PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Despite a late-season slide, the Arizona State baseball team is heading to the postseason.
On Monday, the Sun Devils were named a 3-seed in the Los Angeles regional of the NCAA Baseball Tournament, where they will battle top-seeded UCLA, No. 2 UC Irvine, and No. 4 Fresno State.
The regional appearance snaps a three-year postseason drought for the storied program. Since making a regional in 2021 under former head coach Tracy Smith, who was fired after that season, head coach Willie Bloomquist’s squad has come up short in his first three years. With a veteran lineup and a revamped pitching staff, expectations were high for the Bloomquist and the Sun Devils heading into this season, where they finished the regular season with a 35-21 record.
Monday’s announcement did come with some stress due to a late-season slide. Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the Sun Devils were ranked second in the Big 12 and had a chance to capture the conference’s regular-season title. However, ASU was swept on the road by Oklahoma State, dropping them from second to the No. 5 seed in the Big 12 tournament. The Sun Devils then fell to BYU 2-0 in the opening round—the first shutout loss of the year—leading to speculation that ASU could be on the tournament bubble.
Despite the poor finish to the year, Arizona State remains a dangerous opponent. The lineup, headlined by three All-Big 12 first-team selections in shortstop Matt King, and outfielders Isaiah Jackson Landon Hairston, as well as second-team pick second baseman Kyle Walker, sluggers Brandon Compton and Jacob Tobias, and 2024 All-American Kien Vu. The top of the rotation features Ben Jacobs and Jack Martinez, each among the nation’s leaders in strikeouts, and All-Big 12 first-teamer Cole Carlon is the top option out of the bullpen.
The Sun Devils will open regional action against UC Irvine. Regionals are a double-elimination format.
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