With one series remaining at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, No. 16 Arizona State baseball understands the importance of every game. So did its frenzy-filled fans entering the ninth inning, with their team leading 6-3 against Oklahoma State.
Despite logging seven saves this season, ASU junior right-handed pitcher Derek Schaefer and his teammates quelled the crowd’s excitement. Errors piled up, and the three-run lead evaporated with an RBI double from OSU senior third baseman Aidan Meola. A three-run homer by Cowboy catcher Campbell Smithwick with two outs sealed the Maroon and Gold’s fate.
Using its six-run surge, Oklahoma State (32-17, 15-10 Big 12) upended the Sun Devils (33-16, 16-9 Big 12) 9-6 on Friday night. Thus, spoiling Sparky’s home series finale opener.
“Up until that ninth inning, there were a lot of great things, a lot of great competition on both sides,” Bloomquist said. “(It’s) kind of a shame that we end up losing it the way we did. But we can’t give good teams six outs in the ninth inning and expect to win.”
ASU junior left-handed pitcher Cole Carlon allowed a run from Oklahoma State junior center fielder Kollin Ritchie in the first inning. But the Sun Devils responded with some help from the glaring sun above.
Blinded by the light, Oklahoma State’s outfielders failed to locate the ball on an RBI double from sophomore third baseman Austen Roellig that would have ended the frame. The Cowboys once again struggled to locate the ball in shallow right field. The ball also dropped in right field on junior first baseman Dominic Smaldino’s RBI triple. Graduate left fielder Matt Polk added his team’s third run, beating the first base tag on an infield single.
Putting the SUN in Sun Devils ☀️😎
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) May 9, 2026
OK State outfielders struggling with the sunset.
Devils capitalize. 2-0, ASU.
📺ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/izBqx5poVJ
“We took advantage of their miscues tonight,” Bloomquist said. “Do we anticipate those miscues tomorrow? Probably not. They’re too good a team for that. So, I would like a better offensive approach than we had tonight.”
While Carlon notched 11 strikeouts in total, he conceded runs consistently. Sophomore second baseman Garrett Shull started the second inning with a solo home run, and Ritchie scored on a fielder’s choice.
Nonetheless, both pitchers shined, and kept the game defensive through the middle part. In five innings, the Cowboys’ left-handed pitcher Ethan Lund struck out six and allowed only five hits, including two after an error-prone first. Meanwhile, Carlon only allowed four hits and four walks in a career-high seven innings and 115 pitches thrown.
“I ultimately got back to what I do best, and that’s throwing the ball over the plate and throwing strikes,” Carlon said. “I wanted to keep going. I didn’t want to come out of that game. So, I just wanted to be able to give us as much as I could.”
The 3-3 tie remained until the bottom of the eighth. After junior first baseman Dominic Smaldino hit a double on a failed pop-up ball, graduate left fielder Matt Polk stepped up to the plate. The Vanderbilt transfer roped his first pitch to right-center field for a two-run single. Sophomore catcher Brody Briggs added one more run with an RBI single.
“It’s major college baseball on a Friday night,” Polk said. “Runs are definitely at a premium. Both sides had good arms throwing. So, I mean, we scraped together six and obviously didn’t get the job done. We need to be better tomorrow.”
Smaldino led the hosts offensively, going 3-for-5 from the plate. Polk, Briggs and Roellig followed with two hits. Conversely, junior left fielder Alex Conover and Ritchie led the visitors with two hits apiece. Ritchie was also intentionally walked during his team’s ninth-inning comeback.
“(He’s) been very, very clutch for that team all year long,” Bloomquist said on his decision to walk the Big 12’s home run leader. “(So) you go into the meetings going ‘that guy’s not going to beat us. Someone else is going to have to beat us. … At the end of the day, I don’t regret it.”
ASU will look to even the series tomorrow at 6:05 p.m. MST, in hopes of not dropping its first series since facing then-No. 17 West Virginia. Bloomquist’s side will look to use the loss as a chance to build resiliency.
“You focus on a lot of the great competition up until then,” Bloomquist said. “We’ve got to turn the page and be able to go again tomorrow.”
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