No. 23 Arizona State baseball’s nine-game win streak came to an end Tuesday in a 10-9 loss to UNLV.

Coach Tracy Smith confirmed after the game that Erik Tolman will undergo season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery, the same repair required for teammates Cooper Benson and Boyd Vander Kooi.

“Initially we thought that’s what it was then it wasn’t then they did a different type of MRI that revealed kind of the same thing,” with a wear and tear injury, Smith said. “It’s bad timing for the team and for the kids that are getting it.

“There’s nothing we can do to change the situation we’re in. But we’ve got to find a way to cover probably 280 to 300 innings. We feel like we’ve got the pieces here to be able to do that. It may not be as conventional as running some of the top pitchers in the league out, but it reduces that margin of error. That’s why we have to be extra good in making good decisions and competing in the strike zone.”

ASU (11-3) opens Pac-12 play Friday at No. 19 Oregon. UCLA (No. 13), Oregon State (20) and Arizona (21) also are nationally ranked in the USA Today coaches poll.

“We know we’ve got a challenge ahead,” Smith said. “We’re probably going to be the youngest group thrown out there because everybody retained their guys and we lost a lot. That’s not an excuse. It supplements the fact we’ve got to do everything right, make then earn every base because this league is a good league.”

The Sun Devils made enough mistakes Tuesday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium to lose despite holding 4-3, 6-4 and 9-8 leads. UNLV (7-3) took the lead for good with two runs in the eighth after ASU scored three in its half of the seventh. Will Levine (2-1), one of eight ASU pitchers, took the loss.

“We competed all day at the plate,” Smith said. “The mistakes that were the difference in this game were not on the offensive side. Walking leadoffs in a close game late innings is more of a factor. We were not sharp on the mound. That’s going to happen sometimes.”

Sam Ferri and Drew Swift homered for ASU, and Swift had four RBI. Kade Higgins went 3-of-5 playing in front of his father Kevin, a former ASU All-America who is UNLV associate head coach.

Former ASU outfielder Myles Denson homered for the Rebels.

The teams will play another non-conference game March 30 in Las Vegas.

More: A month into season, ASU baseball is turning adversity into success

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8053. Follow him on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.

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