Sparks fly as Bloomquist is tossed in ASU’s Friday defeat to Utah

When sophomore catcher Brody Briggs walks up to the plate, he exudes an energy that only confirms the passion with which he plays the game, so when he was the first player stepping into the batter’s box at the bottom of the sixth inning with the Sun Devils trailing by six runs, it fired him up all the more. 

During a tense six-pin at bat, Briggs pounded his chest, grunted, and grimaced as he battled against Utah pitcher Colter McAnelly. The 6-4 right-handed pitcher would win the duel as Briggs popped a flyball into shallow center field. 

But earning the out wouldn’t be enough to satisfy McAnelly’s gloating. 

Mocking Briggs, McAnelly began making gestures and talking to the catcher as he rounded first base before he was ruled out. Chippiness had already begun during the Friday night action, and warnings had already been assessed to both dugouts. 

“There were warnings issued,”  Arizona State Head Coach Willie Bloomquist noted after the game. “And to my understanding, if there’s a warning issued, then you know, the next instigator should be the one who gets ejected out of the game.

Bloomquist blitzed onto the field toward first base umpire Nathan White. He would be subsequently ejected after pleading a case for his catcher, who continued trash-talking with McAnelly. Both players would also be ejected from the contest. 

“He popped the ball up, and I saw the pitcher going down the line, almost imitating or mimicking him and instigating again,” Bloomquist noted. “Am I frowning upon that? Am I saying that kid is wrong? No, I’m not. But if there are warnings in place, which there were, that kid should be tossed.”

Shortly after ASU (24-11, 7-6 Big 12) would muster a three-run inning off the back of red-hot sophomore center fielder Landon Hairston’s home run, however, the maroon and gold would conjure up just four hits on the day, falling 10-4 in the first game of the series against the Utes (17-13, 6-7). 

“Interesting night to say the least, I guess just we were not sharp again, on the mound, at the plate, just didn’t have our have our a game tonight,” Bloomquist said. “We’re focused on playing a better brand of baseball right now. The last handful of games have just not been what I expect, and we address it, and things are, at times, better, but at times, just consistently leveling is just not where we need it to be.”

Following Hairston’s homerun, the Sun Devils found life; he slashed their disadvantage in half, making a three-run deficit with four innings to play seem manageable at worst. However, as the sun set on the Phoenix horizon, the bats cooled for the night as well. After a three-hit inning, they’d fail to earn a hit the rest of the night.

According to Bloomquist, struggles at the plate start with the basics, hitting the fastball. The Sun Devils couldn’t find their tempo against McAnelly, who threw 33 strikes in 61 pitches. 

“[We’re] not ready to hit the fastball,” Bloomquist admitted. “Not on time for the fastball. We keep falling heaters over the opposing dugout. And that’s just not what we’re not what we’re about. And that’s not what we teach here.” 

Despite returning notable names to the lineup, such as junior second baseman Nu’u Contrades, ASU lost steam late in the day, some of which could have to do with the program playing nine games in just 12 days to begin April. Friday marked gameday six in just eight days, and the maroon and gold will suit up for three consecutive days through April 13. 

“I think a lot of guys are caught in between,” Bloomquist admitted. “And if you’re caught in between, you ain’t gonna hit. So it’s got to be one or the other. We like to err on the side of being aggressive.” 

While the Sun Devils struggled, the Utes found solace and consistency at the plate, led by junior outfielder Jake Long, who went 4-6 with three RBI’s. Six different Utes registered 11 total hits on the day. 

Included in that bunch are numerous players toward teh bottom of the order; each starter, except leadoff hitter Luke Jacobs, recorded a run; there was no dropoff toward the bottom of the order; and junior catcher Jack Kleveno even recorded his first home run of the season on a three-run shot to left field. 

At the mound for ASU was junior left-handed pitcher Cole Carlon, in his ninth start of the season. He put together a lackluster performance to his standards, having yet to pitch more than six innings at any game during the season, registering just 4.2 on Friday. Bloomquist wants to see his weekend starter make some adjustments moving forward. 

“Leaving pitches up in the middle of the zone, falling behind a lot of hitters, and a lot of free bases. Uncharacteristically for him,” Bloomquist said, rattling off issues with Carlon’s performance. “Had three base on balls, a couple of hit batters. Seemed like he was pitching in high-leverage situations the whole time, guys on base, traffic on the bases.”

Bloomquist paints the picture of a pitcher who puts himself at a disadvantage consistently. Carlon threw a season-high 105 pitches against 22 at-bats on Friday. Despite recording eight strikeouts, he also allowed eight hits and picked up three walks. In the fifth inning, his day unraveled, allowing three hits and even hitting Zakye Hawkins at the plate. 

“I would like to see is not so many pitches,” Bloomquist noted. “And in four innings or five innings, I would like to see him, you know, have 105 pitches through seven, not four and two-thirds. We’ve got to be more efficient on that part of it, so that part of it is a little concerning.”

While wins and losses take precedent in athletics, Bloomquist hasn’t made much about the team dropping consecutive home games for just the second time in 2026, as he is worried about the team’s intensity level heading into Saturday. 

“Sometimes when you have success, you can kind of get complacent on things,” Bloomquist noted. “Instead of continuing to grind and stay locked in and what you have to do to become better … It’s those are things we’ve addressed, we’ve practiced, we feel good about it, and we execute it for a few days, and then they rear their heads again.”

While extracurricular brawls against opponents aren’t on the wish list, Blooomquist, he admitted, he’d rather see the player ramp up the moxy rather than control their temperament against Utah the remainder of the weekend, noting he would “want to see [the series] boil over,” when asked if he would tell his players to tone down. 

While certainly speaking metaphorically, it is clear that Bloomquist is looking for his team to take charge at the plate; the Sun Devils have dominated at bats all year, sitting second in the Big 12 in batting average (.322) and homers (67). 

What that looks like for the Sun Devils is adding their star player, Hairston, who is second in the nation in batting average and tied for first in home runs after registering his 20th on Friday. 

“With Landon being our hottest hitter right now, it’s trying to get some traffic on the from the bottom of the lineup,” Bloomquist said. “So when he comes up there, skies on base, and, you know, it has nothing that was not a slap in PJ’s face.”