Arizona State loses to Purdue 8-6, gets walked off for second time in 24 hours

Arizona State is in danger of completely falling apart.

Following their second consecutive Big 12 series loss, this one decided by a late-game bullpen collapse in Sunday's rubber match against Cincinnati, the Sun Devils drew a very winnable Monday game against the slumping Boilermakers.

Yet for the second time in under 24 hours, Arizona State watched their opponent earn a walk-off win as their bullpen was unable to safeguard a late lead.

Easton Barrett got the start, as has been the routine for these mid-week games, and he put up arguably his best game of the year. Over the first four innings, Barrett was nails, pitching a shutout with just three hits and six strikeouts. He even navigated a second inning jam, pitching into a double play to end the inning and keep Purdue scoreless.

After some struggles early, the offense woke up to give Barrett support. With two outs in the fourth, Isaiah Jackson got hit by a pitch to extend the frame. Kyle Walker got hit on the next at-bat, and a failed pickoff advanced both runners to scoring position.

Landon Hairston then stepped up to the plate and promptly continued his hot streak, launching the ball to center field for a leggy double that brought both Jackson and Walker home. After a pitching change, Matt King doubled to bring Hairston home, putting the Sun Devils up 3-0 after four.

The Sun Devils added another run in the top of the fifth when Brandon Compton hit an RBI double, upping the lead to 4-0. Barrett began to falter after that, though, being pulled for Jonah Giblin after an out and a walk to start the bottom of the fifth.

Giblin got a quick out before giving up a two-run homer, cutting the lead to 4-2 with one run being charged to both Barrett and Giblin.

That inning proved to be a wake-up call for the Boilermakers, though. Giblin loaded the bases in the sixth by way of a single, a walk, and a hit by pitch. Willie Bloomquist then pulled him, sending in Sean Fitzpatrick, but the very next at-bat turned into a two-run RBI double, tying the game up at 4-4.

Each team traded a run in the seventh, but Arizona State took the lead back in the eighth thanks to a foul out from King that brought Walker home. Derek Schaefer pitched a scoreless eighth inning, but Arizona State couldn't get anything going in the top of the ninth to add some cushion.

Bloomquist sent Wyatt Halvorson out to the mound in the bottom of the ninth to close things out with a 6-5 lead. And that's where things fell apart.

Purdue's lead-off batter got a single, and a bunt on the next at-bat moved him up to second base. That was followed by an RBI double, tying the game up with just one out. Three pitches later, Halvorson's ball was cracked over towards right center field for a two-run walk-off homer.

The Sun Devils have now lost five of their last eight games, dropping two conference series and now falling to a much lesser opponent. Almost all of those losses have featured a blown lead in the final three frames, reigniting a common issue of the Bloomquist era: a horrendously unreliable bullpen.

Arizona State's schedule gets lighter from here, with an upcoming series against Texas Tech next, but it's fair to wonder what the team's morale will be after consecutive walk-off losses. It can't feel good in the clubhouse right now, that's for sure.