On the heels of its first series win in Big 12 play, Arizona State (14-7, 2-1 Big 12) returned home on Tuesday night to dance with a familiar foe from its old resting place in the Pac-12: the USC Trojans (12-8, 2-4 Big 10).
The reunion quickly turned sour for Sparky, as the Trojans silenced the Sun Devil bats en route to a 6-3 win over ASU.
Following a two-game stretch in which its lineup scored a combined 38 runs against TCU, Arizona State carried a freight train of offensive momentum into its midweek matchup against USC.
However, its scoring flurry came to a screeching halt against the Trojans, who held the Maroon and Gold to just three runs–tied for the fewest runs ASU has scored at home this season (March 8 Gonzaga).
The Devils tallied the majority of their runs in the second, as junior center fielder Isaiah Jackson found the gap in the left-center field to get the home team on the board with an RBI double. He later came in to score by way of an RBI single off the bat of freshman right fielder Landon Hairston.
Across the next seven innings, ASU mustered only one more run in a quiet day at the dish. The top half of the Sun Devils’ lineup combined to go 3-for-16 and left seven runners stranded on base.
“We’re getting guys on base, and the big boys [are] coming up and we’re just not cashing in when we have to,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “That’s discouraging [that] we’re not coming up with that big hit when we need to as frequently as we’d like.”
The subpar offensive performance sprouted as a byproduct of an overall lack of energy displayed by the Sun Devils. It left Bloomquist, who has deep-rooted ties to the rivalry between the two powerhouses in the former Pac-12, disappointed in his team for falling flat in a matchup that, in his eyes, should have incited an inspired outing.
“These guys know what playing USC is supposed to mean,” Bloomquist said. “I was expecting to see a little better … Nobody wants to beat USC as bad as I do. I don’t think. I was hoping to see a little more of that passion tonight, so I let them know I was a little disappointed.”
On the other side, the visitors distributed their scoring evenly throughout the night.
USC sophomore first baseman Dean Carpentier broke the ice in the second, with an RBI triple off the left field wall to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead.
After knotting the score at two a piece in the bottom of the third, the Trojans relied on the long ball to build its lead. Sophomore center fielder Brayden Dowd crushed a 2-run blast that soared high into the night sky and landed far beyond the right field fence. His loud home run gave USC a 4-2 lead in the top half of the fifth.
He proved to be a pest in the leadoff spot of the Trojans’ lineup, as he went 2-for-3 at the plate and walked once in a 2-RBI day.
Carpentier continued with the theme of 2-run homers by hammering a missile to straightaway center field to cushion the Trojans’ lead at 6-2.
The six runs proved to be enough for USC. Even though the Devils threatened with runners on first and third in the ninth, Trojan right-handed pitcher Brodie Purcell shut the door on ASU to secure a 6-3 road victory for USC.
The loss brought Arizona State’s record to 3-2 in midweek games (Tuesday and Wednesday) in 2025. Although not an area of great concern yet, the squad’s troubling history with midweeks in the past–7-6 in midweek games in 2024–raises some slight concerns early in the season. Still, the Sun Devils will look to turn the page and refocus heading back into Big 12 play.
“This game is a game of failure and you just have to keep your head up,” junior second baseman Kyle Walker said. “It’s a new day every day. That’s the cool thing about baseball.”
Looking ahead to this weekend, the Sun Devils will host the Kansas Jayhawks at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in their second Big 12 series of the season. First pitch for the series opener on Friday is scheduled for 6:30 PST.
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