With the Pac-12 Conference Baseball Tournament kickstarting on Tuesday, ASU will look to carry over their late-season momentum and compete for a shot at a championship.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Despite going through inconsistent spells during the season, Arizona State pushed those woes behind them as they finished the 2024 season with a resounding 15-3 record in their last 18 games. During this hot streak, the Sun Devils have scored 10 or more runs in 13 of the last 16 games.
ASU is entering the tournament after going 32-24 overall and 17-13 in the Pac-12. Down 13-8 against UNLV in the bottom of the ninth inning, junior infielder Jacob Tobias capped off a miraculous six-run comeback with a walk-off single to win the game 14-13 on Saturday.
With the victory, Arizona State officially locked in the No. 5 seed and is slotted in Pool B in the tournament with No. 8 seed Stanford and No. 2 Oregon State.
On Tuesday, the Sun Devils will first face Stanford. The Cardinal won the Pac-12 Tournament in 2022. This season, ASU swept Stanford 3-0 and outscored them 39-9 in their series on May 10-12.
Then on Thursday, ASU will go up against Oregon State who were just edged out of the No. 1 seed to Arizona State’s arch nemesis, Arizona. The Beavers were 41-13 and 19-10 in the conference as well as sweeping the Sun Devils 3-0 in April.
If Arizona State progresses past pool play, then they will play in the semi-finals on Friday. The championship is on Saturday.
Sun Devils’ College World Series Dreams Still Alive
Based on whether or not they have a good showing in the tournament, even if they don’t win the championship, the Sun Devils could still voted into the College World Series by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee. There are 64 teams that make the prestigious tournament, with 31 conference champions claiming automatic berths while 33 other teams are nominated by the committee.
ASU has clinched a spot in the College World Series 22 times in their history. Having a rich history as a baseball program, Arizona State has won five national championships in 1965, 1967, 1969, 1977 and 1981. Only USC (12), LSU (6) and Texas (6) have more than the Sun Devils.
ASU Baseball has been conference champions 21 times, including in the WAC. The Pac-12 did not host a conference tournament at the end of each regular season until 2022, so Arizona State has yet to win one since this competition was formed.
It will be interesting to see how ASU head coach Willie Bloomquist’s team fairs in the double-elimination Pac-12 Tournament knowing that they have the chance to make noise and keep their season alive.
Both of the games for Arizona State against Stanford and Oregon State will be played at Scottsdale Stadium at 10 a.m. PT. The first semi-final game will start at 2:30 p.m. followed by the other at 7:30. The championship on Saturday is also at 7 p.m.
This will be the final ride for Sun Devil Baseball in the Pac-12 Conference as they will be heading to the Big 12 next season.
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Alec Cipollini covers Phoenix Sports News for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
