ASU Baseball: Early look at the Fort Worth Regional

After finishing the season on a sour note, the Arizona State Sun Devils found out their postseason destination Monday morning and the Devils have to be pleased with where they were placed. ASU will play in the Fort Worth Regional alongside host TCU, Gonzaga and Oral Roberts.

The Sun Devils will meet Gonzaga on Friday at 12 p.m. MT on ESPN3. Here is your early look at the 2016 Fort Worth Regional.

Teams

No. 1 TCU Horned Frogs (42-15) - Big 12 Tournament Champions

The Horned Frogs have become somewhat of a baseball power under head coach Jim Schlossnagle, as TCU is making its 12th tournament appearance in the last 13 seasons. This is also the sixth time in program history, and the third straight, that TCU is hosting a regional.

At No. 16, TCU has the second worst RPI of any host as the Horned Frogs used a run to the Big 12 Tournament Title to solidify their hosting resume. TCU only has one series victory over a team in the field and it is the No. 3 seed in their regional, Gonzaga. The Horned Frogs have single game victories over Louisiana-Lafayette and two victories over Rice.

No. 2 Arizona State (34-21) - T-3rd in the Pac-12

After feasting on a subpar nonconference schedule, the Sun Devils started just 4-8 in the Pac-12 including getting swept by Oregon State. When most began to count them out, ASU finished the season by winning six of seven series including against Arizona, Cal and Mountain West Champ New Mexico.

The Sun Devils are making their fourth consecutive trip to regionals, last advancing to Omaha in 2010. Tracy Smith's club does not have much on the mound and instead grinds their way to victories. Despite losing their final regular season series to USC, the Sun Devils enter the NCAA Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country.

No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs (35-19) - T-1st in the West Coast Conference

The Gonzaga Bulldogs earned their first at large birth in program history in 2016 thanks in part to 23 road victories which inflated its RPI (that's not to say Gonzaga isn't deserving but road wins count more towards your RPI than home wins do). The Zags also won a share of the WCC regular season title before falling to Saint Mary's in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

This is the first tournament appearance for Gonzaga since 2009 when it won the WCC's automatic bid. In 2016, the Zags boast wins over Arkansas, Oregon, TCU and Washington although they lack a signature weekend series victory.

No. 4 Oral Roberts (38-19) - Summit League Champions

Oral Roberts is making the 26th postseason appearance in school history and second straight trip to regionals. The Golden Eagles are one of the perennial powers in the Summit League and are one of the more dangerous No. 4 seeds in the tournament.

The Golden Eagles have a series victory over Dallas Baptist (who is a No. 2 seed this year) to go along with victories over Auburn, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Mississippi State.

The Players

Top Pitchers

TCU LHP Dalton Horton - 8-0, 2.58 ERA, 59.1 IP, 47 H, 27 K, 17 BB

ASU RHP Seth Martinez - 9-3, 2.08 ERA, 108.1 IP, 82 H, 91 K, 34 BB

GU RHP Brandon Bailey - 9-3, 2.51 ERA, 93.1 IP, 75 H, 120 K, 30 BB

GU RHP Eli Morgan - 10-2, 3.66 ERA, 103.1 IP, 100 H, 99 K, 28 BB

ORU RHP Nick Wood - 6-2, 2.36 ERA, 72.1 IP, 71 H, 58 K, 18 BB

Top Hitters

TCU INF Luke Baker - .376, 8 HR, 54 RBI, 79 H, 53 R

TCU INF Elliott Barzilli - .374, 7 HR, 43 RBI, 79 H, 41 R

ASU INF David Greer - .344, 8 HR, 44 RBI, 74 H, 47 R

ASU OF Andrew Shaps - .327, 2 HR, 27 RBI, 64 H, 27 R

GU OF Tyler Frost - .345, 7 HR, 48 RBI, 68 H, 35 R

GU INF Taylor Jones - .332, 2 HR, 33 RBI, 73 H, 36 R

ORU OF Noah Cummings - .363, 6 HR, 43 RBI, 77 H, 44 R

ORU C Matt Whaley - .348, 8 HR, 51 RBI, 69 H, 42 R

Schedule (Double Elimination)

Friday

Game 1 - Arizona State vs. Gonzaga (3 p.m.)

Game 2 - Oral Roberts vs. TCU (7:30 p.m.)

Saturday

Game 3 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (12 p.m.)

Game 4 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (7:30 p.m.)

Sunday

Game 5 - Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (3 p.m.)

Game 6 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4 (7:30 p.m.)

Monday

Game 7 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4 (4 p.m.) *If Necessary

All Times Eastern