Arizona State holds off late rally, beats TCU for first ever Big 12 series victory

The Sun Devils couldn't resist a little drama at the end, but they emerged victorious over the Horned Frogs on Sunday to win their first ever Big 12 series.

With Easton Barrett making his third start of the year, Arizona State was playing a winner-takes-all game after blowing TCU out of the water yesterday to even the series. Things got off to a strong start, with Barrett striking out four of the first six batters he saw.

Things slipped a bit for Barrett in the third inning, though. After walking the lead-off man, Barrett watched the baserunner steal second before advancing to third on a balk. The batter at the plate then fouled out, but brought the baserunner home for TCU's first run in the process.

That spelled the end of Barrett's day. He was replaced by Jonah Giblin, who got out of the third inning without too much trouble. Still, Arizona State was down 1-0 early.

As they've done frequently all year, the bats came alive in response to their pitching staff giving up a run. Nu'u Contrades got on base in the top of the fourth with a single and Jacob Tobias followed it up with a walk. Matt King hit a single to left field, bringing Contrades home and tying things up just like that.

Fast forward to the bottom of the fifth, and Giblin was gearing up for a third straight frame of shutout pitching. However, Cole Cramer popped a single up the middle to extend the inning. On the very next pitch, Noah Franco - who was also TCU's starting pitcher today - blasted a two-run home run. Giblin struck out the next batter, but Arizona State had fallen to a 3-1 deficit.

Guess what, though? The Sun Devil offense roared back to life in the top of the sixth.

Contrades started the inning off with a single, and Tobias was walked again. A single from King loaded the bases for Isaiah Jackson, who took his seventh pitch for a ball four and a walked in run. TCU made a pitching change, and the new pitcher almost immediately threw a wild pitch that brought in the tying run. He then finished out the at-bat with a walk of Josiah Cromwick, loading the bases again.

That led to another pitching change from TCU, hoping to stop the bleeding. Landon Hairston hit a sacrifice fly that brought King home for the go-ahead run, which was quickly punctuated by Brody Briggs hitting his first career home run and driving in two baserunners.

Suddenly, Arizona State was up 7-3.

Head coach Willie Bloomquist replaced Giblin with Cole Carlon, and the Horned Frogs tried to do their best impersonation of Arizona State by responding in kind to giving up the lead. Carlon walked two batters and then gave up a deep double that brought both men home, trimming the Sun Devil lead to 7-5.

Carlon found his groove after that, striking out two batters in the seventh and retiring the side on just 11 pitches total. Lucas Kelly came in for the eighth inning and also blanked TCU despite walking one batter.

Arizona State clung to a tight 7-5 lead heading into the top of the ninth, hoping to create some cushion. They got that, and then some.

Contrades started off the inning with a walk, and Tobias hit a single. A groundout from King advanced both into scoring position before the bases were loaded with an intentional walk of Jackson. After a quick strikeout, TCU threw another wild pitch that allowed Contrades to stride home for a run. Shortly after that, Hairston was walked to load the bases again.

Which brought up Briggs, fresh off his first dinger of the year with a chance to one-up himself. And he did exactly that, knocking the ball just barely inside of the right field foul pole for a grand slam.

Arizona State suddenly went into the bottom of the ninth with a huge lead, upping the score to 12-5. Derek Schaefer, no longer in a save situation, came in to pitch regardless. He got a quick out before giving up a double in the gap in right center field. The next batter hit it to the exact same spot, getting an RBI single out of it.

Things started to unravel from there for Schaefer. Another double put runners on second and third with just one out. Up next was Sawyer Strosnider, who blasted the ball to the same gap in right center field for a monstrous triple that brought in two more runs and, ultimately, ended Schaefer's day.

Lefty Sean Fitzpatrick came in and fared no better. He gave up a single and then another triple, giving up two more runs. This time, it was Bloomquist's turn to be quick with the hook, pulling Fitzpatrick for Wyatt Halvorson, who had just three innings pitched on the year coming into this game.

Thrown into the fire in a save situation, Halvorson got his first batter into a groundout that brought the lone base runner home, trimming the Sun Devils' lead to just one but also getting the second out with no one on base. His second pitch after that was grounded to Contrades, who promptly threw to first base for the game-winning out.

Bloomquist and pitching coach Jeremy Accardo will certainly have plenty to say in the clubhouse about that ninth inning, giving up six runs in one frame, but this win is a big one for Arizona State regardless. Not only does it give them their first series win within the Big 12, it came against a TCU program that was in the College World Series just two years ago.

The offense remained hot for the Sun Devils, and outside of the ninth inning collapse, the pitching was solid in all three games of this series. A weekend like this against an opponent like the Horned Frogs offers the kind of confidence boost that can catapult Bloomquist's team into the heart of their conference schedule.