Arizona State Baseball Selected to NCAA Tournament

A lengthy week of waiting is finally over for the Arizona State baseball program.

Willie Bloomquist's program was selected to a first NCAA tournament appearance since 2021 on Monday morning - the Sun Devils are set to play in the Los Angeles region starting on Friday.

This is the first appearance in the tournament for the storied program under alum Willie Bloomquist - and a tepid finish nearly cost them a spot in the big dance.

Arizona State was officially placed in 'last four in' territory after losing four straight contests to close the season - finishing 35-22. The program's RPI placed them firmly on the cut line, but a collection of high quality wins proved to be their saving grace.

Some may argue that this team underachieved, as the assortment of All-Big 12 talents and posing the best offense in the league should have resulted in more victories, but none of that matters now.

Now, Arizona State faces an uphill climb to advance to a potential super regional in the near future.

The three-seeded Sun Devils will be afforded two losses in this regional - the opening game against UC Irvine (41-15) for the right to play either the 15th national seed UCLA (42-16) or the Mountain West champions Fresno State (31-27) on Saturday.

A loss to the Anteaters will place ASU on the brink of elimination immediately - it is paramount that the potent offense headlined by Isaiah Jackson comes alive against a quality team in UC Irvine.

Details for the matchup with UC Irvine below:

Friday, May 30

Jackie Robinson stadium, Los Angeles, CA

6 P.M. AZ time

TV: ESPNU

The program - as mentioned previously - has gone through a rough patch, having not made an appearance in the super regionals since 2010.

The once proud program that are winners of five national titles haven't been able to secure another one since - although they have continued to produce quality MLB talent on a consistent basis, such as Boston Red Sox legend Dustin Pedroia and current Arizona Diamondbacks ace Merrill Kelly.

Please take a minute to listen to our recent podcast where the current state of the program is discussed here, and the resurgent season that Sun Devil alum Spencer Torkelson has enoyed with the Detroit Tigers here.

Please let us know your thoughts on the upcoming tournament slate for the Sun Devil program when you like our Facebook page when you click right here.