ASU eliminated by Ole Miss in another close one to end Sun Devils’ season

Arizona State lost a heartbreaker in 14 innings to open the Lincoln Regional, and their run ended in a similar way at the hands of Ole Miss in a 5-4 10th-inning loss on Sunday evening.

The Sun Devils staved off elimination twice over the weekend, clobbering South Dakota State (No. 4 seed) 17-0 on Saturday and cruising past Nebraska (No. 1 seed) 11-8 earlier Sunday.

That set the stage for a rematch with the Rebels, only this time, an ASU loss meant the season ended and a win meant both teams would do it all again on Monday.

Just as the Sun Devils did on Friday night, they jumped out to an early lead Sunday, notching a run in the first inning and two more in the second to lead 3-0.

Ole Miss responded immediately with two runs in the bottom of the second and another in the third to tie the game at three.

ASU clapped right back with a run in the fourth thanks to a wild pitch and it remained 4-3 until the bottom of the seventh when Austin Fawley roped a two-out double to the left field wall to bring home the tying run.

Both teams’ bullpens then did the same thing they did Friday night, go back-and-forth with scoreless frames until the 10th inning when the Sun Devils staff couldn’t match the Rebels.

After Sun Devils pitcher Derek Schaefer struck out the first batter, he walked and gave up a single to the next two batters. The single was a ground ball that seemed to go underneath the shortstop PJ Moutzouridis’ glove. He couldn’t have made the play at first but keeping the ball on the infield would have kept the game-winning run from advancing to third.

With ASU playing five infielders, the next batter hit a fly ball to left field, deep enough to score the winning run, and the Sun Devils’ season was over.

Another heartbreaking extra innings loss at the hands of the Rebels.

The Sun Devils got a combined seven innings of relief from Alex Overbay, Sean Fitzpatrick and Eli Buxton with just one combined run allowed. But ASU simply ran out of arms, and the offense ran out of gas late in Lincoln.

ASU was also without its best player, and one of the best players in the nation, in Landon Hairston after he was ejected in the Sun Devils ‘ earlier elimination game on Sunday.

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