After a prolonged offseason, the top-ranked ASU baseball team is raring to go.
Junior third baseman Brett Wallace said as much last week at practice.
"We're just really looking forward to getting started, especially with the long layoff," he said. "We have high expectations, obviously."
ASU began last season with a three-game set against Southern Utah, scoring at least 20 runs in each game for the sweep.
But as the Sun Devils see its scheduled guests arrive to begin 2008, guarded optimism comes to mind as an apt description for the team's weekend plans.
"I'm always confident," ASU coach Pat Murphy said. "Anybody can be pessimistic. Why not be confident? It's a choice."
The Sun Devils will play hosts in the inaugural DeMarini Invitational this weekend, competing against the likes of Miami (Ohio), Vanderbilt and Oregon State — the latter two are ranked third and seventh respectively by Baseball America. ASU is currently ranked ninth in the preseason poll.
Though Miami comes with the least national regard, Murphy harkened back to last season to explain how tough it can be.
Unfazed early in the season, the RedHawks beat the nationally-ranked Texas squad in Austin.
"That was a pretty good win on a Friday night," Murphy said of Miami's victory over No. 7 Texas. "They are [a team] to be reckoned with."
The RedHawks did lose their top three starting pitchers from a year ago due to the draft and graduation, but will likely line up seniors Chris Niro and Matt Erwood, as well as junior Brad Wilder against the stiff competition.
Vandy, meanwhile, is coming off an SEC championship, and OSU has won two straight national titles, including a win over the Sun Devils in last season's NCAA College World Series.
The Beavers, like ASU, hold a potent mound duo in sophomore Jorge Reyes and senior Mike Stutes. Reyes emerged as a freshman during the postseason and was named the College World Series' Most Outstanding Player while Stutes won 12 games, striking out 129 batters last season.
Vandy is without pitcher David Price, the top pick in MLB's 2007 draft, but retains sophomore left-hander Mike Minor, who won nine games last season.
The Commodore offense is propelled by junior third baseman Pedro Alvarez, who is a national player of the year candidate after hitting .386 with 18 home runs and 68 runs batted in last season.
The Sun Devils will likely send sophomore Mike Leake, senior Josh Satow and either freshman Seth Blair or junior transfer Jason Franzblau to the mound for their first games of the season.
Satow said he too has been anxiously waiting his first start, while biding his time with his young teammates.
"We're just trying to talk to the younger guys, telling them what the season is going to be like, getting them ready," he said. "For the older guys, it's kind of a waiting game for us."
Reach the reporter at: apentis@asu.edu.
