wNu’u Contrades hit two home runs in the Sun Devils’ marathon loss to Ole Miss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
(Lincoln, NE) No. 22 Sun Devil Baseball took part in an instant classic to open the 2026 NCAA Lincoln Regional, but unfortunately came out on the wrong end of its 14-inning thriller against No. 18 Ole Miss, 7-6, on Friday night.
In a game that didn’t conclude until well after 1 a.m. local time in Lincoln, Neb., the Sun Devils – the region’s No. 3 seed – made pitch after pitch for nine scoreless innings down the stretch of regulation and into extra innings but couldn’t find any runs of their own after the seventh as the Rebels eventually walked it off in the bottom of the 14th.
Nu’u Contrades was electric in his first career postseason appearance after missing last season’s with a hand injury, recording three hits, homering twice – including a game-tying two run shot in the seventh that would eventually send things to extras.
The Sun Devil pitching staff was the story of the game, however, as they strung together nine consecutive scoreless innings after Ole Miss took a 6-3 lead in the fourth inning behind the efforts of Cole Carlon, Taylor Penn, Sean Fitzpatrick, Derek Schaefer and Jaden Alba – the latter of which gave ASU a Herculean 4.0 scoreless innings of work in extra innings prior to Ole Miss’ walk-off.
The Sun Devils will now face South Dakota State in the elimination bracket. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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