In a mid-week showdown, ASU baseball took on No. 8 Arizona Tuesday evening in Tucson. The Sun Devils (12-15, 2-7 Pac-12) eventually fell to the Wildcats (21-7, 5-4 Pac-12) 11-2.
Since this was a mid-week game, it didn't count in the Pac-12 standings.
After a 5-4 win over UCLA on Saturday, it appeared the Sun Devils had turned the corner on their season. However, between ASU's series finale game against UCLA on Sunday and Tuesday's matchup with Arizona, the Sun Devils allowed 28 runs against them.
Going in to the fifth inning, the Sun Devils were within striking distance, down 5-1. But a six-run fifth inning from the Wildcats sealed the loss for ASU.
Junior pitcher Jake Godfrey started for ASU and allowed five earned runs, five hits and four walks in four innings pitched. Sophomore pitcher Zach Dixon then gave up a two-run home run from Wildcat junior infielder JJ Matijevic.
Junior pitcher Ryan Hingst followed the same tune and gave up a grand slam to Arizona's junior outfielder Cal Stevenson, putting Arizona up 11-1 in the fifth.
The Sun Devils wouldn't give up, as redshirt senior infielder Jackson Willeford recorded a home run against his former team. Unfortunately for ASU, it was not enough to beat rival Arizona.
The Sun Devils will stay on the road with a weekend series against Cal Berkeley beginning on Friday, April 7.
T8 | Welcome back, @jwilleford17
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) April 5, 2017
The redshirt senior homers against his former team.https://t.co/wCPHOIM6JR
Reach the reporter at mpharri7@asu.edu or follow @Harris_Mark7 on Twitter.
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