ASU redshirt senior right fielder Trever Allen hits a single in the 7th inning at the ASU vs. Oklahoma baseball game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Feb. 18, 2015. Allen’s single was a part of the five-run explosion in the bottom of the 7th for the Sun Devils. (Daniel Kwon/The State Press)The parallels between the ASU baseball team and its next opponent are so numerous that Sun Devils (3-1) might feel as though they’re looking through a purple-tinted mirror.
No. 17 ASU welcomes to town the 4-0 No. 8 TCU Horned Frogs, who have garnered numerous accolades during head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s tenure in Forth Worth, Texas, and are not ranked outside the top 10 in any major poll.
ASU and TCU’s personnel are similar, with aces leading the two pitching staffs. The teams both have veteran outfielders depth in the bullpen and on the bench.
The biggest difference might quite simply be that under Schlossnagle, TCU has been able to succeed at a higher level than ASU under its previous leader, Tim Esmay.
Now that new head coach Tracy Smith has a series win out of the way, he’s intently focused on the task at hand — a team loaded with preseason All-Americans in senior starting pitcher Preston Morrison and junior closer Riley Ferrell.
Morrison, the Friday starter, (9-4, 1.32 ERA in 2014) will square off against junior Brett Lilek (4-5, 2.68 ERA) and sophomore Tyler Alexander (2.36 ERA) is slated to face junior Ryan Kellogg (8-3, 3.76 ERA) in a showdown of southpaws in the second game.
Sunday, of course, hasn’t been confirmed on the ASU end, but junior lefty Alex Young (1-3, 2.51 ERA) is a possibility for the Horned Frogs, after throwing six scoreless innings in an 11-0 win against SIU in the third game of their series.
Having been about as long as Schlossnagle, Smith has fought his share of postseason battles, and is prepared to face a seasoned, disciplined group with experience playing deep into June.
“I remember that (2013) Indiana team that we had that went to the College World Series, we had this confidence and aura about us that was real,” Smith said. “So (TCU) is going to walk in here, and they’re not going to be intimidated that it’s Arizona State, the tradition, the history, because they’re coming off of a World Series appearance. I expect them to be mature and confident.”
After a come-from-behind win against an unranked Oklahoma team Wednesday, Smith was adamant about eliminating careless mistakes that nearly cost ASU its first midweek win.
“These games to me are probably going to come down to who does the little things well,” Smith said. “You can’t have the base-running mistakes we had (Wednesday), you can’t take five or six innings off emotionally, and then all the sudden decide that you’re going to kick it in, because (TCU) has some very talented guys at the back of that bullpen.”
It’s unclear just how much of an impression Smith has made upon his players, a situation not unlike football coach Todd Graham where he "inherited” a program and didn’t recruit the majority of the players on his roster.
But as the familiarity gap Smith appears to have regarding player tendencies shrinks, the more dangerous ASU’s veteran group has the potential to be.
Add the motivation of hosting a top-10 caliber opponent in the mix, and college baseball fans across the country will be in store for quite a show at Phoenix Muni.
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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