PHOENIX – Friday night’s battle between Arizona State and Omaha was played under uncharacteristic baseball weather, with colder temperatures and overcast conditions than those of the previous week. The cooler weather and the wind blowing in resulted in the Sun Devils uncharacteristically failing to hit a home run.
That all changed on Saturday afternoon, when the clouds rolled out, and the wind was calm, resulting in more favorable offensive conditions, especially for the long ball. The Sun Devils launched several long balls over the fences at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, and could have had a few more.
Arizona State baseball (2-0) launched four home runs as it dominated Nebraska-Omaha (0-2) 11-5. Redshirt junior infielder Nu’u Contrades hit a 366-foot grand slam in the third that landed in the Mavericks' bullpen.
“We’re in the ballpark we play in, and we’re gonna hit some homers,” Bloomquist said. “(We’re) just keep teaching on approach and what we’re trying to do with baseball.”
Graduate outfielder Matt Polk slugged the first home run of the day, with the ball travelling 395 feet to left field. Contrades popped 15 homers across his first three seasons. Polk has only slugged ten.
Polk missed the 2025 season with an injury, and this was his first NCAA game in 623 days.
5th year outfielder Dean Toigo blasted a 362-foot solo homer. The UNLV transfer slugged 42 homers in his first four years, as his homer is no surprise. Toigo scored twice as well.
Junior first baseman Dominic Smaldino launched the furthest home run of the day, a 423-foot solo blast to center. He hit 14 blasts in his first two seasons at Cal. Smaldino had two total hits and a walk on the day.
“Today we struck with the same approach, not trying to do too much, just a good bat on ball, and the rest will take care of itself,” Smaldino said.
All nine starters logged a hit for the Sun Devils. They only struck out twice. The Sun Devils stole six bases.
Sophomore utility Landon Hairston did damage at the top of the lineup with a pair of hits, RBI and runs. He has put together a pair of multi-hit games this season. Hairston stole a base as well.
Junior infielder PJ Moutzouridis had another good game at the bottom of the lineup with a pair of hits. His five hits lead the team this season. Moutzouridis stole a base and has two this season. The Cal transfer had 17 in his time with the Golden Bears.
“He plays great,” Smaldino said. “He plays great off adrenaline, and there was a lot of that last night, and still some today.”
Junior utility Dominic Longo reached base in all of his plate appearances. The Utah Valley transfer walked thrice, recorded a hit and was hit by a pitch. He stole a pair of bags as well.
Like Longo, Sophomore catcher Coen Niclai walked three times as well. Niclai went 1-for-2 and scored a run. He made a nice, successful pickoff throw to first, getting a runner out on a back pick.
Arizona State made several substitutions late, one being freshman catcher Cooper Clouser coming in for Niclai. Clouser made a nice block on a pitch when a Maverick batter was advancing to second, and made the throw to get the out at second.
Freshman infielder Finn Leach also made his debut playing late in the field. Neither Clouser nor Leach had a plate appearance.
Sophomore infielder Beckett Zavorek had a single that drove in one as well as a sacrifice fly. Zavorek swiped a bag, too.
The pitching was like a roller coaster all game long with highs and lows.
“We pitched ourselves into unnecessary trouble a few times,” Bloomquist said. “(We) weren’t as sharp as I’d like us to see.”
Redshirt junior righty Colin Linder threw four innings of one-run ball on 81 pitches. He struggled with command at times, walking three but had three strikeouts, starting the Sun Devils at a higher point.
Linder missed the 2025 season with an injury. The last time he pitched was 641 days ago.
“(I) felt some jitters at times there, but it was really exciting to get back on the mound,” Linder said. “(I) wish it could have been a little cleaner.”
Junior right-hander Josh Butler was okay as he officially got the win. He threw an inning and two-thirds, allowing a run on three hits and a walk. He left the Sun Devils in a lower spot than Butler.
Senior lefty Sean Fitzpatrick was the high point of the roller coaster as he struck out the only batter he faced.
Junior righty Wyatt Halvorson was a microcosm of the Sun Devils performance. He pitched two scoreless innings, with the first inning being an adventurous one. The Arizona native loaded the bases, allowing a single, a walk, a hit batter as well as a wild pitch.
All but two of the 10 batters that Halvorson faced in the inning took two balls against the righty. He has struggled with walking batters in the past.
Freshman right-hander Austin Musso made his Sun Devil debut. The first pitch he threw was popped up to Zavorek, but he did not catch the can of corn. Musso’s game derailed from there as he allowed three hits and three runs (one was unearned) to cross home plate. He finished well, striking out three.
“We’ve got such a great offense that it could explode at any moment,” Linder said. “It puts you at ease a little bit on the mound.”