PHOENIX—Two out of three is rarely a bad thing, though having the loss come at the end of a series can make it feel that way.
Arizona fell 8-4 at ASU on Sunday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, winning the weekend series but coming up short in the quest to sweep the Sun Devils on their field. The loss snapped a 5-game win streak in the all-time series, which reached 500 games and has the UA in front 265-234-1.
“I don’t think about it as a series, I think about it as a game,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “We just didn’t play good baseball. After the fifth inning we fell apart on defense and we just struck out way too many times. So it’s disappointing for me.”
Arizona (22-9, 8-4 Big 12) scored four times in the top of the 4th, the big blow a towering 3-run home run by Andrew Cain. But after that it was all ASU (21-11, 8-4).
Left-handed reliever Cole Carlon came on with two out in the 4th and proceeded to retire all 13 batters he faced, striking out 10. The Wildcats fanned 17 times, and for the weekend had 45 strikeouts.
“It’s too much,” Hale said of the strikeouts. “They did a good job pitching, I give them credit. We just have to get better. I’ve said this a couple times, we’re a long way from where we need to be.”
UA starter Smith Bailey threw four scoreless innings, aided by three double plays to make it seven for the weekend and 10 in four games against ASU, but he allowed a 2-run homer in the 5th. Arizona went to the bullpen after that and it went downhill almost immediately.
Julian Tonghini walked two and allowed a hit before leaving with the bases loaded and one out. Garrett Hicks, who threw two scoreless on Friday to get the save, hit a batter with his first pitch to force in a run, then gave up the lead with a 2-run single.
ASU would make it 6-4 on a 2-out double that should have been caught by Cain—who was making his second start in left field—but he overran it.
The Sun Devils added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th, aided by a pair of infield errors. Arizona has committed 12 errors in the last six games.
“I think we have a lot more in the tank, especially defensively,” first baseman Tommy Splaine said. “Offensively, too, (with) the strikeouts, we could definitely change that around. It was a successful weekend taking two out of three. We were taking it just game by game, and obviously we wanted to take the win today. It could be important for us down the road and just a lot to learn from.”
Arizona’s next five games are at Hi Corbett Field, starting with a Tuesday nonconference matchup against New Mexico State—“it’s the biggest game of the year,” Hale said—before hosting Oklahoma State for a 3-game Big 12 series.
The UA is in a 5-way tie for second place in the conference with ASU, Kansas State, TCU and West Virginia, each a game behind Kansas.