Injured arms and inexperienced bats were the story for Arizona State (32-20, 16-14 Pac-12) heading into the 2021 season. The latter faded as a storyline as a lineup full of young Sun Devils emerged with standout performances from the likes of Ethan Long, who was a national standout following a stretch of 14 home runs in 13 games.
The former shaped how head coach Tracy Smith and pitching coach Jason Kelly utilized their pitching staff throughout the course of the year. Unconventional pitching appearances allowed Arizona State to find success despite losing redshirt freshman Cooper Benson, redshirt junior Boyd Vander Kooi, and redshirt sophomore Erik Tolman – three of the Sun Devils who figured to be in line for significant innings this season.
“I’ll admit, I think by that third week of the season, I was like, ‘this is going to be really interesting to put this together,’” Smith told reporters Tuesday of his mentality early in the season without some of his key arms. “At that time if someone would have made a deal with me and said, ‘you could be a No. 2 seed going to Austin right now, would you take it?’ I probably would’ve said yeah.
“As you look at the season there were times along the way I feel like we could have been better, and we didn’t get it done down the stretch to potentially host a regional. Still, I’m proud of what this team has done. We just found ways to win.”
So as Arizona State travels to Austin to matchup with a regional featuring No. 1 Texas, No. 3 Fairfield, and No. 4 Southern, Smith said they’ll continue to manage games in a similar fashion to the regular season. Ahead of ASU’s Wednesday departure, Smith revealed his plan to “probably go with” redshirt sophomore right-hander Tyler Thornton to begin the weekend against Fairfield.
During Thornton’s most recent appearance the Solana Beach, Calif., native pitched 2.1 innings, allowing UCLA to score seven runs – five of which were earned – in Arizona State’s 21-9 loss. This season, Thornton threw 70.2 innings for the Sun Devils, going 2-4 in the win-loss category.
Thornton and the Sun Devils open the regional with No. 3 seed Fairfield, who enter the NCAA Tournament with a staggering 37-3 record. The Stags did not lose a game in 2021 until May 2, opening the year with 28 consecutive wins to begin the season before dropping two games during the MAAC Tournament last week.
“Everybody’s got a good pitcher. Everybody’s got an ace,” said Smith of the threat of Fairfield ahead of Friday’s 4 p.m. PT first pitch. “They are going to be older. They’re mature. They know how to win, and that is a factor. It’s tough for us to draw comparisons because we don’t have a common opponent to really look at.”
Should Arizona State match up with Texas in a winner’s bracket matchup, the Sun Devils should likely turn to 6-foot-6 left-hander Justin Fall, who spent most of the season as ASU’s go-to Saturday starter. With Smith and Kelly both speaking on the ability to go deep in games, Fall showcased that ability in a 133-pitch complete-game win over California on May 8.
“The pitch count thing is something that there’s not a whole lot of science to at this point,” said Kelly when asked about how to gauge when to push ASU’s starters beyond their usual workload. “It’s more people’s opinion. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of keeping our guys at a pretty reasonable limit the whole year. I feel OK with those guys extending a little bit as we get closer to the end.
“I think we’ve managed it pretty well, considering we didn’t have the numbers we expected. It’s postseason time… and they’re going to want to be in there. It’s my responsibility to make sure that my eyes are seeing the right things to get guys out if it doesn’t look right.”
Part of the unknown for Arizona State heading into Friday lies not just in its opponent, but also its own roster. The Sun Devils enter the program’s 41st postseason appearance with the youngest team in the tournament field. Still, ASU is not devoid of previous experience with deep tournament runs, as redshirt senior Conor Davis – who has missed the entirety of the 2021 season with a knee injury – played in the 2019 College World Series with the Auburn Tigers.
“Just telling those (freshmen) to stay in control every single moment that we got,” said redshirt junior shortstop Drew Swift of his advice to the younger Sun Devils without postseason experience to rely upon. Swift, who played in the Baton Rouge Regional with the Sun Devils in 2019 went 2-for-9 during the Sun Devils’ three tournament games.
“You don’t have to do anything special. Keep playing our game, and I think we’ll be alright.”
Only once in his coaching career – and never during his three trips to the postseason with Arizona State – has a Tracy Smith coached ball club advanced to a Super Regional. The head coach of the Sun Devils led Indiana to the College World Series in 2013 but has yet to duplicate the same postseason success with ASU.
“I think we’re more than ready to (compete),” Long explained of the young Sun Devil lineup, which has featured seven freshman bats in the top seven spots for most of the season. “Our ultimate goal is to go to Omaha and win a national championship, so this is just a step in the right direction. I think we’re more than prepared for this week.”
Long has cooled down from his absurd home run hot streak as of late. After a scorching hot stretch from late April through the middle of May, Long has failed to homer since May 15, entering the postseason with a seven-game home run drought.
“I’ve been working. Trying to get out of it,” Long remarked of his recent power struggles. “I’m feeling comfortable, though, and finally back in the groove of things. I had a tough two weeks. That happens. I’m human. It’s not like I was going to be perfect for my whole career. I knew it was going to happen at some point, so being able to overcome it, I’m looking forward to that.”
In Arizona State’s most recent postseason appearance, the Sun Devils failed to win their opening matchup and fell into the loser’s bracket, something they were unable to escape to reach the regional final. Ahead of Friday’s matchup with Fairfield, Smith emphasized the importance of starting on the right foot with each team remaining sitting at 0-0.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Smith said of the mentality in the locker room. “You live for each day. There is no tomorrow if you don’t win today. You’ve got to stay in the winner’s bracket.
“We’re ready for anything. We’ve seen a lot. We’ve gone through a lot… I think that bodes well when you get to tournament play.”
