June 1, 2025
Work to do: UCLA powers past ASU baseball in Los Angeles Regional; Sun Devils prepare for rematch with UC Irvine
LOS ANGELES – After a statement win to open the NCAA tournament, Arizona State baseball did not maintain its momentum going into Saturday’s game against UCLA. A strong performance at the plate from the No. 1 seed Bruins would power UCLA past No. 3 seed Arizona State 11-5 in the Los Angeles Regional Saturday. A seven-run second inning from UCLA, including a Roman Martin grand slam, proved to be too much for the Sun Devils to get past. “We gotta sleep quick, forget about this one quick and be ready to go again tomorrow,” said Arizona State coach Willie Bloomquist, who is coaching in his first NCAA tournament. Arizona State (36-22) will now play No. 2 seed UC Irvine, a team it beat Friday. As fog rolled in and covered the backdrop in Los Angeles, ASU took the field to face UCLA for Saturday’s game “You go through the lineup and it’s very consistent,” said UCLA coach John Savage, who is in his 20th season with the Bruins. “There hasn’t been a lot of games where we’ve been shut down.” After a scoreless first inning, UCLA found a burst of offense in the second. A single followed by a triple with a throwing error on the play gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead. UCLA would load the bases and walk in the third run of the game. With one out and the bases loaded, third baseman Martin would crush a ball to right field for a grand slam to give the Bruins a 7-0 lead. Bloomquist would pull starting pitcher Jack Martinez after that, putting in Josh Butler, who would finish out the inning. Action would continue to the bottom of the second inning where ASU would find itself with the bases loaded as well. A sacrifice fly from designated hitter Brandon Compton would bring first baseman Jacob Tobias home to put the Sun Devils on the board. “I trust these guys more than anything,” said Tobias, who was the only ASU player to post multiple hits in the game. “ We’ve done it all year. I have complete faith in them and I’m really excited to see how we respond (Sunday).” Offense would continue into the third where UCLA left fielder Dean West would hit a double to drive in Cashel Dugger. In the next at-bat, shortstop Roch Cholowsky would bring West home to give the Bruins a 9-1 lead. In the fourth inning, Tobias would hit a single that moved shortstop Matt King to third base. With runners on the corners and no outs, Savage pulled Landon Stump for Ian May. Stump’s day would end at three innings pitched, allowing two runs. After taking over, May forced a double play on right fielder Kien Vu, the first batter he faced. On the play, Matt King would cross the plate to cut UCLA’s lead to 9-2. UCLA continued scoring in the fifth inning. First baseman Mulivai Levu hit a single that drove in Phoenix Call. In the seventh inning, Bloomquist decided to pull Max Arlich for Will Koger. Arlich’s day would end after tallying 3 1/3 innings pitched, allowing one run and recording three strikeouts. Koger forced a double play on the second pitch he threw after West didn’t tag up before running to second base. With the Sun Devils down eight runs in the seventh inning, a failed pickoff attempt by May would open the door for Isiah Jackson to get one run back for ASU. Easton Hawk would come in for the Bruins in the ninth inning, ending an impressive day from May. May picked up the victory, tallying five innings pitched of three-run baseball with three strikeouts. Hawk struck out the first two batters he faced. ASU would pull two runs back off the bat of Brody Briggs, but the attempt for a comeback would be cut short by a flyout that would end the game. ASU will again play UC Irvine, which beat Fresno State earlier Saturday. After the 3 p.m. game, the winner will face UCLA in the regional championship at 7 p.m. Looking ahead to Sunday’s matchup, Bloomquist has trust in his team. “I’ll take us against anybody when they’re playing how they’re supposed to play,” Bloomquist said Saturday night. “Tomorrow we got our backs against the wall. We gotta come out fighting and these guys will.” Tobias has spent all four years of his college career at ASU. Despite the do-or-die situation, he is all confidence. “I’m playing as if we have two more weeks left,” said Tobias, who has five hits in tournament play. “We’re going in tomorrow, yeah we lost today, but I’m confident in my teammates and my brothers around me that we’ll still make a run at this thing.”
Cronkite News RSS Feed
