With the slight possibility of ASU Baseball slithering their way into the NCAA Tournament even when losing both games in the Pac-12 Tournament, those dreams have evaporated.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!64 teams made the NCAA Tournament this year, with 33 teams who didn’t win their conference tournament being voted in by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee. Arizona State was not nominated.
Because the Sun Devils missed the cut to extend their season, this is the first time that the program missed postseason play in three straight years since 1959-63. The last time they had a dry spell like this was during the first five years that baseball was becoming a varsity sport at ASU.
Arizona State finished this year with a 32-26 record overall and 17-13 in the Pac-12 Conference. With many of the school’s athletic programs heading to the Big 12 next season, this was the final campaign that the Sun Devils would be able to play in the Pac-12.
Just one run ultimately decided their fate in the Pac-12 Tournament during both games, ASU fell to No. 8 seeded Stanford 8-7 and 3-2 to No. 2 Oregon State. Arizona State was ranked No. 5 in the Pac-12 heading into the tournament.
When looking at the other major universities in the Valley, GCU and Arizona both made the NCAA Tournament. Arizona State was the only one out of the three college teams in the state to miss since Northern Arizona does not have an NCAA Division I baseball program.
Grand Canyon and Arizona were slotted in the Tucson Regional that will be hosted at Hi Corbett Field, home of U of A Baseball. Both the Lopes and Wildcats are in the same group as Dallas Baptist and West Virginia. The Tucson Regional is set to begin play on May 31 and go through June 3.
Tucson Regional
(13) @ArizonaBaseball @GCU_Baseball@WVUBaseball@DBU_Baseball#RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/3dNXnv1oFo
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) May 27, 2024
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics and Phoenix Mercury news for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
