Arizona State drops true Big 12 opener to TCU 3-2 in duel of pitchers

The offense sprang early during Arizona State's opening game to Big 12 play on Friday night. It lost 3-2 against in-state rival Arizona on Tuesday but TCU is the first non-former Pac-12 foe it's scheduled against. Both teams found early runs before the pitching staffs took over.

In the second inning, the Horned Frogs jumped on top early with a two-run home run but sophomore outfielder Brandon Compton prevented any further damage with a wicked snag at the fence on a deep fly ball.

The Sun Devils managed to tie things in the third inning from big time efforts by Compton and infielder Kyle Walker.

ASU's starting pitcher, Ben Jacobs, was bombarded by the Horned Frogs offense which averaged 9.7 runs-per-game entering the contest but he wouldn't show any other cracks in his game until the fourth inning.

Stellar defense by the Sun Devils, including an impressive double-play to end the third, kept this a low-scoring affair but that's about all they could do.

Stranded runners cost ASU potential huge Big 12 victory against TCU

Despite a massive 5.2 innings started by Jacobs, in which he allowed three runs, seven hits, and threw five strikeouts, it was ASU's offensive inabilities that prevented it from walking away with a huge road win.

The team left four runners stranded on Friday, three of which were in scoring position in the latest frames of the game and could've provided the team with the tying and go-ahead runs.

Credit to TCU's pitching staff, however. It locked down things when it needed to and kept the Sun Devils at bay when they were threatening.

ASU (12-7) opened its first-ever Big 12 conference slate with a second consecutive loss and will be hoping to get things back on track as it still has one more tilt against the Horned Frogs on Saturday to try and walk away with the split.