In the top of the ninth, a two-out, two-run lead shot silenced Phoenix Municipal. One out away from their first Big 12 home series win and a statement win against a ranked opponent, all of it vanished with one pitch in devastating fashion.

A day loaded with so many positives, from the bullpen's success to the stand-alone bats that out produced the high-powered Kansas offense, all swept away by one pitch and one swing.

Nu'u Contrades had a chance to avenge the Sun Devils' 9th-inning loss in the bottom half. Freshman outfielder Landon Hairston led off the inning with a single, giving Contrades a chance to be a hero. Contrades went up to the plate and did just that, hitting an outside fastball to right field, clearing the fence and into the bullpen, this time sending Phoenix Municipal into a frenzy, securing the Sun Devils' victory.

The walk-off home run capped up ASU's back-and-forth struggle to win the game and the series. Using five extra-base hits, including two home runs, the Sun Devils (16-8, 4-2 Big 12) defeated No. 22 Kansas (18-6, 3-3), 7-6.

The lack of offense was a talking point in yesterday's loss, with ASU going scoreless past the first three innings. Today, the Sun Devils had an offensive response for everything thrown at them, with three distinct go-ahead extra-base hits dispersed throughout the game to stun Kansas and hand them their first series loss of the season.

The first one came in the fourth inning when junior outfielder Isaiah Jackson homered for two runs. A few innings later, after Kansas responded and the Sun Devils trailed 4-3, senior first baseman Jacob Tobias crushed a left-center gapper to score two runs and give ASU the lead.

A few swings in the fourth, seventh, and ninth innings proved to be game changers, demonstrating ASU's ability to compete with one of the nation's best offenses.

“To be able to bounce back after giving up a lead in the ninth with two outs, which seemed like that game was just about over,” Head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “To be able to bounce back and come away with the win is just a sign of a good team that's resilient, not willing to give in, so that part I’m extremely happy with and proud of those guys in there for.”

The Sun Devils' ability to take charge today and throughout the weekend was thanks not only to their offensive output but also to their normally shaky pitching staff, which held strong and limited damage. ASU was famously last in the Pac-12 in team ERA, and after today's win, their team ERA is at 4.83, roughly two points lower than last season.

On Friday, it was the showing of junior left-handed pitcher Ben Jacobs, on Saturday, it was sophomore right-handed pitcher Josh Butler, and on Sunday, it was the entire staff.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jaden Alba started the game and had a strong outing, while sophomore right-handed pitcher Wyatt Halvorson came out of the bullpen for multiple innings, preventing Kansas from increasing their early advantage.

There were concerns about how the ASU pitching staff would handle such a dynamic offense, considering the Jayhawks scored 29 runs only last week. Aside from a rare poor performance by senior right-handed pitcher Jack Martinez on Saturday, Sun Devil pitching, particularly the bullpen, can be attributed to ASU's series victory this weekend.

The Sun Devil bullpen only allowed six earned runs in 16 innings of work across the three-game set, with players like Butler, Halvorson, and Giblin stretching multiple innings to provide Bloomquist with plenty of options in the pen.

“I think it's just what we did all fall, just carrying it into the season, growing confidence as we continue to get in there,” Halvorson said. “Our bullpens, I think, really, really good when we're all on our game. But just getting in there, throwing strikes out, growing confidence, like I said, we're gonna be tough to hit when we're all at our best.”

Kien Vu, a junior outfielder, had been at his best all season, but recent injuries have kept him out of many games. The good news for the 2025 ASU team, as Bloomquist stated postgame that he would have "killed to have this problem last year," is that the Sun Devils have shown themselves to be a next-man-up team.

With Vu out, junior infielder Kyle Walker has taken over as leadoff hitter, and with two more hits tonight, he now has six consecutive games with multiple hits in that role. While in right field, Vu's regular stomping grounds, Hairston has taken over, putting up his own six-game hitting streak and holding down the defensive side of things.

“Obviously, losing (Kien Vu) is pretty tough,” Hairston said. “He's a big bat in our lineup, so we always want him out there, but trying to get comfortable in right field, taking a lot of reps in BP and in practice, and for the most part, I think I’m doing okay, could do a little better on the reads, but yeah, overall, feeling pretty good about it.”

With the series concluded, ASU can now focus on their next Big 12 matchup against Utah before facing their in-state rivals, the Arizona Wildcats, in early April. Arizona leads the conference in wins and had a ten-game winning streak before West Virginia snapped it on Saturday.

It's still early, but winning a series against a ranked opponent without one of your best hitters in Vu or frequent suspects performing well, such as Compton and Tobias, gives you a lot of confidence for the future.

Bloomquist remarked after the game, like he does after every game, that there is still "work to do to get better". All but true, as this series was far from flawless, but if there's still work to be done and you're still winning games, that's about as good a sign as you can get about where your team is headed.

“Bottom line, if we do our thing and stay consistent to who we are and clean up, but we have to clean up,” Bloomquist said. “And I've said it before. I'll say it again. I'll take our chances against anybody. So we just have to worry about playing our best baseball and what we do. I don't care who we play.”

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