Sun Devils season ends at the hands of Ole Miss in extra-inning thriller

(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics/X)

LINCOLN – As the late-night Nebraska humidity lay upon Haymarket Park on Sunday night, it felt like a repeat of two nights prior. Especially for Arizona State, which found itself in extra innings for the second time against Ole Miss in the Lincoln Regional.

Junior pitcher Derek Schaefer walked onto the mound for the second time that day, hoping to give the Sun Devil offense one more chance. Instead, Schaefer allowed a walk, a wild pitch and a single to put runners on the corners.

Once again, it felt like Deja Vu for ASU.

Similar to Friday night, the Sun Devils put out a five-infielder look. The resulting pitch was hit to left field, far enough to allow the Ole Miss runner at third base to come home.

The Sun Devils on the field sank to their knees. Their season was over.

The walk-off sacrifice fly left ASU (39-21,19-11 Big 12) in defeat to Ole Miss (39-21, 15-15 SEC), 5-4. It was the Sun Devils’ second extra-innings loss to the Rebels in three nights. Sunday’s regional final loss marked the second year in a row that head coach Willie Bloomquist’s side has gone out in the regional round.

“I can’t put into words really how proud I am of our guys,” Bloomquist said. “They left everything on the field. They played their best baseball on the biggest stage they played on all year. We’d always kind of wondered what it looked like if we clicked on all cylinders, and we did this weekend, and we played our guts out.”

The day started with a similar rollercoaster of emotions, but in the afternoon, the Sun Devils came out on top. While ASU’s 11-8 win over Nebraska helped it advance, it was left without a key piece in the regional final.

After a frustrating start to the regional, sophomore left-fielder Landon Hairston stood at the plate with a 3-2 count. When the pitch came in, it appeared to be above the strike zone. However, the umpire disagreed, ringing Hairston up on strikes.

Hairston responded by flipping his bat in the air, causing a conversation between the umpires, who eventually ejected the sophomore. The ejection also suspended Hairston for the night game, ultimately ending his record-breaking season without allowing him to play.

“If I know Landon the way I think I do,” Bloomquist said. “He was flipping the bat out of frustration with himself for taking that pitch. I would’ve liked to see a warning there.

Although Hairston’s 2-for-12 weekend lagged behind his high standards, his presence among ASU’s offense appeared to be sorely missed against the Rebels. The Sun Devils fell into an offensive struggle they dealt with all season long: hitting with runners in scoring position. The Sun Devils finished Sunday night 1-for-12 with RISP, putting a dagger into the hopes of forcing a game seven.

Despite struggling with Hairston’s absence on Sunday, ASU’s offensive attack displayed throughout the weekend an ability to pick up each other’s slack. Whether it was a Player of the Regional, a four-home run performance from redshirt junior second baseman Nu’u Contrades, or three home runs from senior right-fielder Dean Toigo.

“They left everything on the field,” Bloomquist said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more of any single one of our guys, you know, and I think when you look around after the game and see the emotions of our players, you know, this was special for them, and to me that makes me feel good as a head coach, that this matters that much to them as it does me.”

Even in the bullpen, which at times this season had raised questions with blown leads and late losses, the Sun Devils rallied to put in some of their best work. After a rough start for redshirt-junior Colin Linder, the Sun Devils utilized a trio of relievers in junior Alex Overbay, sophomore Eli Buxton and senior Sean Fitzpatrick to get through the nine innings.

While the regular-season bullpen struggles are something that Bloomquist likely will need to address moving forward, the group’s performance in Lincoln could be something to build upon.

“Each team leaves a little imprint on your soul,” Bloomquist said. “These guys probably a little deeper than any other team I’ve had. These guys just come together. Sometimes when you play the transfer portal dance, you never know what you’re going to get, really till these guys step on campus. We hit it right with the personality of these kids, man.”

The Sun Devils’ season was another step in a positive direction, as they improved on their conference form from last season. Toward the end of last year, ASU got cold. It was swept in the last regular season series and a first-round conference tournament exit.

This year, ASU lost two conference series and was not swept by a single team all season long.

Now, Bloomquist will have to look forward to continuing on a positive trajectory next season, with offseason priority number one likely being attempting to retain Hairston. The Sun Devils will return to the field sometime in the fall with a completely new lineup and will look to start a journey to return to the heights that the program once saw.

“I know the fans at Arizona State,” Bloomquist said. “Like me, like everybody wants, wants to get back to Omaha. So does everybody else, too. I think the way that our guys went about it this year, from an effort level, a style of play, and how we go about it has started to break through on where we want to get to, and again, the type of kids that we want to bring in.”