Josh Spence has waited with anxious anticipation to toe the rubber in a game for the ASU baseball team after last pitching for his squad in June’s College World Series.

Now the senior left-handed ace will, well, wait some more.

After missing a couple weeks of pitching this spring due to arm soreness, coach Tim Esmay has decided not to schedule any starts for Spence, who is a preseason First-Team All-American, in ASU’s opening series, which opens tonight at 7 p.m. at Packard Stadium against Northern Illinois.

An opening in this weekend’s rotation will give the first-year head coach an opportunity to look at a new array of arms that have been added to the staff this season.

Throwing the first pitch of the 2010 season for the Sun Devils, who begin the season at No. 5 in the Collegiate Baseball poll, will be junior Seth Blair.

The right-hander earned Pac-10 Honorable Mention recognition last season, and with Mike Leake now tossing fastballs in the Cincinnati Reds organization and Spence elevated, when he returns, to the ace role, Blair will be relied upon to face quality competition this season.

“It’s his time to shine,” Esmay said of Blair.

In addition to Blair, some newcomers should get a chance to take the mound for their first Division-I action, giving Esmay an opportunity to see how his rotation may shape up going forward.

Merrill Kelly, a junior transfer from Yavapai College who played his high school ball at Scottsdale’s Desert Mountain High School, is likely to start one of Saturday’s doubleheader contests.

Sitting in the dugout staring out onto his new home field on Wednesday, Kelly said he is chomping at the bit to pitch at a new level in a familiar area.

“I have a lot of family and friends coming in this weekend,” Kelly said. “It’s nice to have that support system, rather than being far away where I don’t know anybody and I have to get used to things all over again.”

Kelly, who was 15-1 with a 3.20 ERA at Yavapai, says his changeup, one “that I’ll use in any count,” is his strongest pitch.

Jimmy Patterson, a junior transfer from Central Arizona College and a product of McClintock High School in Tempe, could also get a start in the opening series.

Northern Illinois made a visit to Tempe last season during the DeMarini Invitational at Packard Stadium and faced ASU once, losing 6-1.

The Huskies, a Mid-American conference team that finished 19-34 a season ago, are 0-4 against the Sun Devils all-time dating back to the clubs’ first matchup in 2006.

NIU will open the series on Friday by throwing lefty Chuck Lukanen, who went 7-6 with a 5.65 ERA last season.

Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu