Starkville - Mississippi State has not gotten off the best start to the season, going 3-2 in its first five games with losses to VMI and Louisiana-Monroe. They'll face and even greater challenge this weekend when the 4-0 Arizona State Sun Devils come to town.
The Sun Devils bring in a haul of transfers on the mound and possess some power at the plate. BulldogBlitz spoke to Jack Loder of ASUDevils.com to get an inside look of what to expect from Arizona State.
Here's what he had to say:
Q: Arizona State came into the year with one of the top transfer portal classes in the country. Who has stood out among that group so far?
Loder: A more appropriate question would be who hasn't stood out among that group. I'll start on the mound. Each of Arizona State's three starting pitchers and its two best relievers during the opening series were transfers. Ross Dunn (Florida State) started Friday night and went 3 ⅔ shutout innings, Khristian Curtis (Texas A&M) on Saturday turned in 5 shutout frames, and Timmy Manning (Florida) put a cherry on top of a banner weekend for the starters by tossing 5 ⅔ scoreless innings. Owen Stevenson, a transfer from San Francisco, gave up two runs over four innings of relief on Friday. Things couldn't have gone better on the mound for the newcomers.
Luke Keaschall (San Francisco) was the biggest bat picked up in the portal over the summer. He showed why against San Diego State. His first hit as a Sun Devil was a ninth-inning game-tying RBI triple on opening night. He followed that up with a lead-off bomb on Saturday. He's collected five hits in four games and is looking like an emotional leader on this team as well.
Q: What are the expectations for Arizona State this season?
Loder: The expectations for this season vary depending on who you ask. Cooler heads would say that this team should absolutely make it to the NCAA tournament field of 64. A top-five Pac-12 finish, a win or two in Scottsdale at the conference tournament and a middle seed at a regional are what I'm expecting. Missing the tournament would be a failure. Anything beyond a regional would be very successful.
Q: What does the Sun Devils' pitching rotation look like?
Loder: Mississippi State fans should expect to see the exact same starting rotation that ASU rolled out against San Diego State. Ross Dunn on Friday, Khristian Curtis on Saturday and Timmy Manning on Sunday. Curtis and Manning are SEC transfers, and although only Manning has actually toed the rubber at the Dude, both he and Curtis know what the environment will be like. In relief, expect the aforementioned Owen Stevenson to be the long reliever on either Friday or Saturday, as both those starters will remain on a ~60-pitch limit for the first few weeks of the season.
Christian Bodlovich is referred to by ASU fans as "the fireman." He's Bloomquist's go-to arm to get out of a jam. He almost always inherits runners. Expect to see him enter in the middle of an inning. Jesse Wainscott has been phenomenal so far and has all but earned the closer role. He's a hard-throwing right-hander who pitches with a ton of emotion. If he gets the chance to take the mound in a save situation, he'll feed off the atmosphere at The Dude. Blake Pivaroff and Matt Tieding are other arms to keep in mind.
Q: Who are the hitters to look out for in Arizona State's lineup?
Loder: At the plate, Ethan Long is still the most intimidating bat that ASU will roll out. He absolutely crushed his first home run of the season on Tuesday night in ASU's victory over UNLV. He'll bat third or fourth and play at first base while DHing for a game most likely. Ryan Campos was a freshman All-American last year for ASU, and he's picked up right where he left off. He also belted his first long ball of the year on Tuesday, right before Long's. These two, along with Keaschall, are the engine of the ASU lineup.
Another name to look out for is Wyatt Crenshaw. He picked up eight, yes eight, hits in the first four games after filling in for the injured Nick McLain. He's a senior and a division two transfer. He looks every bit the part of an everyday D1 outfielder. Will Rogers and Jacob Tobias will be factors in the middle of the lineup all weekend as well. Both are returning sophomores who are eying big years. Rogers had a huge four-hit night in the season opener, including a homer and a walk-off single. Tobias is going to rotate in at first base with Ethan Long and has a classic lefty power stroke.
Lastly, a trio of freshmen start for Arizona State. Isaiah Jackson plays center field. He's a true five-tool guy. His maturity is also beyond his years. Ask Bloomquist about Jackson, and you'd better get comfortable. Luke Hill and Nu'u Contrades are both freshmen and start at shortstop and third base, respectively. Hill does it on defense as well as with his bat, while Contrades has started a bit slower out of the gate.If the freshmen perform, ASU is hard to beat.
Q: What are Arizona State's biggest strengths and weaknesses?
Loder: ASU's biggest strength is its pitching. That's a sentence that has seemed impossible for the last decade and change, but it's finally true this year. And that's saying something because the lineup is no slouch. Experience mixed with nasty stuff make for a real threat in the rotation, and a sured up back end of the bullpen allows for the staff to make its way to the ninth inning with a plan, something this team missed so dearly last season.
Through four games, baserunning has been a glaring weakness. I'm not sure how much stock to put into this since it is early and as far as maladies go, base running is one that is relatively easily remedied. ASU was able to get away with those types of mistakes against SDSU and UNLV, but it won't happen against Mississippi State.
