Arizona State (32-20, 16-14 Pac-12) is headed to Austin for its 41st NCAA Tournament appearance this weekend as the Sun Devils, the No. 2 seed in the No. 2 overall Texas regional, are set to face off with the No. 3 seed Fairfield University Stags (37-3) on Friday. It will be the team’s fourth NCAA Tournament bid in six tries under manager Tracy Smith. ASU and Fairfield are joined by the No. 1 seed Texas, along with Southern University as the No. 4 seed.
Fairfield
The Stags come into the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history, the first being an appearance in the Lubbock Regional in 2016.
Fairfield’s 37-3 record and NCAA record of .925 winning percentage earned the Stags an at-large bid after falling in the MAAC Tournament to the Rider Broncs. They earned their first ever national ranking at No. 23 by Baseball America this season. The Stags may not be ranked currently but have frequented the top-10 in national RPI and currently sit third.
The Stags possess one of the strongest pitching staffs in the country as they lead all teams across the nation in ERA (2.75) and WHIP (1.03). Junior righty Jake Noviello, senior lefty Bryson Cafaro, and junior lefty Michael Sansone are all names to look out for.
Texas
Head coach David Pierce’s Texas squad is undoubtedly one of the strongest teams in the country entering June, as the hosting Longhorns logged their 27th hosting bid in the NCAA Tournament by securing a share of the Big 12 Conference championship. Their appearance in the regional marks the 60th time the Longhorns have reached the postseason, both marks are the most all-time in college baseball.
Pierce led his team to a 40-13 overall record, earning him his second conference coach of the year title in 2021. The Longhorns are in the top five in all of the five major polls and currently sit at No. 2 in the D1Baseball poll.
Much like Fairfield, Texas also boasts one of the best pitching staffs in the country, ranking second nationally in ERA behind Fairfield with a mark of 2.95. They sit fourth nationally in hits per nine innings (7.07) and possess one of the best arms in college baseball – redshirt sophomore righty and Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year Ty Madden – a future first-round pick. Other players to watch for include redshirt sophomore designated hitter Ivan Melendez and freshman second baseman Mitchell Daly.
Southern
The Southern University Jaguars automatically punched their ticket to the postseason after defeating Jackson State in the SWAC Championship 7-6 on May 23. 2021 will be the Jaguars’ second NCAA Tournament appearance after going to Starkville in 2019.
The Jaguars finished 2021 with a 20-28 record but strung together a nice win streak in the SWAC tournament, beating Prairie View A&M, the best team in the SWAC’s West division, as well as undefeated East division champion Jackson State in a thrilling conference championship game by a score of 7-6. Sophomore infielder O’Neill Burgos, who hit the go-ahead home run in the SWAC title game is a bat to look out for, along with redshirt junior outfielder Tremaine Spears.
Arizona State
After losing its top three pitchers in the first three weeks of the season, Arizona State recovered magnificently through the performance of its young lineup, one of the youngest in the country. The Sun Devils finished Pac-12 play in a tie for fifth with Oregon State and won four out of their last five conference series. Their highest ranking was No. 21 by D1Baseball towards the end of the season.
ASU’s season was supercharged by the performance of hotshot freshman Ethan Long, who hit 15 home runs in a span of 25 days. He led the team in HR (16), RBI (53), and OPS (1.133). The freshman garnered national weekly honors multiple times across that ridiculous 25-day span in April and May as he slugged his way to one of the best ASU freshman seasons ever.
The Sun Devils finished their season on an unfortunate note, a sweep at home by UCLA – the first time the team had lost three games in a row across the 2021 season. The Bruins scored a whopping 32 runs against ASU’s makeshift pitching staff that it’s been reliant on to win conference series this season.
To win in Austin, ASU will need to vamp up the bats against superior pitching, something they struggled with in their final regular-season game on Saturday, when they were held scoreless on just four hits. The success of redshirt sophomore righty Tyler Thornton and redshirt junior lefty Justin Fall, as well as the back end of the Sun Devil bullpen, are crucial for their success.
ASU’s opening game in the regional round at UFCU Diesch-Falk Field in Austin will be on Friday at 4 p.m. local time on ESPN3.
