PHOENIX– A spirited student section on Friday night may have had quite the impact on Arizona State’s (5-0) 9-1 victory over St. John’s (1-4).
Walks spark rally
As the fans chanted “ball 4, ball 5, ball 6,” SJU’s sophomore left-hander, Tommy Conley, struggled to find the strike zone.
“They’re seated right about their dugout and right above the 3rd baseman for a reason,” ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “Love having them out, so please continue coming out.”
Conley was removed from the game after he put four runners on, three via walks and one via a hit-by-pitch.
Junior infielder Nu’u Contrades stepped up to the plate against the new arm and delivered, sending the 0-1 pitch 400ft for a grand slam to blow the game open. It was his third home run of the season, his second grand slam.
“As a hitter, you always dreamed about getting the opportunity to do it,” Contrades said. “Just sticking to my process, it was definitely fun.”
Senior outfielder Dean Toigo and junior 1B Dominic Smaldino joined Contrades in hitting home. Toigo’s first inning, two-run home run went 429ft.
Carlon continues domination
Early on, ASU too struggled with the walks.
Junior left-hander Cole Carlon walked three batters in his first three innings, ballooning his pitch count to 51.
“I need to get back into where I was mechanically and mentally just attacking the zone,” Carlon said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that in both the second and third innings without my defense.”
Carlon rebounded from there, however, sitting down nine of his final 10 batters. His day finished with just six base runners allowed, his lone run coming via a solo shot from junior outfielder Lewis Rodriguez.
Bloomquist said last week that Carlon would sit in the 75-80 pitch range. Despite reaching 83 pitches, his final pitch, a strikeout, was at 96 MPH.
“It felt good,” Carlon said. “It was definitely juices were lowing a bit more towards the end of my outing.’
The win comes after a year of struggles in the early season, non-conference matchups. Oral Roberts and Minnesota both showed games where the Sun Devils allowed come-from-behind victories from their opponents.
Now, the teams that ASU defeated so far are beating up on a familiar foe.
“I do know the couple of teams that we beat beat the other team in our state down south the last two nights and last week,” Bloomquist said. “So obviously they’re decent teams if they’re going down to Tucson and beating that team as well.”
The Sun Devils will continue their 3-game set against the Red Storm Saturday at 1:05 p.m. MST. Junior right-hander Colin Linder is projected to make the start for ASU.
