outfield for much of the game. The wind effect went both ways though, as ASU also saw some deep fly balls not leave the yard.
“Probably three that I can think of off the top of my head that would have gotten out of here on a normal night,” Bloomquist said.
One of the three hits that Bloomquist mentioned was from sophomore catcher Brody Briggs. Despite the lack of a home run, Briggs still recorded a two-RBI day with a stolen base.
Junior infielder Nu’u Contrades also contributed on the basepaths. He stole two bases in the second inning, the latter resulting in a throwing error, scoring a run.
“That was kind of our game plan going in,” Contrades said. “We are going to try and cause havoc in any way possible.”
Seven of the nine starting in the Sun Devil lineup reached base at least once. Sophomore utility Landon Hairston, junior infielder Garrett Michel and junior infielder PJ Moutzouridis all had multi-hit games.
Depth is something that has been talked about a lot with the current roster build. Bloomquist said postgame that he would like to get sophomore infielder Beckett Zavorek and graduate outfielder Matthew Polk into the lineup Saturday.
“There’s going to be guys mixing in and out of the lineup,” Bloomquist said. “It’s not a ‘you didn’t perform well, so now you’re in the cooler’ type of thing. We just got to keep mixing guys in and keeping everyone fresh, everybody sharp, everybody engaged.”
The Sun Devils will continue their three-game set against Omaha tomorrow at 1:05. Junior right-hander Colin Linder will make his ASU debut after taking a medical redshirt last season.
