Arizona baseball allows 2 in 9th to drop series opener to ASU

It was a pitching duel for most of the night between Arizona State and Arizona until a 2-out, 2-run rally in the ninth inning gave ASU the 3-2 win Friday in the series opener at Hi Corbett Field.

A single and a double by ASU in the top of the ninth set up Ethan Mendoza to hit the game-winning hit. Mendoza singled up the middle, which brought home two runners and ASU took the lead

In the second inning, Maddox Mihalakis’s doubled in a run to put Arizona up 1-0.

After ASU tied it up in the seventh on a fielding error, Arizona got the lead back after an error from a failed pickoff attempt by ASU’s pitcher allowed Emilio Corona to score from third base for a 2-1 lead.

Jackson Kent got his fifth start on the mound for UA. He pitched 7.1 innings, gave up four hits, a run and struck out five in 87 pitches (56 strikes thrown).

“He deserved to win,” Chip Hale said. “He did a great job. We couldn’t make a play that we should make every time. If we can’t score more than two runs, we are not gonna win too many games.”

Kent retired 16 straight batters from the second through seventh innings.

“It’s all about our shifts and we’re playing them the right way,” Kent said. “And it’s all we can ask for, our guys making plays and all the pitchers, everyone’s giving their best.”

Arizona has a chance for revenge in game two of the series against its in-state rivals Saturday at 6 p.m. MST.

“We need to come out with more energy and we got to defend our home turf,” Kent said. “We need to get these guys out of here.”