Nightmarish Seventh Inning Leaves Sun Devils with Territorial Cup Defeat as Familar Issues Strike Again

(Photo: Aiden Longbrake/WCSN)

TUCSON – When junior pitcher Cole Carlon exited the game on Friday night, Arizona State led 4-0 and seemed like it would be cruising to a season series win over their rivals from down the I-10. The bullpen came out in the seventh inning, just nine outs away from a victory, and maybe even a shutout.

Graduate pitcher Colby Guy walked onto the mound and immediately allowed a one-pitch single to left field. In no time flat, the Sun Devils looked like a car with malfunctioning brakes as head coach Willie Bloomquist’s squad lost control of the contest.

The Wildcats loaded the bases twice as ASU allowed four free runners in the seventh. “U of A” chants rang through Hi Corbett Field, accompanying a seven-run resurgence for the Wildcats.

When the nightmare inning for the No. 25 Sun Devils (22-9, 6-5 Big 12) was finally over, they found themselves on their way toward a 7-4 loss to their rivals, Arizona (10-20, 3-8 Big 12). Friday night’s loss was the second time this season that the Sun Devils gave up a lead during or after the seventh inning and the first occurrence of conference play.

“That’s a frustrating one,” head coach Bloomquist said. “That’s a game that’s sitting on a platter for us, especially early. We had a chance to put it away early, and we just did an absolutely atrocious job of hitting with runners in scoring positions again.”

The seventh-inning collapse came with two problems ASU has struggled with all season in its losses: two-strike counts and putting free runners on base. The Sun Devils walked four batters in the frame, allowing all four to score..

“We had our ace on the mound that was dealing,” Bloomquist said. “He was doing what he was supposed to. Have a great six innings where they’re shut out, and all we need are strikes, and we come in and can’t throw strikes and give up 0-2 base hits time after time.”

When Guy got himself into trouble, ASU turned to senior southpaw Sean Fitzpatrick, the same arm who held firm on Thursday. However, unlike last night, Fitzpatrick was unable to deliver, as he allowed a pair of two-run singles that broke the game open for the Wildcats.

“He was up with 0-2 counts,” Blomquist said. “Gave up two base hits on 0-2 there, definitely a big one. We’ve been riding [Fitzpatrick] hard and using him an awful lot, so I don’t think he’s worn down. His stuff was still playing well. They just got him tonight.”

The Sun Devils found themselves in a season-long dilemma on Friday, hitting a poor 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The Sun Devils are 10-for-56 with RISP combined in their losses this season, including in crucial ranked matchups against SEC and Big 12 opponents.

“It’s a focus thing,” Bloomquist said. “You have to finish the job. Again, that was just a methodical game early on. They kicked it around and gave us plenty of scoring opportunities there that we didn’t take advantage of and didn’t score, and that comes back to bite you. We’ve talked about after wins, that it didn’t bite us.”

The problems with RISP stemmed from early on, as in the fourth inning, redshirt sophomore third basemen Austen Roellig swung at the first pitch with the bases loaded and popped out. Bloomquist has referenced needing to improve with RISP since the third game of the season against Omaha, where he said it would come back to bite them against better teams.

“Letting them off the hook with bases loaded,” Bloomquist said. “One out, swinging at a first pitch breaking ball and popping it up into foul territory. Not getting a pitch that we’re trying to drive several times. That’s just a lack of concentration, lack of focus, and a lack of finishing the job that’s there for you to take.”

The lone bright spot in Friday’s loss was junior pitcher Cole Carlon, who threw six scoreless innings with a career-high 12 punch-outs against the Wildcats. His performance was eerily similar to the last time he faced his rivals from the south, in which he threw 4.1 scoreless innings.

“I think he’s thrown the ball pretty well for the most part,” Bloomquist said. “The expectations can’t be a shutout every time he goes out there. He’s throwing the ball really well for us. He did it again tonight. Gave us an opportunity to win, but we just didn’t get it done.”

Carlon showed the passion that comes with a rivalry like the Territorial Cup, even shushing the Arizona crowd and getting animated after strikeouts. For the rest of the night, however, the only emotion the Sun Devils felt was frustration. Whether it was sophomore left fielder Landon Hairston flipping his bat in anger after being hit, or the disappointing look on Guy’s face as he exited the game, ASU felt the losing side of the rivalry for the first time this season.

“This one wasn’t flushed,” Bloomquist said. “I can’t just flush this one. This one stings a little bit, and they’d better learn from it. That’s something we discussed in detail after the game, that this is unacceptable. It’s not acceptable, especially against the team we played.”

While Bloomquist won’t let Friday’s loss go unnoticed, the Sun Devils will have an opportunity to take the series in the rubber match on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. MST.

“After a loss like this, hopefully it stings them a little bit and punches them in the gut,” Bloomquist said. “They understand that we have to lock in and score the runs when we have opportunities to score runs, and again, just a killer instinct coming out of the bullpen.”