The two-year drought for one of the most historic college baseball programs in the country is over. Arizona State punched its ticket to the postseason on Monday. The Sun Devils will be the two-seed in the Baton Rouge Regional.
The rest of the four-team field features LSU, Southern Mississippi, and Stony Brook.
ASU plays Southern Miss in its first game on Friday.
At one point in the 2019 season, ASU was the lone unbeaten platoon. The team started the year off 21-0, and they finished their campaign with a 37-17 overall record and a 16-13 mark in Pac-12 play, which was good enough for fifth in the league.
ASU led the entire country in home runs with 92, and between the likes of sophomore first baseman Spencer Torkelson and junior center fielder Hunter Bishop, who both finished the season hitting above .340, the Sun Devils will look to do damage in SEC country.
Wipe the regular season away. It’s a new season, and if ASU wants to make the College World Series for the first time since 2010, the road to Omaha will first run through Louisiana.
“I think it’s going to be neat to see them turn it up (the intensity) a little bit. Postseason play is fun because you know if you don’t get it done, you are going home,” said head coach Tracy Smith after ASU’s final game of the season on Saturday. “I feel like we have got enough talent...we have got enough to do some damage.”
Player Reactions:
ASU’s Cole Austin is the lone Sun Devil who has postseason experience after playing in an NCAA Regional at West Virginia prior to transferring.
With a lot of new players getting ready for their first taste of a regional, here were a few reactions from Sun Devil players on the opportunity to play at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium, which will more than likely be at a full capacity in Baton Rouge.
Some player reactions from this afternoon after ASU was selected for the postseason.
— House of Sparky (@HouseOfSparky) May 27, 2019
Carter Aldrete on having the program back in the tourney after a two-year drought: pic.twitter.com/T8CppTAr84
Spencer Torkelson on using his international experience with Team USA to help him in his first postseason this weekend.
— House of Sparky (@HouseOfSparky) May 27, 2019
Torkelson’s coach with the national team was LSU head coach Paul Mainieri. pic.twitter.com/muIlQ7RZjv
Hunter Bishop on the opportunity to play in front of 10,000+ people at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium: pic.twitter.com/rHM5Z5a6wU
— House of Sparky (@HouseOfSparky) May 27, 2019