Sun Devils' season ends in extra inning defeat

Dean Toigo drove in three of Arizona State's four runs in Sunday's season finale. Photo: Tom Hardon/Echo From The Buttes

Coming out of the loser's bracket is always a challenge in the NCAA tournament, usually involving playing a doubleheader for the chance for a winner-take-all game to advance to the Super Regionals.

After taking down regional host Nebraska by an 11-8 score early on Sunday, Arizona State was primed for a rematch against Ole Miss, who defeated the Sun Devils in a 14 inning marathon on Friday night.

Working in the Sun Devils' favor was the disruption to the regional schedule, which saw Ole Miss complete their suspended game from Saturday before the regularly scheduled elimination game with Nebraska. However, the huge factor working against the Sun Devils was the absence of Golden Spikes finalist Landon Hairston.

Hairston was not his dominant self in the Lincoln Regional, going 2-for-12 (.167) and striking out three times, the last strikeout eliciting this bat flip that saw him ejected after a conversation by the umpiring crew. Since Hairston was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct under NCAA Rule 2-26, that decision carried an automatic suspension for the following game.

By no means an easy player to replace, head coach Willie Bloomquist put Ky McGary into the starting lineup in left field, moving right fielder Dean Toigo to the top of the lineup in Hairston's place. Moving Toigo to the top paid immediate dividends as he opened the game with a leadoff solo home run on a 1-2 delivery from Ole Miss starter Cade Townsend, giving the Sun Devils at least one run in all four games played in the regional.

The home run was a milestone for both Toigo and the program, giving Toigo his first career 20 home run season, and giving the Sun Devils three-20 home run hitters in a season for the first time in program history (Hairston with 18, Nu'u Contrades with 21).

Toigo would plate two more runs in the top of the 2nd inning with an RBI single to right field, giving the Devils an early 3-0 lead.

Games are not won after just two innings, and the Rebels made short work of getting themselves back in it. Friday night's hero Brayden Randle touched starting pitcher Colin Linder for a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the 2nd, and Tristan Bissetta helped chase Linder with a solo home run to tie the game at 3 in the 3rd inning. Alex Overbay was the first call from the bullpen and kept the Rebels from taking the lead, helped especially by an outfield assist from McGary to cut down Hayden Federico with the would-be go-ahead run.

The Sun Devils would retake the lead by a 4-3 score the following inning as PJ Moutzouridis scored from 3rd on a wild pitch. Overbay came through with a gutsy 3.1 scoreless innings of relief in which he allowed 3 walks but only one hit, giving way to lefty specialist Sean Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick carved his way through the left-handed part of the Rebels lineup, but was allowed to stay in one batter too many as catcher Austin Fawley doubled with two strikes and two outs in the 7th inning to tie the game at 4.

Enter, Eli Buxton. Carrying an ERA of over 11.00, Buxton had the relief effort of his life to keep the Rebels offense at bay. 2.1 innings of hitless relief with 3 strikeouts kept the Sun Devils right in this game, but similar to Friday night, the offense was shut down by the Ole Miss pitching. From the top of the 6th on, the Sun Devils managed just 4 baserunners against relievers Wil Libbert and JP Robertson, with Brody Briggs registering the only hit after the 5th inning.

Buxton was relieved after throwing 37 pitches in favor of closer Derek Schaefer, looking to extend the game to the 11th after Briggs was stranded in the top of the 10th. A strikeout of Austin Fawley got the inning started the right way, but a walk to Collin Reuter followed by a wild pitch and a base hit by Luke Romine put runners at the corners, forcing a five infielder setup with Dominic Longo coming in for an extra set of hands to help with a potential play at the plate. That play would never come as Dom Decker lifted a fly ball to left field that was deep enough to score pinch runner Cannon Goldin with the winning run to end the season for the Sun Devils.

Nu'u Contrades was named the MVP of the Lincoln Regional with 4 home runs and 8 RBI in the 4 games. Despite the early end to the season, the 2026 season represents a net improvement from 2025, improving by 3 wins over last year's total and nearly forcing a Game 7 for a chance at the program's first Super Regional appearance since 2011. The incremental improvement is a small step towards returning to Omaha and bringing home the first College World Series title since 1981 as Bloomquist is set to start the first season of his contract extension in 2027.