ASU collapses in ninth as Oklahoma State steals opener, 9-6

A collapse that felt impossible became inevitable in a matter of minutes.

No. 16 Arizona State entered the ninth inning leading 6-3 over Oklahoma State and still sat one out away from victory after the Cowboys cut the deficit to one. Then everything detonated.

With two outs and a runner on first, head coach Willie Bloomquist elected to pitch around junior outfielder Kollin Ritchie, avoiding one of the Big 12’s most dangerous bats. Oklahoma State answered immediately.

Senior infielder Aidan Meola ripped a game-tying double down the left-field line. Two pitches later, junior catcher Campbell Smithwick crushed a 417-foot, three-run homer to dead center, stunning Phoenix Municipal Stadium and flipping the game upside down.

What began as a pitcher’s duel ended in disaster for ASU. Friday’s opener featured two of the nation’s top strikeout arms in junior left-hander Cole Carlon and sophomore left-hander Ethan Lund, ranked No. 3 and No. 6 nationally entering the weekend.

For most of the night, both delivered. They combined for 17 strikeouts, overpowering hitters from the first inning. Fastballs blew past barrels. Sliders buried in the dirt. Swings came so late they looked disconnected from the pitch itself.

ASU appeared in control early after two dropped fly balls by Oklahoma State gifted the Sun Devils three runs in the first inning. Another Cowboys miscue later opened the door for graduate outfielder Matt Polk to drive home an insurance run with an RBI single. It still was not enough. Oklahoma State erupted for six runs in the ninth inning, stunning ASU with a 9-6 comeback victory to steal game one of the series.

“That was a game that, again, up until that ninth inning, there was a lot of great things, a lot of good competition on both sides,” Bloomquist said. “Kind of a shame that we end up losing it the way we did. But you know, we can’t give good teams six outs in the ninth inning and expect to win.”

Lost in the collapse was another dominant outing from Carlon, who continued to cement himself as one of the nation’s elite arms. The 6-foot-5 left-hander delivered the longest outing of his career, working seven innings on 115 pitches with 11 strikeouts and three earned runs.

Since emerging last season as a multi-inning bullpen weapon, Carlon has done little but overwhelm hitters. The glasses, the calm between pitches, and the sudden burst of fire on the mound have become part of one of college baseball’s most electric profiles.

Entering Friday, he had 190 strikeouts across 117 career innings at ASU, a staggering 14.62 per nine innings over the last two seasons. Starter, reliever, or closer, the results never change.

For seven innings Friday, neither did Oklahoma State’s ability to survive him. He worked the longest outing of his career by both innings and pitches, though it began in turmoil.

Two walks and an RBI single from Ritchie opened the game as Carlon struggled to find the strike zone. In the second, sophomore infielder Garrett Shull jumped a 3-1 pitch for a solo home run after Carlon fell behind in the count. Even in the third, a walk and hit by pitch to open the inning turned into a run after an RBI groundout.

“I knew I had to be more efficient. I wasn’t very efficient in the first two innings,” Carlon said. “And I just also had to get back to just doing what I do best, that’s throwing the ball over the plate, and just throwing strikes.”

But what defined the night was how Carlon answered. In the first, he struck out three straight to escape the jam. In the second, two strikeouts ended the inning after the homer. In the third, he punched out his sixth to strand a runner in scoring position.

From there, the rhythm flipped entirely. Less traffic, fewer wasted pitches, sharper execution, and better life on his stuff. From the fourth through the sixth, Carlon allowed just one hit while striking out three more, heading into the seventh at 99 pitches.

A leadoff strikeout opened the inning, then Bloomquist came to the mound to check on his ace. Carlon didn’t move. He stayed in, finished it himself, and struck out his 11th on pitch 115, roaring off the mound after another escape act completed.

“We got up over that 100 pitch mark, and it’s like, man, the ball is coming out better now than it was in the first two or three innings,” Bloomquist said. “And I went out just to make sure he was still feeling good, and I got the response I kind of wanted, I guess, and let him keep going. And he stepped up in a big way.”

To back him, ASU rode a night defined by chaos, breaks, and timing as much as execution. In the first inning alone, Oklahoma State lost back-to-back balls in the sun. A pop-up from Austen Roellig dropped at first base, moving runners to second and third, then a fly ball in right off junior infielder Dominic Smaldino fell for a two-run misplay. Polk followed with an RBI single to cap a three-run frame.

It made Lund’s line misleading. Despite five hits allowed, two were dropped pop-ups, and all three earned runs came with two outs in the first after both miscues. He still worked five innings and struck out six Sun Devils.

The breaks continued into the eighth. With Lund long gone, ASU again benefited from the night sky and misjudged contact. After Toigo walked to lead off the frame, Smaldino skied another ball straight up. With no sun this time, it still dropped between four defenders in shallow center, putting two runners in scoring position.

Polk delivered again, lining a two-run single to right. Sophomore catcher Brody Briggs followed with an RBI knock into right-center, pushing ASU ahead 6-3. The Sun Devils finished 6-for-8 with runners in scoring position and 8-for-16 with two outs.

It felt like the kind of resilient, grinding home win that had defined ASU’s season.

Then came the ninth.

A leadoff double started the rally, followed by consecutive defensive miscues. A short chopper to Roellig turned into chaos as a throw home hit the runner in the back, keeping everyone safe. 

On the next play, a grounder to short saw junior infielder PJ Moutzouridis try for third, only for Roellig to drop the throw.

That was all Oklahoma State needed. A tying RBI double from Meola followed, then Smithwick delivered the dagger, a three-run homer that flipped a 6-3 lead into a 9-6 loss.

“We’ve been down before and had people doubting us plenty this year, and they’ve bounced back,” Bloomquist said. “I love this team. I love the character and the makeup of those guys in there. And again, we’re not going to be perfect out there. And this one stings, because we had it, had it for us to win, but these guys have been resilient all year, and I anticipate them coming back tomorrow.”