No. 4 ASU baseball lost the ugly, gritty game it had been accustomed to winning all year, seeing a one-run ninth-inning lead turn into a 7-2 loss.
In the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead and reliable junior closer Ryan Burr on the mound, it looked as if the Sun Devils were going to capture their first three-game series sweep of the rival Wildcats since the 2008-09 season where they went to the College World Series. In that series, the average margin of victory for ASU was seven runs per game.
Burr called the disastrous ninth inning a "perfect storm," meaning everything that could go wrong did.
"I didn't make the pitches I needed to and obviously they're a good hitting team and they hammered my mistakes, so hats off to them," he said. "It's baseball, it's part of the game. I'm just mad at myself for not getting out of the inning after that (home run)."
However, he noted the positive and said ASU won't let the loss demoralize it—instead, the Sun Devils will learn from it.
"I think it's really going to come together after a loss like that," he said. "I'm excited for Friday night and I feel bad for the (Washington Huskies) because they got a bunch of (angry) kids coming toward them."
Instead, a furious six-run rally in the ninth doomed the Sun Devils—the sluggish offensive performance finally caught up with them.
Unfortunately, the stagnant offense came on a night where ASU starter Brett Lilek gave up just one run on three hits while striking out five batters in seven innings of work, but did not receive run support.
Arizona's Bobby Dalbec, who started on the mound but was moved to designated hitter, had two home runs on Monday, but his second was a two-run bomb that put the Wildcats ahead 3-2 and opened the floodgates.
Burr (6-1) entered the game undefeated with a 0.71 ERA, but gave up six earned runs, which should shake things up.
ASU head coach Tracy Smith called the collapse a fluke while firmly supporting Burr.
"Tonight it got him, but 100/100 times, there is no one I'd rather have in that situation there," he said. "It's just one of those things—it's baseball."
After Burr was pulled, relievers Jordan Aboites and David Graybill combined to finish the inning.
ASU struggled converting opportunities into runs at the plate all night, most notably when it had the bases loaded with an out in the fifth, but came up empty.
In total, the Sun Devils were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-3 with the bases loaded.
"That's baseball," Smith said. "We didn't do anything offensively all night. It's a tough loss, it's a bad loss, it's an ugly loss, but at the end of the day, it's a loss."
After a fairly stagnant ASU offensive performance for more than half the game, Joey Bielek's sacrifice fly finally tied it at one apiece.
In the seventh, the Sun Devils had runners on the corners before Arizona reliever Tyger Talley walked two straight, putting ASU ahead 2-1. However, the bases were still loaded and ASU failed to convert once again.
The loss means ASU will need to win at least one of two remaining games against Arizona in Tucson to capture a Territorial Cup point.
Smith said the team's confidence has not wavered after Monday's loss.
"There are no chinks in our armor," he said. "We're good, we know we're good and that was a fluke thing (tonight). This is a game that will be good to you then it'll kick you in a heartbeat."
ASU will go for its fifth series win in as many tries in Pac-12 play when it heads to Seattle for a weekend series against Washington.
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or follow @justintoscano3 on Twitter.
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