ASU baseball head coach Tracy Smith is known for his antics on Twitter, but one stood above the rest Sunday night:
Send us wherever you want because we are winning the darn thing...Yes, I said it.
— Tracy Smith (@ASUSkip) May 25, 2015
Smith's guarantee, while not along the lines of former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath before Super Bowl III or Babe Ruth's "called shot," was bold.
But in the eyes of his players, it was warranted.
Junior center fielder Johnny Sewald followed his coach's lead, acknowledging the potential for a deep postseason run.
"We believe it also," Sewald said. "We have a team that can win a national championship. We have the talent. We have pitching, we have hitting, we have defense. We have it all, it's just we need to go out there and play our game."
Redshirt senior right fielder Trever Allen kept the expectations high for the Sun Devils, who open the Fullerton Regional as the No. 2 seed against Clemson Friday at 3 p.m. (ESPN3).
"(Smith's) confident in us, and knows that we can win the whole thing if we're playing well and that's just the team that has to come out and play," Allen said. "If we get that team, we are extremely good and extremely hard to beat.
"I know that we've lost a few games this year, but when the Sun Devils that come out and do the little things right all nine innings, then there's been games that we've shown that we're actually extremely hard to beat."
Sewald said he was anxious for a return trip to Fullerton, citing some "unfinished business" against the Titans.
"We have some unfinished business there," Sewald said. "It's obviously kind of a new team with us and a new team with them, but it's the same place we're going and it's the playoffs. Anything can happen."
Allen echoed his statements, saying there is "unfinished business" in Fullerton, which hosted the Sun Devils in 2013 and defeated them en route to winning the regional. ASU also fell to Pepperdine, who is this region's No. 4 seed, in its regional in 2014.
"We have unfinished business there for sure," Allen said. "We didn't get what we wanted the last two years that we've been there so hopefully we get a better result this time."
The Tempe native said ASU is looking to prevent a similar exit to last year, which saw the Sun Devils lose their first two games and get eliminated in the San Luis Obispo Regional.
"Last year we made a few mistakes here and there," Allen said. "Now in the postseason, the little things are what drastically change games and I think the teams that take advantage of the little mistakes teams make and the team that doesn't make the mistakes are the teams that go far in the tournament."
Allen, the longest-tenured Sun Devil at more than 200 games played, knows his way around the program.
"The coaching staff (this year) has changed a lot of things," Allen said. "It's a whole different type of feel around practice and games and the team interacts all together. Just putting that all together is going to perform what we want."
With his time in Tempe coming to a close, Allen is looking to finish off his career with one of the accomplishments his father had — make it to Omaha.
Allen's father, Jamie, was a pitcher and infielder for ASU from 1977-79 and helped lead the Sun Devils to their fourth national championship in 1977.
"It would be my dream, honestly," Allen said. "My dad won the College World Series and talks about how amazing it was, and I definitely would like a chance to go there and do it and that's the ultimate goal every time you come back for another year at Arizona State and probably any college, but especially here because we have so much history.
"That would be a great cap to an amazing career and a fun, awesome time that I've spent here."
Here is a breakdown of the Fullerton Regional field:
No. 3 seed: Clemson Tigers (32-27)
The Tigers are ASU's first opponent in the regional, playing the school in the regional opener Friday at 3 p.m.
Clemson is also the only school in the regional that ASU has not had a history with in the past two postseasons.
The Tigers come into the tournament red-hot after dropping to as low as 16-17 in April and scrambling to defeat Louisville in the ACC Tournament and clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament field of 64.
Clemson is expected to throw its ace in junior left-hander Matthew Cronover in Friday's opener against ASU's Brett Lilek (4-2, 3.29 ERA). Cronover is 10-2 with a 1.59 ERA in 15 starts this season, striking out 99 batters (and walking 36) in 102 innings. The pitching staff as a whole has a 3.91 ERA this season.
Leading Clemson on the offensive end is sophomore catcher Chris Okey, who is batting .320 with a team-high 12 home runs and 55 RBI (second-best on the team) and posting a .557 slugging percentage. Anchoring the lineup is redshirt freshman outfielder Reed Rohlman, who leads the team with a .370 batting average and 57 RBIs while also smacking three home runs.
No. 1 seed: Cal State Fullerton Titans (34-22)
With a victory Friday, ASU would face the winner of Cal State Fullerton/Pepperdine on Saturday. With a loss Friday, ASU would face the loser of Cal State Fullerton/Pepperdine in an elimination game Saturday.
Despite boasting one of the worst regular-season records of a non-power conference regional host in recent history, the Titans have momentum riding on their side.
The Titans have won 13 of their last 15 games to end the season, relying primarily on a pitching staff that has posted a 2.85 ERA.
With junior right-hander Thomas Eshelman (8-5, 1.57 ERA) expected to start against Pepperdine Friday, it appears that ASU likely won't have to face Eshelman (unless it's out of the bullpen in a regional final).
In his place will likely be junior right-hander Justin Garza, who would match up against ASU's Ryan Kellogg (8-2, 3.67 ERA). Garza is 4-3 with a 3.08 ERA in12 starts this season, striking out 53 and walking just 14.
Cal State Fullerton relies upon junior outfielders Davi Olmedo-Barrera (.310 BA, .414 OBP, eight home runs, 39 RBI and 12 stolen bases) and Josh Vargas (team-high .355 BA, .463 OBP, 12 stolen bases) on the offensive end, which will be heavily relied on for run support.
No. 4 seed: Pepperdine Waves (30-27)
With a victory Friday, ASU would face the winner of Cal State Fullerton/Pepperdine on Saturday. With a loss Friday, ASU would face the loser of Cal State Fullerton/Pepperdine in an elimination game Saturday.
The Waves are another team riding into the postseason on a hot streak after winning the WCC Tournament last week to clinch a postseason berth.
Junior right-hander Jackson McClelland anchors a solid pitching staff for the Waves, going 6-3 with a 2.42 ERA in 14 starts this season. If Pepperdine knocks off Cal State Fullerton in its first game and ASU defeats, Clemson, ASU's Kellogg would likely match up against freshman left-hander Ryan Wilson, who has gone 8-3 with a 3.66 ERA in 14 starts this season.
Pepperdine's offense is reliant on a pair of low-average, high-power hitters in junior infielder Hutton Moyer and junior first baseman Brad Anderson. Moyer is hitting .280 this season with 13 home runs and 38 RBI, while Anderson is hitting .276 with 10 home runs and 39 RBI.
ASU opens regional play against No. 3 seed Clemson on Friday at 3 p.m. on Goodwin Field in Fullerton, California.
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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