I don't know if I should classify this as a surprise or not

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Welcome to the best series of the season. Huge crowd at Muni.

After 5 it is 5-5 and one heck of an atmosphere.

For someone who has recently doubted Bloomquist has "it", I'm back tracking on that comment.

Bloomquist called for a hit and run that pulled the SS out of the hole and Jackson went oppo with a grounder through to get the RBI. The commotion caused the UofA LF to bobble the ball allowing a Sun Devil time to score.

Later that same inning, Vu pulled a bunt past the pitcher and into the 2B territory where the 2B had vacated to cover first. Fantastic job by Bloomquist to PRESSURE the defense. This is a perfect example of his evolvement into a college coach instead of a professional instructor.

I assume a lot of you are at the game. Couldn't be more impressed with the crowd.

Let's hope we can pull this one out.

"It was really challenging in the first two weeks when we were figuring out what we got. Now we're getting our feet under us.” A heap of new faces and facing a stout defense created obstacles for the offense, yet this is a unit that has shown marked improvement as of late

ASU has now lost 5 straight games to UofA in baseball. 3 of those losses coming this season. The 2 most recent losses have come in conference play in front of massive crowds at Phoenix Muni causing many fans believe the "same old Devils" are dropping the ball. It feels like we are watching Deja Vu

Not so fast

It can be easy to think ASUs schedule in the Big 12 is similar to last season in the Pac-12 but it isn't.

In 2024 ASU was
Q1: 2-7
Q2: 2-5
Q3: 20-10
Q4: 8-4

2025
Q1: 5-6
Q2: 3-1
Q3: 2-3
Q4: 10-1

As you can see, the Sun Devils are much better in Q1 and Q2 games this season. The schedule remains difficult and includes 7 more Q1 games as well as several Q2 games.

The results may feel the same, but the competition is MUCH better, at least on paper. We are in a much better spot to make a regional. Even if we have the same record as last season, it will be a big step forward.

The worst kept secret in Tempe is finally out of the open with his dad's announcement. The fact that his son is just exploring entering the portal may leave some hope that he still could stay. I believe that him being cleared for contact approximately 7 months after ACL surgery is kind of ambitious but I guess we'll see.

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Dillingham wants his upperclassmen to set the tone for the younger players in terms of team culture and expectations, and in today’s session, veterans and newcomers alike stood out on Tuesday morning. Here are our observations

"I could play all around and do anything you need me to do. I’ll play any role Coach Hurley wants me to play." 6-9 four-star forward and former Maryland commit Marcus Jackson was impressed by what ASU has to offer and happy to reunite with his high school teammate

"I announced it, and Coach Saga started tearing up. And it was great. It felt very meaningful to me, seeing that my O-Line coach who was really happy to get me.” A strong bond with OL Marques Uini and Saga Tuitele plays a big part in his ASU pledge

"As I’m getting to learn more about Coach Carrington, I can tell that he’s very analytic and detail-oriented in what he does." 2026 four-star DB Jalen Williams couldn't see any of his other suitors matching what ASU had to offer and pledged to the Sun Devils

We have our first group in town this weekend. Any commits on the horizon?

Was a former Maryland commit

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Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = Some Like It Hot

That was some game last night where Houston came back from the brink against Duke and ended up beating the Blue Devils at the buzzer...

Kelvin Sampson (69) has done it all during his stellar career at several schools that include the Montana Tech Orediggers where he started his illustrative career...

He then went to Wazzu where he did enough to convince Oklahoma to give him a chance, whereas at ASU we never would've considered him just like we passed on Mike Candrea and any number of capable coaches in favor of coaches that turned out to be duds...

Anyway, Sampson has been to Sweet 16s, Elite Eights and Final Fours but never won a national championship but I'll be pulling for him to do so on Monday night...

Maybe, our AD, Graham Rossini, will prove that he can make better coaching choices than his predecessors at ASU...

Hopefully, he will be able to navigate the new NCAA settlement that will allow us to share around $21M dollars amongst our 26 sports so that we don't lose further ground in the Big-12 in a sport like basketball...

Football will have a cap of 105 roster spots and Dilly will fill all of those slots with scholarships and basketball will be up to 15 scholarships, while baseball will be up to 34 scholarships...

I don't know if additional scholarship availability will help with either basketball or baseball if we don't have the right coaches in place...

It will also be interesting to see how NIL money will now be used within a school's discretion since they will now have oversight into that fake deal as things now stand...

I see where the Cats are going to extend Tommy Lloyd's BB contract in order to give him more say-so in how all of this settlement and NIL money is used at AU moving forward...

I trust that our AD is going to listen to what Dilly needs to keep our football program at a championship level but won't listen to what a coach on the way out like Bobby needs to be more successful...

Willie is counting on having his 34 man baseball roster on full scholarships next season and he feels that will be a game changer for his baseball program but we'll see...

Part of the game changing dynamic that will evolve, along with the NCAA settlement at ASU, will be when we finally aren't having to pay Ray and Herm for their awful efforts on our behalf in the recent past...

For they will finally be off the Sun Devil athletic dept books in the summer of 2026...

Bobby will also be off the books and it will be up to Rossini to earn his new $950K salary by getting a more competent coach in place for our basketball program...

I hope he doesn't pass over any coaches that will be future Kelvin Sampson or Bruce Pearl type coaches for another coach that doesn't have the "IT" factor needed to elevate our mediocre BB program...

Of course, hope, as we all know, is not a viable strategy to be successful in any thing...

Well, here's hoping we can do something against the Cats later today in baseball...

I also hope that Rossini likes it hot as there will be many hot issues to deal with in the Sun Devils athletic dept in the coming days, weeks, months and years...

Some like it hot like the recently deceased former Cats AD Ced Dempsey who hired Lute Olson in a very tough fiscal and NCAA environment at the school...

Will Rossini have the similar chops to take on difficult situations and thrive in a heat wave the way real leadership does in difficult situations..??

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

Jalen Williams has been a 4 star on rivals since August. As soon as he commits to ASU, all of a sudden he drops from a 5.8 to a 5.7 and is now a 3 star? Lol. Make it make sense. Anyone?

"We're nowhere near where we need to be, but we know the things we have to improve upon, and we know we're capable of doing something special.” A dominating performance on the mound and at the plate helped ASU earn a Sunday win in the Arizona series

“We are Duke fans. We know Coach Hurley's culture and what he accomplished. When he called me, it was a no-brainer. He checked all of my boxes." Oakland forward transfer Allen Mukeba discusses his pledge to ASU