Baseball struggles on offense and defense in Big 12 semifinal loss to #9 West Virginia
(Surprise, AZ) No. 21 Sun Devil Baseball struggled to get the bats going while a series of defensive blemishes would further undo matters in a 7-3 loss to No. 9 West Virginia in the semifinals of the 2026 Big 12 Baseball Tournament presented Allstate on Friday evening at Surprise Stadium.
Arizona State (37-19) posted a season-low three hits in the contest – two of which coming on back-to-back plays in the fourth inning – and had three errors to boot as West Virginia took control late.
Despite the many miscues, the Sun Devils held a 3-1 advantage into the sixth inning behind an exceptional start from Cole Carlon, who allowed just one run on five hits with six strikeouts over 5.1 innings.
Arizona State took the lead in the fourth following a leadoff triple from Nu’u Contrades and a majestic 457-foot home run from Dean Toigo to claim a 2-1 lead. Contrades added another with his legs alone in the top of the sixth with a walk, stolen base and then taking two bases on a wild pitch to the backstop that gave ASU a 3-1 lead.
That was about the extent of the Sun Devil offense as West Virginia (39-13) immediately took advantage of Carlon’s exit from the game, recording three consecutive base hits – two of which coming on bad reads from the outfield – followed by an infield error to plate three runs and a 4-3 lead that it extended to 7-3 in the eighth behind two ASU errors.
The Sun Devils will now await their postseason fate, which will be determined this Monday, May 25 with the NCAA Selection Show, scheduled for 9 a.m. AZT on ESPN2.
Inning by inning
First inning
The Sun Devils went down in order in the top of the first.
Cole Carlon took the mound for Arizona State and retired the side on two flyouts and a strikeout.
Second inning
ASU was sent down in 1-2-3 fashion for the second inning in a row.
A leadoff double for the Mountaineers came around to score on a two-out RBI-single, but Carlon was able to limit the damage to just one.
Third inning
A two-out hit by pitch for PJ Moutzouridis was the only baserunner in the inning, as a flyout ended the frame with ASU trailing, 1-0.
After retiring the first two batters in quick succession, West Virginia got a baserunner on a single that deflected off Carlon’s glove and allowed the runner to reach safely. However, Carlon struck out the next batter to keep it a one-run deficit.
Fourth inning
A leadoff triple for Nu’u Contrades gave the Sun Devils their first hit of the game, and Dean Toigo followed it up with a two-run home run to deep right to put Arizona State on top, 2-1. The next three batters were retired on a groundout, strikeout, and flyout.
West Virginia got a quick baserunner on a leadoff single, but Carlon was able to erase the runner on a 1-6-3 double play. Another single and a full-count walk followed, but Carlon kept it a 2-1 game with an inning-ending strikeout.
Fifth inning
Arizona State was unable to get anything going in the top of the fifth.
Carlon tossed a three-up, three-down bottom of the fifth.
Sixth inning
The Mountaineers brought in a new pitcher, and Contrades worked a one-out walk, then stole second to move into scoring position. Smaldino walked as well, and a wild pitch on ball 4 allowed Contrades to come all the way home and extend the Sun Devils lead to 3-1. A four pitch walk to Roellig forced West Virginia to make a pitching change, but Matt Polk was sent down on strikes to end the frame.
After retiring the first hitter on one pitch, Cole Carlon was relieved for Finn Edwards. Edwards gave up three consecutive singles, allowing West Virginia to score and make it a 3-2 game. A groundball to short turned into a two-run error, as Moutzouridis threw the ball in the dirt, and the Mountaineers took a 4-3 lead. Edwards was then replaced by Sean Fitzpatrick, who allowed a ground-rule double that put two runners into scoring position. However, Fitzpatrick struck out the next two batters to end the frame.
Seventh inning
Arizona State couldn’t get anything started in the seventh, going down in order.
Colin Linder was the next pitcher out of the bullpen for the Sun Devils, retiring the first batter on a flyout before walking the next. The runner was caught stealing, then Linder struck out the third batter to finish off the scoreless frame.
Eighth inning
Hairston walked to lead off the frame, but a fielder’s choice saw him thrown out at second. Dean Toigo reached on a fly ball to center that the center fielder dropped, then Smaldino flew out to the warning track in right to move Contrades to third. However, Roellig was called out on strikes to end the inning with the Sun Devils still trailing 4-3.
After a flyout to start off the inning, things got bad, as a walk gave West Virginia a baserunner, and a single plus a throwing error allowed a run to score. Linder got a strikeout before being relieved by Derek Schaefer. An RBI-single followed, then a stolen base and throwing error that allowed the third run of the inning to score. Schaefer got a flyout to end the frame with ASU trailing 7-3.
Ninth inning
A leadoff single from Polk and a pinch-hit walk from Ky McGary gave the Sun Devils two baserunners, but three straight flyouts to right followed to end Arizona State’s run in the Big 12 Tournament.
Photo – Sun Devil Athletics
Quotables
Head Coach Willie Bloomquist
Opening statement
“Cole gave us an opportunity to win, threw the ball great after we wanted to keep his pitch count around 80 going in today. Got to 79, so that was right about what we wanted to get him to. I know we could have pushed him, but I think that would have been dangerous for what he was coming off the last week, and that that’s the limit we were willing to go to with him, so he gave us all he had. I’m proud of him for that, and we had a chance to win the game at that point. After that, we gave them too many outs that were quite honestly unacceptable. We have to make plays behind our staff a little bit better than we did, and we gave them a few extra outs, a few extra bases, and ultimately runs that we couldn’t afford to give up offensively. We hit some balls hard, but we have to have a better approach than that. We were able to get to their starter there the second time through, but we weren’t able to string much together. (Dean) Toigo hit the homer after (Nu’u) Contrades’ triple, and that was pretty much all the offense we could really muster tonight, which wasn’t enough. So, in a lot of areas we could have done better, but this regular season is essentially over, and we got to look forward to where they send us for regionals.”
On the plan against West Virginia’s starting pitcher
“The first time through, we talked about about this guy, and he’s got a lot of really good east-west sink and movement on his ball left and right, and the plan was to get him up, get him elevated, and the first time through, we fell right into what he was trying to do. A lot of soft, weak ground balls, but the second time through, we made an adjustment, we were able to get him up. Landon (Hairston), in his second at bat, squared up a ball to center, and I think that was for the last out in the third inning. Fourth inning, Contrades leads off with a triple, Toigo hit a homer. We start getting them elevated and start squaring the ball up a lot better off him. So that’s the approach we got to have right out of the gates. In today’s world, you’re always seeing velocity and not a lot of movement. This kid has really good movement on his ball, so we adjusted well, but just didn’t find a lot of holes. And credit to them, they made some nice plays out there too, but we just couldn’t string much together offensively.”
On the offensive approach heading into the postseason
“I think when we stick with our offensive approach, staying out from underneath the zone and early weak contact, and that’s usually as a result of us chasing below the knees, and when we get pitches elevated, we seem to do a lot better. That’s just been a consistent throughout the whole year, and I get it. Hitting’s tough, but when you stick to a disciplined approach, good things usually happen, and when they do stick with that, and they’re able to stay on it, and really define that. They’ve had good success. So, to me, that’s the biggest thing.”
On the energy from the crowd
“They’re great. I’m glad we got the opportunity to play in front of them here in the Big 12 tournament, and this was a far better atmosphere than a few years ago when we had (the Pac-12 Tournament) at Scottsdale. I don’t know if the crowd was on top of us more, or whatever, but it felt like a much better, much more intense environment. And I appreciate everybody coming out.”
Photo – Sun Devil Athletics
Up next
The Sun Devils now await their postseason fate, which will be determined this Monday, May 25 with the NCAA Selection Show, scheduled for 9 a.m. AZT on ESPN2.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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