Missed chances sink ASU in 11-inning loss to Arizona

For once, the moment was too big for ASU inside Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

A defining trait of the 2026 Sun Devils has been their refusal to blink when games tilt against them. They have lived in comeback territory, unfazed by early deficits or late pressure, especially at home, where a 19-5 mark has turned Muni into a backdrop for repeated late-game drama. Time and again, they have found answers in the final innings. They entered Tuesday night expecting one more.

Instead, they ran into a wall.

On a cold, windy night against in-state rival Arizona, ASU clawed back from a 3-1 deficit in the eighth to force extra innings, setting up what looked like another late escape under the lights.

Not this time.

The game unraveled late. At-bats tightened, swings expanded, and execution slipped. Mental and throwing errors crept in as Arizona, steadier throughout, held its ground while ASU’s offense stalled.

Junior infielder Nu’u Contrades carried the lineup, finishing with a double and a game-tying two-run home run. But support never fully arrived. Outside of him, ASU managed just five hits, went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and could not deliver in key moments. Arizona broke through in the 11th, pushing across the deciding runs to take a 5-3 midweek rivalry win.

It is a loss that sits heavily, not just for how it ended, but for what it reflects. ASU looked like a team surging just weeks ago, fresh off a 14-4 mercy-rule win over West Virginia and positioned as a legitimate regional host contender in Phoenix. Since then, the season has tilted. 

The Sun Devils are 6-6 in that stretch, with multiple losses to an Arizona team now sitting at 14 wins and two midweek defeats that have dulled recent momentum. The issues have not shifted. They have sharpened.

“Had our opportunities. Just didn’t get it done. Bottom line, no excuses,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “We had several opportunities to cash in runs. We just couldn’t. Couldn’t come up with a big hit again… Offensively, with the wind blowing the way it was, to only put up three runs was disappointing.”

The central problem resurfaced again: runners in scoring position. Against Arizona pitching, ASU never found a rhythm. The approach narrowed into over-swinging, as hitters chased power rather than contact, trying to force damage instead of building innings. The Sun Devils finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, 5-for-17 with runners on base, and 1-for-10 with two outs, each number reinforcing the same missed opportunity.

Through eight innings, ASU had only four hits and a single run. That was against a steady Arizona combination of senior left-hander Patrick Morris and junior right-hander Corey Kling, who together worked six innings and allowed just three hits and one earned run. Kling, in particular, controlled the middle stretch, retiring ASU in order through his three innings from the fourth to the sixth without allowing a hit.

Even the night’s usual sparks failed to ignite. Sophomore outfielder Landon Hairston, typically a stabilizing force, finished with just one hit in five at-bats, a softly hit ball that fell into right field. He had two chances to end it in the ninth and again in the 11th with runners aboard, but came up empty both times, striking out on a high fastball in the ninth and popping up on the first pitch he saw in the 11th.

“I think guys were potentially letting the emotions of the game get the best of them,” Bloomquist said. “We had a tremendous, tremendous crowd here tonight, over 6,000 people, and a big student section that we were grateful came out. We just put them to sleep, unfortunately, on the offensive side of the ball, which was disappointing.”

The lone consistent offensive pulse belonged to ASU co-captain Nu’u Contrades, who has been rotating between designated hitter and second base while managing a hamstring issue. The impact showed from the opening inning. He lined a double into the left-center gap in the first, putting runners at the corners with two outs, in a chance ASU could not cash in. 

On the turn into second, he was visibly laboring, a reminder of the limitation he is playing through, though he still finished as ASU’s most productive bat on the night.

Then came the eighth.

Down 3-1 in front of a record-breaking student section of 2,219, Phoenix Municipal Stadium finally found its volume after a long stretch of silence on the offensive side. The crowd had waited all night for a moment, and Contrades delivered one. He jumped on a 2-2 fastball and drove it into the right-center gap and over the fence for a game-tying home run, bringing home graduate outfielder Dean Toigo, who had reached on a hit by pitch.

It was the kind of swing that usually flips nights like this. It only delayed the end.

ASU’s pitching kept the door open long enough for that moment to matter. Freshman right-hander Austin Musso made just his second career start and worked four innings, allowing three hits. All three left the yard; however, Arizona’s only offense came via the long ball early. 

Still, in a demanding stretch with ASU playing its fourth game in as many days, Musso provided the innings ASU needed to stabilize the night.

From there, the bullpen settled into command. ASU arms combined to allow just four hits and no earned runs over the next six innings. Senior left-hander Sean Fitzpatrick struck out the side in the eighth immediately after Contrades’ homer, and junior right-hander Derek Schaefer matched it with a four-strikeout ninth that kept the game intact.

The staff did enough to win. The offense did not match it.

Eventually, the margin broke in the 11th. Junior right-hander Colin Linder, the seventh ASU pitcher of the night, entered and immediately ran into trouble, surrendering two leadoff doubles that pushed Arizona ahead. A throwing error on a pickoff attempt at third compounded the inning, with sophomore infielder Austin Roellig unable to corral the play cleanly, allowing another run to score. 

Arizona built a two-run lead and, this time, did not give it back, closing out the 5-3 win in the bottom half.

“Turn the page on today after this and get ready for BYU,” Bloomquist said. “We’re not looking past them. They have a very capable team that’s coming off a sweep in Houston…so that’ll be a challenge for our guys. We have to figure out ways to win, try to win games on the road.”