(Photo: Gabrielle Mercer/WCSN) The 2016 season finally kicked off Friday night for Arizona State baseball, and while a win was secured in the end, there will be plenty of room for improvement moving forward. The Sun Devils (1-0) defeated the Xavier Musketeers (0-1) 5-2 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium thanks in large part
Tag: Arizona State Baseball
ASU Baseball: Sun Devils, Musketeers set for opening series
(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN) Arizona State will kick off its season against Xavier in a four-game series at Phoenix Municipal Stadium this weekend. For both teams, this weekend will serve as a means to feel out where they stand. It will be head coach Tracy Smith’s second opening day with ASU. This year, though,
ASU Baseball: Tabling four Cronkite Sports writers for 2016 predictions
Happy Opening Day! Like Presidents Day, today is not considered a public holiday. That’s okay though because our baseball coverage team here at cronkitesports.com has a gift to lift your spirits. Seven free-response questions, 10 end-of-season awards and four contributors to culminate in our 2016 Arizona State baseball roundtable. Let’s have some
ASU Baseball: Hever Bueno’s growth from the bullpen to a Friday night starter
(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN) Last season, Hever Bueno failed to build upon an encouraging freshman season. While the infamous "sophomore slump" has seldom made an impact on Arizona State’s roster, Bueno would be considered an outlier after appearing in 14 games, throwing 16 innings and yielding one starting nod. In that limited sample, Bueno
ASU Baseball: Canning turning heads despite inexperience at collegiate level
(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN) College baseball coaches rarely want to rely too much on inexperienced freshmen to fill key roles in their lineup, but Tracy Smith does not have much of a choice heading into the 2016 season. Most notably, the open outfield spots, with perhaps the exception of left field, appear
ASU Baseball: Stage is set for a new crop of sophomore standouts
(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN) In the words of head coach Tracy Smith, the best thing about freshman is they become sophomores. The freshman on the team might be able to attest to that fact more so than anybody. In the past, players such as Colby Woodmansee, Brian Serven and David Greer all took the
ASU Baseball: The Cycle – Brian Serven
ASU Baseball: Non-conference schedule preview
(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN) One year ago the Sun Devils opened Phoenix Muni in grand fashion with a set of series against Oklahoma State, TCU and Long Beach State. They even added a midweek game against the Oklahoma Sooners to make their non-conference schedule even more robust. This season, ASU will only face
ASU Baseball: Woodmansee, Bueno, Serven all earn top-300 prospects nod
(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN) Regardless of the fact that nine members of last year’s team heard their name called in June’s MLB Draft, Sun Devil baseball is still in some reliable hands. Juniors Colby Woodmansee, Hever Bueno and Brian Serven were all ranked within the top 100 of D1Baseball.com’s annual top-300 prospects list. Woodmansee
ASU Baseball: Expectations and goals for season two of Smith regime remain grounded in day-by-day improvement
(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN) The goal for Tracy Smith and Arizona State baseball every season is simple: Win a national championship. Of course, how attainable that goal is fluctuates on a season by season basis--a lot of the times by factors that are out of the head coach's control. Smith is trying to