“Baseball is going to give you its fair share of disappointments, but we had to stay locked in and play all the way through." ASU wins a slugfest versus the Stags in their Austin regional opener and will now face host Texas. Mac Friday's recap

The network is on Cox channel 328 and starts at 4:00 our time or 6:00 their time, if you subscribe to Cox and their enhanced sports programming package...

Go Devils!!!

Tthe majority of his video goes into detail about his TD run in the 70-7 win over UA, and him being the first Chinese-born college player to score a TD

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Starters for ASU vs. Fairfield from UFCU Diesch-Faulk Stadium in Austin:

ss Drew Swift
lf Hunter Jump
2b Sean McLain
dh Ethan Long
c Nate Baez
1b Jack Moss
3b Hunter Haas
cf Joe Lampe
rf Kade Higgins

SP: Tyler Thornton

It was brought to my attention that over the last nine games, where ASU has a 7-2 mark, the Sun Devils averaged 44.2 points in those nine contests. UA 31.2 scored ppg in case you were wondering.

In a game where it's not uncommon to shoot yourself in the foot because of nerves, miscues, penalties, etc. I found that stat to be interesting.

The Good

In game adjustments: I thought Fairfield was a really well coached team. Their plate approach was fantastic tonight. I liked their pitch sequence against our hitters. I got the impression that they had us scouted extensively. But, when it mattered late in the game, Smith ran circles around the old timer in the other dugout. Nager pinch running turned into a run and an acrobatic catch down the line. Kai Murphy had a huge pinch hit in the 9th inning and scored the game winner (which I loved btw). Pivaroff pinch hit in the 9th and got on base. Every move Smith made worked. On the other side, Fairfield left their all conference closer in the bull pen while ASU scored 2 in the 9th. I'd love to hear their coach's reasoning although I don't hate him for doing that.

Timely hits: The guys got the hits when we needed them

We Won: The announcers said ASU was .500 when tied or trailing after 5 this season. That's resiliency. With the win, we obviously go above that mark.

The Bad:

Our plate approach ignored the game situation I thought. We had the Fairfield ace on the ropes a few times tonight and came out swinging instead of working counts. It could have been a great idea had Moss line drive found the corner but it found a double play unfortunately. I would have liked to see Swift and Moss both have 4+ pitch AB's there but instead it was a quick inning for their starter.

ASU plate discipline: Not only were we swinging early, but we were swinging out of the zone.

The Ugly:

Walks: That was tough seeing some of our pitchers not find the zone. That really was ugly. But, I'll say this, it is a lot easier to move on from that after a win than had we lost.

Can anyone tell me how to pick up ESPN 3

I mentioned this not only because I knew him well, but also because he was a member of the Huddle. Died way too young in his early 40's from an apparent heart attack.

Was a senior member of both the Saguaro and Chandler High Schools' staffs, winning multiple championships with both. Man, that guy loved to talk, but would go very much in-depth with his football knowledge Played on the offensive line at Cal.

RIP Chris

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“He was promising us two things, and that was that we would become a better man and that we would graduate. I liked that." His meeting with Herm Edwards was just one of the highlights of 2023 cornerback Jshawn Frausto-Ramos time in Tempe, a place he plans to visit again this year

I am not sure if this has been mentioned before. I just heard it yesterday from the new Principal at Mt. View. Sherman will stay on at Queen Creek, which is great and strange since Joe and Travis have been working together for so long. There are already rumors of transfers headed to Mt. View.

As much as RJ Jones enjoyed getting to know Chris Hawkins through the virtual recruiting experience, his high expectations of meeting him in-person didn't disappoint. “He’s a young coach, so he relates to us a lot because he just was in the college situation. It would be fun playing for him."

With an explosive stretch of games at the plate, freshman infielder Ethan Long has rejuvenated the Sun Devils down the stretch. As Zach Keenan reports Long's trademark bat flips and infectious personality are best left untamed

Fair to say that there's a good chance he visits here in June, and looks like the biggest competition would be more from the highly academic schools although he does personfy the dual-threat quarterback ASU is seeking out.

"I think the kind of connection he (Zak Hill) tries to build with us is so much deeper than a coach-to-a-player relationship." The local quarterback who is committed to Florida State had plenty compliments of ASU and today's visit experience

For starters, they ranked ASU 15th which is the highest I've seen any preseason publication rank the Sun Devils.

Consequently, they also have ASU winning the South in a tie-breaker over USC (meaning ASU wins the head-to-head in Tempe) albeit with a 9-3 mark which I think is a tad low (I predict 10-2).

In terms of their individual preseason honors they have the following ASU players:

All-Pac-12 first team

RB Rachaad White
OL Dohnovan West
DL Tyler Johnson
DB Chase Lucas
P Michael Turk
ST DJ Taylor (as a kick returner)

All-Pac-12 second team

QB Jayden Daniels
OL Kellen Diesch
DL Jermayne Lole
DB Evan Fields

All-Pac-12 third team

LB Merlin Robertson

All-Pac-12 fourth team

RB Chip Trayanum

Lastly, here are their conference position group rankings of ASU:

RB - 1st
QB - 2nd
DL - 2nd
DB - 2nd
LB - 3rd
WR and TE - 4th
OL - 5th

Nationally they have ASU as follows:

QB - 8th nationally
RB - 10th nationally
LB - 10th nationally

Agree or disagree with any of the predictions/rankings here?

A seemingly never-ending recruiting dead period is finally behind us and starting today ASU will have several coveted prospects descend on their campus for visits that could enhance their recruiting class. Here's a rundown of those players and their recruiting picture with the Sun Devils

So another one of Coach K’s former Duke assistants/players just got let go from Marquette. This is becoming a long list of coach K assistants and players that seem get high profile jobs, have limited success then tank. Here are few off the top of my head:

Quin Snyder: Missouri
Tommy Amaker: Michigan
Johnny Dawkins: Stanford
Steve Wojohowski: Marquette

I have always wondered if Coach K was really as good at X’s and O’s Or if he just had the best talent year in and year out...After watching assistant after assistant get fired after “learning from Coach K” I’m a believer that Coach K has really been just the greatest recruiter.

which may explain how Bobby views the game...get the best players and just let them play.

Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = The Mystery of Sun Devil Baseball

The only mystery, that I can see, concerning ASU baseball is the position of our AD and not why Tracy is just an average run-of-the mill college baseball coach...

Most of us "old guard" were spoiled from the 1960s to about a decade ago, when, during that time span, our baseball program was nationally ranked, regularly playing for championships, and considered an elite program nationally...

Presently, as we all know, we are just a pretty average program that can win a few games more than we lose most seasons under TS in the PAC, and also win enough to make the playoffs, as a distant seed, in a distant part of the country, before departing the playoffs very quickly, and this year figures to be no different, given the Devils recent history under TS...

We finished tied for 5th this year with Oregon St and under TS we have finished 3rd, 3rd, 10th, 7th, 5th and, once again, this season 5th, tied with Beavers...

Simple math, by adding up his finishes and then dividing them by total seasons, tells us that his average PAC standing is 5th in the PAC and that his conference win totals, per season, on average, equals 14.5 wins, which is very close to what we came up with, once again, this season...

About two thirds of those PAC wins came by virtue of beating the teams below us in the standings, while winning only about a third of our games against the top half of the PAC, where AU, Oregon, Stanford and UCLA reside...

There are many of this board that hang their hats on what could've have been the year before, when a promising season was wiped out by the pandemic, before PAC play began, but I'm convinced, given Tracy's history over seven seasons, that we would've faded again last season, based on the acquired data available to us over his tenure at ASU...

I have concluded that he is an average college baseball coach in a very tough conference and that is where we will reside as long as he is our head baseball coach, not withstanding that he and his staff probably did their best coaching job this season, given the multiple player injuries sustained during the season...

I have also concluded that this type of baseball is good enough for our AD and his right hand man Don Bocchi, since they keep extending Tracy's contract and don't voice any displeasure with Tracy's chronically average results, while also talking about our sports program expectations to play at a championship level, such as what our golf team is doing right now...

This provides some of us with cognitive dissonance given the inconsistency related to administrative words versus administrative actions, especially as it relates to our baseball program...

Perhaps, there is no mystery associated with this cognitive dissonance because both RA and DB have concluded, that as Sun Devil athletic administrators, that is the best that we can do regarding baseball these days...

They don't have to pay Tracy the way some schools pay their coaches to reach a higher success level, plus he runs a clean program where his kids go to class and do well, and he recruits well enough to get many kids to MLB where they all want to be, and neither RA or DB want to acknowledge that they made a mistake with this hire, if the goal was to compete for championships, host a regional and/or make it to the CWS, once in awhile...

So, being satisfied with average turns into complacency and that is where we are at these days with our baseball program...

In conclusion, I have a lot of sympathy and empathy for those who think that Tracy is anything but what he is, given the available data or evidence, based on his past history at three colleges, and especially at ASU...

And, more concerning for some of us, that seems to be just fine with both RA and DB...

On a more positive note, here's hoping that our golf team continues to do well in the national tournament both today and beyond...

Have a great and safe Memorial Day...

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

The winner will take on the Illinois/Oklahoma winner in the early afternoon. Admission remains free at Grayhawk.



GOLF CHANNEL COVERAGE

Team Match Play QUARTERFINALS (LIVE) 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM (AZ TIME)

Team Match Play SEMI-FINALS (LIVE) 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM (AZ TIME)

The 2022 College Football Hall of Fame ballot has been released. Former ASU Defensive End Al Harris and former kicker Luis Zendejas, are on the ballot as well as former ASU coach Darryl Rogers.

At the Rivals Camp Series in Socal that was held last weekend Recruiting Analyst Cody Cameron caught up with one of the highest-rated prospects on ASU's recruiting board who has the Sun Devils on his final list of schools and has been very impressed with what the program has had to offer

“When they offered me, it was surreal, didn’t feel like real life...This one is a big one because I grew up at ASU." 2023 local Mesa Mountain View tight end Jackson Bowers described to Cody Cameron his conversation with TE's coach Adam Breneman who offered him a scholarship today