ASU’s offense stalls as defensive mistakes end Big 12 Tournament hopes

Three hits were all Arizona State could manage Thursday night. Three. And somehow, for six tense innings inside Surprise Stadium, it still felt like enough.

What was labeled a neutral-site Big 12 Tournament semifinal quickly turned into a sea of maroon and gold, with ASU fans shaking the ballpark and feeding the belief that one swing could still rescue the season.

For much of the night, it looked possible.

Behind another gritty outing from junior left-hander Cole Carlon and an early two-run homer from graduate outfielder Dean Toigo, ASU carried a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning. Then the night cracked open. Monitoring Carlon’s pitch count after last week’s injury scare, head coach Willie Bloomquist turned to the bullpen with one out in the sixth and Carlon at 79 pitches.

Everything changed instantly.

Sophomore right-hander Finn Edwards entered and surrendered three straight hits, then a throwing error from junior infielder PJ Moutzouridis brought home two more runs. In only a few chaotic moments, ASU’s lead vanished and West Virginia seized complete control.

The Mountaineers never let go. West Virginia scored five runs from the sixth through the eighth innings while the conference’s top ERA staff smothered an ASU offense that never recovered after Toigo’s homer. By the final out, the noise that carried ASU through most of the night had gone silent. West Virginia closed out a 7-3 victory in the win-or-go-home semifinal, ending ASU’s Big 12 Tournament run and crushing a crowd that spent hours believing three hits might somehow be enough.

West Virginia did not arrive in Surprise with the nation’s 10th-best ERA by accident. The Mountaineers came armed with wave after wave of pitching, and Friday night, ASU ran headfirst into all of it.

One night after scoring 10 runs against Cincinnati, the Sun Devils, who entered the night fifth nationally with a .323 batting average, spent nearly every inning searching for offense that never came. West Virginia slammed the door with six different pitchers, holding ASU to just three hits in a victory that ended the Sun Devils’ Big 12 Tournament run.

Sophomore right-hander Chansen Cole set the tone immediately. The sidewinding starter entered the night third in the Big 12 in ERA and looked every bit the part, allowing just two hits across five innings while striking out six without issuing a walk. He lived at the bottom of the zone, forcing weak contact and keeping ASU’s explosive lineup completely out of rhythm.

“He’s got a lot of really good east-west sink and movement on his ball, left and right, and the plan was to get him up, get him elevated,” Bloomquist said. “The first time through, we just fell right into what he was trying to do, a lot of soft, weak ground balls…This kid has really good movement on his ball, so we adjusted well, but just didn’t find a lot of holes.”

The only real damage came early. Junior infielder Nu’u Contrades ripped a triple into the gap in the fourth inning, and moments later graduate outfielder Dean Toigo crushed a 457-foot homer to right field that briefly gave ASU life. 

With All-Big 12 junior left-hander Cole Carlon on the mound, that slim lead carried weight. 

ASU held a 3-1 advantage into the sixth inning despite Carlon pitching under restrictions after last week’s “dead arm” scare against Houston. It was unclear earlier in the day whether the southpaw would even start, but Bloomquist gave him the ball with an obvious pitch limit in mind as the NCAA Tournament loomed.

“I felt good up there physically,” Carlon said. “Mentally, I felt like I was in some of the best headspace I was in all year. I felt really good executing my pitches, and I felt like that was probably the best I felt with my command overall.” 

Carlon battled through 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run while striking out six and escaping traffic whenever West Virginia threatened. But at 79 pitches, one shy of the limit Bloomquist later referenced, the bullpen door opened.

The game changed immediately.

Sophomore right-hander Finn Edwards entered and allowed three straight hits, then a throwing error from junior infielder PJ Moutzouridis brought home two more runs. Minutes after protecting a lead, ASU suddenly trailed.

“Cole gave us an opportunity to win, threw the ball great after we kind of wanted to keep his pitch count around 80 going in today,” Bloomquist said. “He got to 79, so that was right about where we wanted to get him to. I know we could have pushed him, but I think that would have been dangerous for what he was coming off of last week.

“After that, we gave them too many outs that were, quite honestly, unacceptable, really. We’ve got to make plays behind our staff a little bit better than we did.”

Junior left-hander Sean Fitzpatrick stopped the bleeding with two huge strikeouts to strand runners in scoring position, but the momentum had already flipped.

The box score will never fully show the pressure ASU still created late. In the sixth inning, Contrades walked, stole second and helped ignite the crowd into a frenzy that rattled West Virginia pitchers. 

“I’m glad we got the opportunity to play in front of them here in the Big 12 Tournament,” Bloomquist said. “This was a far better atmosphere than a few years ago when we had it in Scottsdale. It felt like the crowd was on top of us a little more, but it was a much better, much more intense environment. And I appreciate everybody coming out.”

A wild 3-2 pitch during a walk to junior infielder Dominic Smaldino allowed Contrades to race home and score their third run, while another walk loaded the bases before graduate outfielder Matt Polk struck out swinging.

An inning later, ASU threatened again. Sophomore outfielder Landon Hairston drew a leadoff walk, Contrades reached on a fielder’s choice and Toigo lifted a routine fly ball that senior center fielder Paul Schoenfeld dropped, suddenly putting the tying run in scoring position. But another Mountaineer pitching change ended the threat, with Smaldino flying out and Austin Roellig frozen on a called strike three.

That was the last opening West Virginia allowed.

The Mountaineers answered with three insurance runs in the eighth, capitalizing on a walk, two singles and ASU’s third error of the afternoon to finally break the game open. By the final out, the crowd that spent most of the night trying to will the Sun Devils forward had gone quiet, while West Virginia walked off the field one win closer to a Big 12 title.

Now, ASU turns its attention to Selection Monday, when the Sun Devils will learn their regional destination and path into the NCAA Tournament.

“We wanted to make a run in the conference tournament here and be playing tomorrow, but that obviously comes to an end tonight, which is disappointing,” Bloomquist said. “But we’re excited with the momentum we have. We’re anxious to find out where we’re going and tee it up. I think we have the pieces that can do this thing. We just have to execute and click at the right time.”