Willie Bloomquist Discusses Arizona State’s Upcoming Baseball Season

Below is a partial transcript of Bloomquist's press conference.

On Former ASU Player Joe Lampe

"Lamps, awesome, man. I'm excited to see him. Evans, having success and doing what he does. He I think the day that his season finished up, he was down at Muni, you know, walking around the clubhouse again. He just, he's a he bleeds ASU, which is awesome, and then having him go out to the fall League and having a lot of success, he's getting close. I told him, I don't know what the numbers are, but I think it's like 92% of guys in the fall league make it to the big league, so no pressure. But I if I know lamp like I think I do, he's getting close."

On Big 12 Tournament Moving to Surprise, Arizona

Well, I think we know it's travel as far which is, which is nice, and then the weather will let everybody else come in our town and melt, you know, when we'll be used to it. So, you know? But I think it'll, it'll be regardless, it'll be a great structure, be a good format and be very competitive again. So, you know, the Globe Life tournament, it was awesome. Had a obviously, we didn't have the success we wanted to, but the overall tournament was great, and hopefully we can continue that out of Surprise."

On Signing Alex Overbay to Program, Lyle Overbay's Role in Move

"No, we didn't, not until he got in the portal. He went in the portal, and then, you know, I actually did talk to his dad a little bit just about what, you know, what was important for for Alex and Lyle and his family. And you know, it was, it was, we had a dog fight with some other schools with him, of course, and he's a very good arm, but at the end of the day, we're able to win that battle."

On if Big 12 Will be Wide Open

"I think so. And there's been, there's been a lot of guys that have lost Boston players and into the draft and whatnot. I think it's going to be, you know, going into it, I can't put my finger on a favorite, you know, like, these guys are going to be the team to beat. I think there's going to be a lot of those. There's a lot of teams that have gotten better. I know it'll be very competitive again, I think, and be anybody's race toward the end."

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on why the 2025 football team is at a crossroads following a loss to Houston here.