(Photo: Karli Matthias/WCSN)
Tracy Smith and the Arizona State Sun Devils are ready to begin what is expected to be an exciting season Friday in Tempe. After an off-season full of accolades and Preseason All-America team honors, the Devils are finally going to show whether or not they live up to the high praise.
ASU kicks off their season with four games over the weekend, including a three game set against the Villanova Wildcats and a one game matchup with the No. 13 Michigan Wolverines. The game against the Wolverines is the second game of a double header that will take place on Saturday night.
The Devils come into the season ranked ninth in the nation after showcasing a prolific offense last season. Led by Spencer Torkelson, Hunter Bishop and Gage Workman, the Devils cranked a nation-leading 92 home runs in the regular season and finished tenth in team batting average (.310) in 2019.
Losing Bishop in the first round of last season’s Major League Baseball Draft doesn’t help, regardless the Devils look to pose just as big of a threat this season. The lineup will be aided by a group of young freshman looking to make an impact right away.
“They’re good,” said Workman. “I think if they came in when we were freshman we’d have a run for our money.”
Freshman walk-on Danny Marshall will start in center field after freshman shortstop-turned-outfielder Sean McLain injured his hand earlier in the week. McLain will likely be the everyday starter in center once he is fully healthy.
Originally coming to ASU as a pitcher, Marshall is getting the starting job in the outfield after coaches saw him shagging balls in batting practice and thought he had good defensive potential. Marshall played of the position in high school and also hit .339 as a senior at Queen Creek here in Ariz..
Sophomore Dusty Garcia and junior Hunter Jump could also see some time in the outfield, but they are both also nursing injuries. Utility infielder Nathan Baez and outfielder Seth Nager are also a pair of talented freshman who will likely get a chance to showcase their skills this season.
The pitching staff also got a much needed boost with a variety of quality arms, including freshman Cooper Benson, junior transfer Justin Fall, and sophomore transfer Tyler Thornton. They are all likely to see plenty of innings this season and help bolster what was a lackluster Devils pitching staff in 2019.
“I like the options of the pitching staff going into the season,” said Smith.
Those options will be put to the test right from the beginning with four games to be played in the first three days of the season.
Villanova comes into the season after an abysmal 2019 campaign in which they went 13-38 while finishing at the bottom of the Big East Conference. The Wildcats are expected to have Jimmy Kingsbury, Gordon Graceffo and Brandon Siegenthaler start on the mound this weekend.
The Devils are slated to give Fall the Friday night start with junior Boyd Vander Kooi to toe the rubber in the first game on Saturday, both against Villanova. The starters for Saturday night game against Michigan and Sunday game against Nova has yet to be announced.
Last season, Vander Kooi went 4-4, 5.59 with 85 strikeouts and 39 walks in 95 innings pitched for the Devils. At Brookedale Community College, Fall went 5-5, 1.82 with 68 strikeouts and 13 walks in 64.1 innings as a sophomore.
Nova will likely have a tough time stopping the Devil’s potent offense after posting a 6.31 team ERA and an alarming BAA of .299. In 2019, Kingsbury led the Wildcats with a 4.13 ERA in 85 innings pitched.
If the Wildcats end up failing to pose a threat to the Devils, the Wolverines should prove to be a formidable foe after finishing last season as runner up in the College World Series. The Michigan game will be an early indicator of how good the Devils and their pitching really are with the talent like star left fielder Jordan Nwogu. Nwogu finished the 2019 season with Big Ten All-Conference First-Team honors hitting .321 with 12 homers and 46 RBI.
The Devils will possibly be aided by the fact that Michigan will be making the commute from a game against the Cal Poly Mustangs at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale that afternoon.
With talks of making it to Omaha this season swirling, the Devils are completely aware of the high expectations surrounding them.
“I think all of us know what we expect this year,” said Workman. “We know we want to go far this year and we know what it takes now.”
The season is now in sight, and the Sun Devils will finally get a shot at proving why the road to Omaha runs through Tempe.
