Sun Devils blow another late lead, lose series to Minnesota

The 2025 version of Sun Devil baseball has turned out to be exactly the same as the 2024 version. That's a problem for head coach Willie Bloomquist, who has yet to reach Omaha going into his fourth season in Tempe.

Arizona State took to the field Saturday night hoping to bounce back from a really tough loss on Friday night, where their bullpen coughed up a late lead in the same way they lost so many games last season.

Early on, things looked promising. In the second inning, the bats came alive for the Sun Devils, starting with Jacob Tobias. The first baseman hit a solo home run to draw first blood, putting Arizona State up 1-0. Then, after Isaiah Jackson got on base, Matt King drove him in with a double by way of an error. King came home soon after when Jax Ryan knocked a double as well, making it 3-0.

Jackson added more cushion to the lead in the fourth with a solo homer, upping the Sun Devils' lead to 4-0.

That was because Jack Martinez, who started the game for Arizona State, was dealing right from the first frame. Martinez threw five scoreless innings, and he only gave up a run in the sixth when Drew Berkland blasted a solo home run. Martinez finished the night with a whopping 11 strikeouts through 5.2 innings pitched with just one earned run and four hits.

Unfortunately, Martinez was let down by his bullpen.

Cole Carlon, who had relieved Martinez in the sixth, continued pitching into the eighth inning. He had put together 1.1 scoreless innings pitched, but lost control real quick. The lead-off batter singled and then later stole second before advancing to third on a wild pitch. After a Carlon strikeout, he walked Berkland.

At that point, Bloomquist subbed Carlon for Eli Buxton. Almost immediately, Berkland stole second, putting two runners in scoring position. Buxton then walked a third batter, loading the bases with one out. Up next was Jake Perry, who blasted the 1-0 pitch way past the fence in right field for a grand slam.

Just like that, the Sun Devils went from a 4-1 lead to trailing 5-4.

Buxton struck out the next two batters, but the damage was done, just as it had been the night before. The Sun Devils were unable to get anything going in the bottom of the eighth, which brought in former closer Will Koger to pitch in the ninth. After getting two quick outs, Koger gave up a single followed by a double that drove in a run, adding some cushion for the Golden Gophers.

Going to the bottom of the ninth trailing by two, Arizona State remained static. Landon Hairston struck out and Jackson flew out. King managed to pop a double to left field, offering a faint glimmer of hope, but Manny Garza flew out to right field in short order, ending the game.

The loss drops Arizona State to 7-3 and represents their first back-to-back losses of the year. It's also their first series loss of the year. Minnesota, meanwhile, improves to 4-4 after starting this series with a losing record.

The Sun Devils will have a chance to get a win for pride's sake - and, more importantly, avoid the sweep - tomorrow afternoon. However, these two losses in a row both coming by way of an unreliable bullpen is certainly not good for the team confidence.