With runners on second and third and two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning Friday night, Arizona Wildcats freshman Jacob Blas hit a grounder into the shortstop hole.
Blas did everything he could to beat Alika Williams’ throw to first, including diving head-first into the bag. But the throw beat Blas. He slammed his helmet into the dirt and chucked his batting glove into the grass.
It was that kind of night for Arizona — one that began with hope and ended with frustration.
The UA lost to rival Arizona State 10-5 in front of a season-high crowd of 6,738 at Hi Corbett Field. The Territorial Cup series is squared at 1-1 entering Saturday’s series and home season finale.
The loss snapped the Wildcats’ five-game winning streak against ASU and dropped their record to 31-21, 11-15 in the Pac-12. They might need to win out to make a third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
With an RPI of 42 entering Friday, some believe Arizona can make the tournament with a 14-16 conference record. But that’s a chance the Wildcats would rather not take. And even that would require a 3-1 finish after Friday’s loss. The UA finishes the season with a three-game series at Oregon.
Arizona rallied twice to win the opener 6-4 Thursday night. The bullpen blanked ASU (22-29, 12-14) over the final 2ª innings. Starter Michael Flynn couldn’t keep the momentum going.
The right-hander allowed eight runs in 5º innings, including five in the first two frames. The Wildcats tied it up twice but eventually ran out of rallies.
“It was the exact opposite of last night,” UA coach Jay Johnson said. “We really struggled from the mound. Free bases hurt us tremendously. On offense, we didn’t execute when we had second and third with one out in a tie game. That was a big spot.”
Johnson was referring to the fifth inning that ended with Blas’ groundout. The previous batter, Seve Romo, struck out.
ASU scored four runs and took a 5-1 lead in the second, and Flynn had only himself to blame. He began the inning with a walk, hit a batter (on a 1-2 pitch) and followed with another walk. He was up 0-2 on the third hitter, Gage Workman, before throwing four straight balls.
Hunter Bishop then cleared the bases with a double that one-hopped the wall in left-center. Bishop advanced on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sac fly.
“It’s just tough. Very uncharacteristic for him,” Johnson said, alluding to Flynn. “They had less hits than runs. That’s free bases.”
It was a disappointing start to what might have been Flynn’s final appearance at Hi Corbett. Speaking on behalf of the staff earlier in the week, the junior said he and his fellow pitchers planned to “do the opposite” of what they did at Cal last weekend, when they surrendered 37 runs.
“Get ahead in counts,” Flynn said. “Don’t give guys free bases. Don’t allow them to hit the mistakes – in other words, make better pitches.”
The Wildcats – their bullpen especially – did that in the series opener Thursday night. To Flynn’s credit, he pitched three scoreless innings after the second. Through five, he had allowed only two hits.
ASU star center fielder Gage Canning had one of them – a solo home run in the first – and he led off the sixth with a triple into the right-field corner. Canning scored on Carter Aldrete’s single through a drawn-in infield, putting the Sun Devils back on top 6-5.
Bishop then struck again, driving in two more runs with a hard single off reliever Avery Weems. That made it 8-5. All eight runs were charged to Flynn.
The Wildcats would need another rally like the one they pieced together in the bottom of the third. The four-run inning began with Alfonso Rivas III’s double, his second of the night. It crested with Blas’ two-RBI bloop single to left-center. In between, Nick Quintana and Matt Fraizer drove in runs with line-drive base hits. Just like that, ASU’s 5-1 lead became a 5-5 tie.
Arizona never threatened after ASU regained the lead. The Wildcats managed only two base runners over the final four innings – a two-out walk by Fraizer in the seventh and a one-out double by Cameron Cannon in the ninth. Both were left on base.
ASU made it 10-5 on Spencer Torkelson’s two-run homer in the ninth, his second in as many nights. The freshman leads the Pac-12 with 24 home runs.
Johnson spoke only briefly to his players after the game. He didn’t have to tell them how to approach Game 3. They know.
“We’re going for it,” Johnson said. “We need a win tomorrow. You do everything you can do – rip your heart out and throw it on the field, compete on every pitch. That’s what these guys do. I don’t expect anything any different.”
Inside pitch
- Rivas’ second double gave him 13 for the season, tying his career high set last year. The junior first baseman went 0 for 4 Thursday but hasn’t had consecutive games without a hit all season.
- Arizona did not announce a starter for Saturday’s Game 3, but it probably will be senior right-hander Juan Aguilera (6-1, 2.96). He would face senior lefty Eli Lingos (7-5, 3.61).
- Aguilera will be among 10 seniors honored before the home finale Saturday. The others: center fielder Cal Stevenson, catcher/outfielder Ryan Haug, infielder Seve Romo, outfielder Mitchell Morimoto and pitchers Zach Stone, Tylor Megill, Robby Medel, Jason Seever and Ryan Gowens. The ceremony will begin at 4 p.m.
