Four home runs propel ASU to series win over Omaha

Head coach Willie Bloomquist called Friday’s opener “not a typical Muni night.” The wind howled in, clouds hung low, and deep fly balls stalled in the outfield. Arizona State had to manufacture offense with hit and runs, smart baserunning, and timely swings to grind out a 7–2 win over Omaha.

Saturday brought a different script.

The wind disappeared. The sky cleared. And instead of creating runs, ASU drove them in the only way that needed no help from the elements.

With a chance to secure its first series of 2026 before a demanding stretch that includes four straight SEC opponents in a little over a week, the Sun Devils wasted no time taking control. There was no early-season rust to shake off. The swings were loud from the start.

ASU finished with 12 hits and four home runs, keeping pressure on Omaha all night. Nine players recorded hits, and three of the homers came from newcomers, showing how quickly the new-look lineup is settling in. The biggest swing belonged to junior infielder Nu’u Contrades, who capped a five-run third inning with a grand slam. Junior right-hander Colin Linder followed with four strong innings, allowing one run in his first Saturday start and first appearance since Tommy John surgery. He attacked the zone and handed the ball off with a comfortable lead as ASU (2-0) rolled to an 11–5 win over Omaha (0-2).

Eighteen runs in two days, even with the lineup shuffled to test depth, offers an early theme. It starts with Contrades.

The Hawaiian second baseman reached base all four times Friday, doubling, scoring three runs, and stealing two bases. One of only two regulars returning from 2025 after a hand injury ended his season early, Contrades was named captain entering his fourth year, a testament to the standard he sets every day.

Two games into 2026, he already looks in rhythm. Saturday’s grand slam was his first home run of the season and a reminder of the multiple ways he can tilt a game.

“He’s team captain for a reason,” Bloomquist said. “He’s that guy that is extremely valuable for us. Dynamic player. Has a lot of different ways he can beat you in his game. Defensively, made a couple nice plays defensively as well today. Offensively, can hit for average, hit for power, steal bases. He’s a complete package.”

Vanderbilt transfer and Graduate outfielder Matt Polk called Contrades the “engine that makes it all go,” a fitting description for a player who has been both a spark and a steady presence for a largely new roster.

Polk provided his own jolt Saturday. After missing all of last season and taking a medical redshirt, he had not logged a collegiate at-bat since June 1, 2024. Any signs of rust disappeared quickly. In the second inning, Polk sent the second pitch he saw over the left-field wall for a solo home run that opened the scoring.

“I was manifesting it since the last time I played,” Polk said. “Bloom told me to be ready, and I was ready for the opportunity. Hopefully, as a team, we can keep this rolling and keep stacking wins.”

The power surge did not stop there.

In the fifth inning, Cal transfer and junior infielder Dominic Smaldino jumped on an 0–2 hanging changeup and drove it 423 feet to right center for his first home run as a Sun Devil. A year removed from 19 combined home runs between Cal and summer ball in the Northwoods League, Smaldino added another example of how this lineup stretches from top to bottom.

“I think our strategy was more just hunting our zone, hunting mistakes over the heart of the plate,” Smaldino said. “I think we did a really good job today of taking balls under the zone. And that’s a big focus for us. If we can do that, take the balls and swing at strikes, we’re going to do damage.”

An inning later, UNLV transfer and graduate outfielder Dean Toigo, the 2025 Mountain West Co-Player of the Year and Big 12 preseason newcomer of the year, broke through. After an uncharacteristically quiet first two games, Toigo found his pitch and sent a solo shot down the right-field line.

On the mound, Linder anchored the effort. Despite being named the Saturday starter, he entered the season without having thrown a single Division I inning. A transfer from the junior college ranks last year, Tommy John surgery kept him from appearing, making this outing both his first Division I start and first Division I appearance.

He worked four innings against Omaha, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out three. Three walks and a hit by pitch created traffic, and an RBI single in the third accounted for the only run charged to him. Sitting 93 to 94 mph and touching 97 on a strikeout, Linder pushed through 81 pitches in a demanding but encouraging outing from the physical right-hander.

“It was exciting,” Linder said. “Definitely felt some jitters at times there, but it was really exciting. Get back on the mound…I didn’t realize my pitch count was so high. My body feels amazing. My arm feels great. I felt like I could have thrown 30, 40, more.”

Still, the final margin did not fully satisfy Bloomquist.

Despite a six-run win that looks comfortable on paper, he saw details that need sharpening. While attention gravitates toward the home runs, Bloomquist focused on lapses in concentration across nine innings.

“Sloppy six run win,” Bloomquist said. “It’s tough to scoff at winning by six, but that game was a lot closer than that. There was a lot of different momentum shifts within that game… Gave up a lot of two-out base runners, just not a lot of two-out concentration there from the pitching staff.”

Omaha finished with 11 hits, just one fewer than ASU, and forced the bullpen to work. Junior right-handed pitcher Wyatt Halvorson needed 50 pitches to navigate the seventh and eighth innings, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the seventh.

The ninth inning added another reminder. Freshman right-handed pitcher Austin Musso entered with an 11–2 lead, and his first pitch resulted in a pop-up between second, center, and right that dropped due to miscommunication. Three straight hits followed, and Omaha added three late runs.

For a head coach with high expectations, those moments matter. Conference play will not forgive them. Omaha serves as an early measuring stick, not a final verdict.

ASU leaves with two wins to open the season, but Bloomquist made clear that improvement remains the priority.

“My job, again, is to not allow these guys to get complacent and allow the fundamental things to be overlooked,” Bloomquist said. “And told them I didn’t mean to put a wet blanket on the celebration there, but at the end of the day, we got to get better at some stuff. There’s not that, not top to bottom. We have to get better at some things as we move on, and if I’m not going to point them out and remind them that I’m not doing my job. So hopefully they take that with a grain of salt and understand what I’m trying to get at. And we keep building to become a better team.”