No. 24 Sun Devils Fall 8-5 to Rival Arizona With 7,000+ in attendance

(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)

TEMPE — With two outs in the top of the fifth inning, Arizona State had all the momentum it could’ve hoped for. The Sun Devil bats had scored four runs in the first four innings of the game while junior left-handed pitcher Ben Jacobs completely dominated on the mound. His ten strikeouts through four innings helped ASU jump out to an early 4-1 lead over in-state rival Arizona.

Even better, Jacobs picked up the first two outs of the frame on just three pitches. All ASU had to do was keep its foot on the gas and a game one victory in the most important series of the season was all but assured.

But then the lefty walked junior center fielder Aaron Walton followed up by hitting junior shortstop Mason White on the wrist. ASU opened the door for the Wildcats and they didn’t hesitate to crash through it, notching four straight base hits for a combined 4 RBI. In the blink of an eye, a three-run lead turned into a one-run deficit and from then on, the Sun Devils let the game completely slip out of their grasp.

A record crowd of 7,084 fans at Phoenix Municipal Stadium wasn’t enough to offset No. 24 Arizona State (20-9, 7-2 Big 12) failing to perform in the clutch on the mound and in the batter’s box to lose 8-5 in the first game of the Territorial Cup series against Arizona (20-8, 6-3 Big 12).

“It was just one of those nights they scored more runs than we did, and unfortunately, against them you don’t like to hear that,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “I certainly don’t like to hear that and swallow it, but it is what it is. We have to turn the page and come out ready to play tomorrow.”

The peaks and valleys of Jacobs’ performance on Friday is emblematic of how he’s performed throughout the season. He struck out senior second baseman Garen Caulfield on three pitches to start the game only to give up a solo home run into shallow left field from Walton the next at-bat.

From innings two through four, the lefty was putting together arguably his best start of the year. He went 1-2-3 in the second then stranded two base runners in both the third and fourth by collecting five combined strikeouts.

Jacobs’ four-run lapse in the top of the fifth inning can be largely attributed to what was and what wasn’t working in his arsenal. His fastball throughout a majority of his five innings pitched was unhittable, getting up to 94 MPH during one of his strikeouts. However, the breaking balls he tossed to try to get out of the fifth inning jam hung right over the plate to allow four straight instances of hard-hit contact at the worst possible moment.

“I think if we got through that inning with Ben, I probably would have tried to stretch him one more and get him through six,” Bloomquist said. “If there was any trouble in the sixth, I probably would have went a different route in the pen there, but I was really confident that if we got through the fifth with (Ben) we had a pretty good shot at that one.”

Even the Sun Devils’ bread-and-butter in middle relief pitching couldn’t avoid the complete shift in momentum. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Wyatt Halvorson took over on the mound at the start of the sixth inning and exited the frame unscathed by stranding a runner on third.

When sent back out for the seventh, the Scottsdale native, who had only given three earned runs in 12.1 innings pitched, hurled an off-speed pitch that junior designated hitter Maddox Mihalakis crushed for a two-run home run that flew over the ASU bullpen, pushing the score to 7-5. To add insult to injury, Halvorson let one more run across that inning on an RBI triple from freshman right fielder Gunner Geile.

“He has been throwing the ball pretty well,” Bloomquist said. “He just left a breaking ball up and (Mihalakis) hit the snot out of it. Hit it a long way, he didn’t miss it so it wasn’t a cheap one. But you know, it happens from time to time.”

After going down 1-0, the Sun Devil bats seemed to be up for the challenge right out of the gate when junior third baseman Nu’u Contrades hit an RBI double down the right field line to tie it in the bottom of the first.

Freshman right fielder Landon Hairston put ASU in front two innings later by knocking a bloop single into center field after Kyle Walker had already taken off from second base for a perfectly executed hit-and-run. Hairston continues to impress from the two-hole as the season goes on, collecting seven hits and seven RBIs in the last four games played.

“I’ve said it several times, (Landon’s) a good hitter who knows what he’s doing up there in the batter’s box,” Bloomquist said.

The Sun Devils added some insurance during the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI single through the left side from junior center fielder Isaiah Jackson and a flawless bunt from junior designated hitter Kien Vu that tacked on one more.

Even after going down one following the Wildcats’ four-run surge, ASU proved it wouldn’t go down without a fight when senior first baseman Jacob Tobias made sure Contrades’ two-out double that just barely stayed in the ballpark didn’t go to waste by doubling him in.

What ended up being the difference maker was how both teams responded to relief pitching. Arizona State’s middle relief arm gave up three runs in one frame while Arizona’s two relievers were near perfect. The Sun Devil bats had several prime chances against junior righties Casey Hintz and Garrett Hicks, most notably drawing two walks with no out to start the bottom of the seventh.

In the end, ASU only managed two hits from the sixth inning to the final out of the ninth while also striking out six times. That sort of inability to generate offense down the stretch when needed simply won’t cut it against a team of Arizona’s caliber, especially when a series that could end up defining the 2025 season is on the line.

“Obviously a lot of frustration and disappointment, but at the end of the night, we have to leave here and try to flush it because we got two more, so I just have to focus now on tomorrow and then go from there,” Tobias said.