PHOENIX —  Despite the early departure of daylight at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Friday evening, the on-field temperature reached its peak in the fifth inning.

With two runners on base and a run already in, No. 20 Arizona State junior right-handed pitcher Cole Carlon faced the game’s early turning point.

Utah junior Catcher Jack Kleveno stepped to the plate, hitting out of the nine spot. 

Without hesitation, Kleveno jumped on the left-hander’s first pitch for a three-run home run to left field, his first collegiate home run in over 70 at-bats, ending Carlon’s night.  

Kleveno’s blast left ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist with no choice but to give credit to the Utes' catcher.

“I was confident that (Carlon) could get him out,” Bloomquist said. “(Kleveno) burned us. So hats off to him.”

However, after umpires issued warnings following the home run, the heat turned all the way up in the bottom of the fifth.

Following a routine pop-out off the bat of Sun Devils sophomore catcher Brody Briggs, three ejections quickly followed.

As Briggs ran up the first-base line, he and Utes’ junior right-hander Colter McAnelly exchanged words, prompting first base umpire Nathan White to eject Briggs from the game. 

Bloomquist said he did not agree with the decision, prompting him to argue with the umpire and later be ejected. 

While it appeared that he may have been trying to light a fire under his team, Bloomquist said he simply wanted to defend his backstop.  

“If there are warnings issued and (McAnelly’s) gonna go down the first base line and imitate our guy. … Why are we having warnings?” Bloomquist said. “That guy should be tossed.”

Shortly after Bloomquist left the field, the umpire's removed McAnelly from the game.

On a night where tempers flared in both dugouts, ASU (24-10, 7-6 Big 12) struggled to keep a flame lit on Friday, April 10, dropping its second game in a row in a sluggish 10-4 defeat to Utah (17-13, 6-7 Big 12). Friday’s win signified the end of two separate droughts for the Utes, as they picked up a win for the first time in 10 days while also taking down the Sun Devils for the first time in almost two years. 

The last instance of Utah defeating ASU came back on April 14, 2024, when the two schools were still in the Pac-12.

Despite the one-sided final score, the Sun Devils took an early lead.

After a sacrifice fly by graduate right fielder Dean Toigo put the Sun Devils in front in the first inning, Utah scored seven runs across two big innings against Carlon. 

Following the four-run fifth and the loss of its skipper, ASU faced a 7-1 deficit.

However, sophomore center fielder Landon Hairston added to the fifth-inning frenzy with a three-run homer, his 20th of the season.

On Friday, Hairston became the first Sun Devil to hit 20 home runs in a single season since 2019. That year, Spencer Torkelson and Hunter Bishop each surpassed the mark. 

Hairston remains on track to blow past the Sun Devils’ single-season home run record of 28, currently held by Mitch Jones.

Outside of Hairston’s two hits, ASU went a combined 2-for-27 at the plate, something that Bloomquist said falls under a long list of issues with the Sun Devils’ recent form.

“We’re focused on playing a better brand of baseball right now,” Bloomquist said. “The last handful of games have just not been what I expect.”

On the other side, junior outfielder Jake Long and Kleveno starred for Utah, combining for seven RBI.

Long went 4-for-6 at the plate, but his big day came with some controversy. 

After ripping a single up the middle in the first inning, the Sun Devils requested an inspection of Long’s bat. 

Following a conversation, the umpires removed the bat from the game. 

Apart from Long, ASU failed to retire Kleveno. 

The catcher reached base four times and hit the pivotal home run in his only official at-bat of the game.

With Friday’s loss, ASU dropped to No. 43 in the NCAA RPI rankings, a key metric to the selection process for the NCAA Division I Tournament.

The freefall is strikingly similar to the late stages of last season, where the Sun Devils dropped below No. 40 and found themselves squarely on the bubble in 2025.

Yet ASU has plenty of chances to bounce back, starting Saturday in Game 2 of the series against Utah.

Still, Bloomquist’s first order of business lies within the ASU clubhouse.

“Right now, we can talk about wins and losses and whatnot,” Bloomquist said. “That doesn’t really matter at the end of the day if we don’t address the issues.”