For fans of a high-scoring, home run-hitting baseball games, Thursday night’s game must have felt like a dream.

But for fans desiring a back-and-forth affair that wouldn’t be decided until the 8th inning, Arizona State University (32-18, 16-12 Pac-12)’s 8-5 loss to UCLA (33-18, 16-12 Pac-12), fulfilled that need.

In both cases it just lacked the outcome Sun Devil fans desired.

Whatever was missing at the start of Thursday’s game was fixed by Friday night. To start the game, Ethan Long and Hunter Jump combined for back-to-back singles, and Long scored on a throwing error by the left fielder after Jump’s hit.

Justin Fall pitched well but racked up a high number of pitches early. Through the first two innings, Fall threw 31 pitches (16 of them strikes). The Bruins wouldn’t muster a hit until the 3rd but scored in bunches when they did. In a four-batter span in that frame, Fall surrendered two consecutive doubles, followed by a walk and another double. To his credit, he rebounded by not allowing a hit or score for the remainder of his time on the mound.

When asked postgame if Fall would be the first option for a regional game start, Tracy Smith responded, "No question, he's throwing the best on our staff right now."

Brady Corrigan entered the game with two runners on base and two outs in the 6th inning but battled his way to an eight-pitch strikeout against Mikey Perez. It was Corrigan’s 77th appearance as a Sun Devil, placing the redshirt junior at 7th on ASU’s all-time appearances list.

Ethan Long broke his four-game hitless streak in the 1st with a single, a streak which dated back to the beginning of the Sun Devils’ series at USC. It wouldn’t prove to be a spark plug, though, as he struck out in each of his next three plate appearances. The freshman sensation hasn’t hit an extra-base hit nor a home run since the second game of the Oregon State series. He has also struck out nine times and walked thrice in that span.

Three of those strikeouts came in Friday’s loss.

UCLA’s Adrian Chaidez entered in the 5th and brought the ASU offense to a screeching halt. After scoring one run in each of the first four frames, Chaidez held the Sun Devils scoreless in three innings. The transfer from Cypress Community College allowed just one hit while striking out five without issuing a walk. His dominant performance was undoubtedly the bane of the Sun Devil offense.

Chaidez was awarded the win, advancing him to a 3-0 record this season. Graham Osman took the loss (2-3 this year) after allowing a five-run explosion in the 8th inning.

Osman entered for Corrigan in the 8th with a 4-3 lead. By the end of the inning, the one-run lead was squandered as seven UCLA batters combined for five runs, all earned. Jared Glenn took over duties on the mound with one out after Osman issued his second walk in four batters. Glenn was able to force a groundout, then struck out Matt McLain to cauterize the wound. The damage was already done, though, as UCLA took an 8-4 lead that it would not relinquish.

"Unfortunately he didn't have it tonight,” Smith said of Osman. “We have limited options, and we felt like he was our best option,” adding that Cam Dennie is not available to pitch.

The anticlimactic ending didn’t fit the closely fought nature of Friday night’s game. Joe Lampe gave fans a glimmer of hope in the 8th, scoring from third after hitting a triple. Fans began to cautiously move to the edge of their seats, and necks craned further forward after Jared Glenn pitched a hitless and scoreless frame in the top of the 9th.

In the home half of the 9th, Sean McLain, Jack Moss, and Hunter Haas went down in order to end the game. In case fans weren’t crushed enough, the final two batters struck out looking.

“Losing sucks. It’s disappointing.” Smith said before sharing an idiom: “The hay’s in the barn at this point. This team is what it is: it’s a scrappy group that going to grind on the bats and find a way to get it done on the mound.”

The Sun Devils have an opportunity to end the regular season on a win, Saturday at 1 pm MST. The game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.