ASU’s win over GCU this past Tuesday felt like the pinnacle of the Sun Devils’ season — a game that perfectly captured their 2025 identity. The victory capped off an impressive 26-9 home record and broke the single-season attendance record at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. In true 2025 ASU fashion, the team surrendered a late lead only to rally back and mercy-rule GCU. Head coach Willie Bloomquist summed it up best, saying they fought back “like they always do.”
After their loss to GCU on April 22, when Bloomquist declared everything had to change, ASU responded with a dominant 10-2 run over its next 12 contests, showcasing with their confidence that they could be one of the best Big 12. The Sun Devils looked revitalized, resilient, and well-prepared for the stretch run. Last weekend, Bloomquist challenged them to do the improbable: win the conference—and heading into the final series, that no longer felt impossible.
Even if a regular season conference was not going to be achieved, this weekend’s series looked like a chance for a strong close. Before the first pitch was thrown in Stillwater, ASU had all but secured an NCAA Tournament spot, and holding onto second place seemed well within reach—especially against a middling Oklahoma State team. Momentum was on their side, and everything pointed toward a statement finish… yet the reality was far different.
The three-game road series at Oklahoma State was some of the most uninspired baseball ASU has played since their back-to-back Big 12 losses to Arizona and Cincinnati in early April—losses that had seemed to mark the end of a struggling phase and the emergence of a stronger, more confident team. Instead, ASU posted their lowest-scoring three-game series of the season in a stretch where none of the games were particularly close. The Cowboys controlled the weekend from start to finish, while ASU’s starting pitching—the foundation of their success all season—allowed 13 earned runs. Meanwhile, the offense lacked the spark it had exhibited in previous weeks, allowing Oklahoma State (27-22, 15-12 Big 12) to sweep ASU (35-21, 18-12).
It would’ve been hard to imagine the regular season ending this way, especially after Tuesday’s win, when confidence radiated from both the players and Bloomquist. The team spoke of chasing greatness and entered Stillwater hungry for more. Instead, they leave with three straight losses, a quiet offense, and a dampened mood heading into the postseason. For what had been Bloomquist’s best season yet, it was a lackluster finish that leaves more to be desired.
The opening loss of the series, a 6-2 defeat, wasn’t entirely surprising—ASU had dropped the first game in four of its last six Big 12 series, including each of the past two Fridays. Junior left-hander Ben Jacobs had been a bright spot during that stretch. Prior to last week’s loss to Houston, he had recorded three straight starts with 10-plus strikeouts, showing signs of settling in after a shaky start to the season.
However, Jacobs' previous performances haven't resulted in wins, as ASU’s offense has consistently fallen flat in series openers. Even a few earned runs from Jacobs have been enough to tip the scale in low-scoring losses. But on Thursday, blame didn’t rest solely with the bats—Jacobs turned in his worst start of the season, allowing six earned runs over five innings.
It was one inning that unraveled everything for Jacobs. After allowing a run in the first, the second quickly spiraled out of control—six straight Oklahoma State batters reached base, capped by a bases-clearing, three-RBI double that gave the Cowboys five runs through two innings. It was a gut punch that not only derailed Jacobs’ outing but also set the tone for a rough weekend ahead for ASU.
What followed was an unexpectedly deflating offensive effort from ASU. The Sun Devils were held scoreless from the second through the eighth inning and didn’t put a runner on base from the second to the sixth. Even when they finally pushed some runners on in the seventh, they left the bases loaded. ASU managed only two runs, tying their season low.
While Bloomquist has often praised his team’s ability to bounce back, he’s been just as clear that he’d prefer not to be in that position at all—wanting his team to play with consistent confidence from start to finish, without the need for late recoveries. Yet another Friday loss didn’t fit that mold. Still, a big reason ASU has managed to respond so well this season is senior right-handed pitcher Jack Martinez.
Heading into Friday, ASU had won five straight starts by Martinez, who has embodied the team’s battle and fight all season. The Sun Devils were 10-3 in games started by Martinez, many of which—like Friday’s—have required a big momentum shift sparked by his flamethrowing arm to turn the tide and avoid a potential series loss.
Things looked promising early—Martinez allowed just one earned run through four innings, and ASU built a three-run lead with two more in the top of the fifth. But, like Thursday, one inning flipped the game. After two walks and a single, back-to-back doubles from the Cowboys erased the lead and put them ahead by one.
ASU had its chances, scoring six runs but leaving 10 runners on base, never delivering the big inning they desperately needed in a 9-6 loss. A late two-run push in the ninth showed some life, but the bullpen’s four runs allowed after Martinez’s exit made it too little, too late.
After the GCU win, junior outfielder Isaiah Jackson said hitting had become contagious for the team. Unfortunately, this weekend, the only thing contagious was their cold streak, as the offense couldn’t catch fire or come together as a unit.
It started to feel like the comeback kids had taken the weekend off.
Just like that, ASU had dropped its first Big 12 series since April 13 against Cincinnati—and for the first time since April 5 against Arizona, they had gone down 0-2, staring down the possibility of a sweep. Until now, no team had managed to take all three from the Sun Devils, who had gone 2-0 in previous attempts to avoid a sweep. That streak, however, was about to be tested.
Freshman left-hander Easton Barrett earned his fourth consecutive start in the third game of a series. He’s been one of only two freshmen—alongside outfielder Landon Hairston—to see significant playing time this season. However, Barrett lasted just two innings this time, a sharp contrast to his career-high 5.1 innings pitched against Houston last Sunday.
After allowing a run on a fielder’s choice in the first inning, Barrett’s struggles in the second—walking four batters, including three straight that forced in the go-ahead run—forced Bloomquist to turn to his bullpen. It was a troubling start that set the tone for a weekend full of frustrations.
The final stretch only deepened the disappointment. Sophomore left-hander Cole Carlon steadied the ship, pitching four solid innings and giving ASU a chance to rally with three runs in the sixth and seventh to take the lead. But just as hope was rising, Bloomquist’s decision to keep Carlon in for a possible fifth inning backfired.
After the first batter reached base, Oklahoma State crushed a go-ahead homer, and then junior right-hander Lucas Kelly came in—only to immediately give up back-to-back homers. That devastating sequence crushed ASU’s momentum, sealing a 7-4 loss that perfectly mirrored the weekend’s heartbreaking collapse.
That final regular season game sealed a brutal finale for ASU — dropping three spots in the conference standings, with starting pitching delivering some of their poorest outings of the season and the offense as uninspired as it’s been all year. Now, facing three straight losses, they head into the Big 12 tournament on their worst possible note.
The redeeming quality of ASU baseball has always been their ability to flip the script quickly—one day, they look like their worst selves, and the next, they mercy rule a team with complete dominance. Usually, this turnaround happens day to day; this time, it’ll have to happen series to series. As Bloomquist made clear, they’ll need to fight back “like they always do.” It’s a message that has never felt more urgent.
ASU now must reset and refocus on the Big 12 tournament, and at press time, it's unclear if they will enjoy a first-round bye or take to the field on Wednesday in Arlington, Tex. While this Oklahoma State series outcome came at an awkward time, it should not define their season since how they perform from here on out will carry heavier weight and, one way or another, put a more resounding stamp on their 2025 season performance overall. For the majority of the last four weeks, ASU has proved it can pull itself out of a bad stretch and will be required to do so again in a few days.
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