Colby Woodmansee sat at the table inside the media room at Packard Stadium, fighting back tears.
In the final installment of the Territorial Cup rivalry at Packard, ASU had fallen 10-9, after its freshman shortstop committed a crucial error in the eighth inning that allowed Arizona to keep its rally alive and score the tying and winning runs.
Three of the first five games that will decide the Territorial Cup take place this weekend, as No. 5 ASU baseball (21-9, 9-3 Pac-12) squares off with its southern arch-rival.
Rest assured that when the Wildcats (22-9, 7-5 Pac-12) visit Phoenix Muni for the first time of ASU's post-Packard era, the memory of the historic loss that occurred a year ago is till fresh on the minds of those in the Sun Devils' clubhouse, even if it's moved two and a half miles west.
And what a difference 365 days makes — much more than just a new athletic director, new coaching staff and new facility.
Last year's starter, sophomore Seth Martinez, now gets the ball on Fridays, and junior Brett Lilek on Sundays. (Of course, for the second consecutive weekend, no one will start Friday, as the series has moved from Saturday through Monday to accommodate for national telecasts.)
Junior Jordan Aboites was the starting second baseman, replacing Drew Stankiewicz who is now in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
Now it's a freshman — Andrew Snow, who is former Sun Devil and current Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia's cousin.
The Sun Devils began the year with junior left fielder Chris Beall at first base, and head coach Tracy Smith has since replaced Beall with senior Joey Bielek and gone with a defensive-minded platoon in left utilizing seemingly every eligible outfielder except Beall.
A freak injury to junior infielder Dalton DiNatale has enabled sophomore David Greer to shine defensively at third, as well as establish himself as one of the most productive hitters on this year's team.
Woodmansee is among the most versatile No. 3 hitters in the Pac-12, having defied traditional baseball logic slotted in a power hitter's spot with his wiry frame and made significant progress defensively — through 30 games, he's made just six errors after making nine in 28 games played last season (he started 24 of them).
Sophomore catcher Brian Serven is tied for the team lead in home runs (four) and has thrown out 65 percent of opposing base runners.
Junior center fielder Johnny Sewald went on a brutal slump, and then forgot how to do anything bad, racking up extra-base hits and covering the remaining portion of the earth that isn't water.
You're not alone if you're finding it difficult to weave together a coherent narrative about the 2015 ASU baseball program. But that's been part of the fun.
For all the of changes to the ASU depth chart, there's still plenty that is familiar.
Junior Ryan Kellogg (5-1) dominates on Saturdays, and junior designated hitter RJ Ybarra still flashes raw potential (four home runs) while recording more strikeouts (17) than RBIs (15).
The "Cardiac Devils" rallying cry is alive and well, thanks to the success the Sun Devils have had in close games.
Smith embraced the rivalry even before ASU held its first official fall practice.
“@Dbacks: A Wildcat and a Sun Devil. #DbacksVsDevils #AZPride pic.twitter.com/ZnsYnbOiVD” All the best to Chip Hale - classy guy.
— Tracy Smith (@ASUSkip) March 4, 2015
He's even spent some time getting to know his Wildcat contemporaries in Tucson, including Arizona Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale and ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst Pedro Gomez, whose son Rio is a freshman left-handed pitcher for Arizona.
Retweet for ASU Louie Medina or Favorite for U of A Pedro Gomez @tukee5 @pedrogomezESPN pic.twitter.com/xAC81ktkF1
— Tracy Smith (@ASUSkip) March 9, 2015
Gomez is among 26 freshman on both sides preparing to experience the Territorial Cup for the first time.
Arizona just restructured its pitching staff even more drastically than ASU did before its series against Long Beach State, with two new starters scheduled for Sunday and Monday, one of whom is a position player who was the last Wildcat to ever pitch at Packard — third baseman Bobby Dalbec.
However, they too are stocked with familiar names — for every Ryan Burr, there is a Tyger Talley.
This season, Arizona has managed to do one thing better than anyone else in college baseball — hit.
Its .327 team batting average leads the nation, four points higher than runner-up LSU, ranked No. 3 in D1Baseball's Top 25.
Individually, junior second baseman Scott Kingery (who spent two years in center field) is the country's best, hitting a blistering .477 and maintaining a .510 on-base percentage.
Right behind him is shortstop Kevin Newman, with a team-high 12 doubles and 25 RBIs.
With a record crowd expected for the most anticipated series of the season, if ASU puts together a complete series as it did against Stanford, they could record back-to-back sweeps at Muni for the first time and thereby clinch a Territorial Cup point — the Sun Devils lead 7.5 - 5.5.
But it's rarely that easy, and it wouldn't be rivalry week if it were.
Pitching matchups:
Saturday
Seth Martinez (1-0, 2.52 ERA, 39.1 IP) vs. Cody Hamlin (4-1, 4.26 ERA, 50.2 IP)
Sunday
Ryan Kellogg (5-1, 3.56 ERA, 55.2 IP) vs. Xavier Borde, (2-0, 1.69 ERA, 26.2 IP)
Monday
Brett Lilek (4-2, 4.33 ERA, 35.1 IP) vs. Bobby Dalbec (2-3, 4.34 ERA, 18.2 IP)
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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