CRONKITE SPORTS

Is this the year both ASU, Arizona miss out on baseball postseason?

May 21, 2018, 6:12 PM | Updated: 7:02 pm

The Arizona Wildcats defeated Arizona State in the Territorial Cup but remain on the bubble for the...

The Arizona Wildcats defeated Arizona State in the Territorial Cup but remain on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. (Photo by Jack Harris/Cronkite News)

(Photo by Jack Harris/Cronkite News)

TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona State coach Tracy Smith looked exhausted as he sat on a stool in front of an empty metal locker, talking to reporters inside of a gloomy visitors’ clubhouse deep inside Hi Corbett Field.

Outside, on the diamond, the Arizona Wildcats baseball team celebrated, having just rallied to a 10-9 extra-inning victory to take a three-game series against Smith’s Sun Devils.

ASU has long been out of the running for an NCAA Tournament bid. Arizona, by way of its walk-off win on Saturday, kept its hopes of a postseason berth alive, just barely.

It’s a set of circumstances to which neither of the historical rivals are accustomed.

“I think it’s a wake-up call for everybody,” Smith said. “There is parody in college baseball.”

Combined, the Sun Devils and Wildcats possess a robust résumé: nine national championships, 39 College World Series trips, 78 NCAA tournament appearances. When they meet, it’s usually a matchup between two of the country’s top contenders.

Not this year.

While ASU spiraled toward its second consecutive losing season – a first for the program – Arizona entered the three-game series in Tucson on the tournament bubble. UA was in the top 50 of the NCAA’s RPI rankings but remained absent from both D1baseball.com’s and Baseball America’s projected fields of 64.

“You don’t totally control the RPI,” Arizona coach Jay Johnson said on Friday night. “You just have to go out and take care of what you can.”

The Wildcats did what they needed to on Saturday, keeping their season alive in dramatic fashion. They’ll likely need to sweep Oregon on the road next weekend to give themselves a shot of qualifying.

“Them winning on Saturday was critical,” said Teddy Cahill, a co-author of Baseball America’s weekly NCAA tournament projection, who still doesn’t believe UA’s resume is strong enough to make the tournament.

“(Had they lost), they would have definitely finished the Pac-12 season under .500. Another loss to Arizona State (RPI No. 117) would not have helped their RPI in any way and they would have fallen further down the Pac-12 standings.”

This season, conference play has been the Wildcats’ biggest obstacle. Two seasons ago, the team had 17 league wins en route to an appearance in the College World Series final. This year, UA is 20-6 in non-conference play but has stumbled to a 12-15 mark in the Pac-12, good for just sixth place in a conference that Cahill said is having a down year anyway.

“That’s where you have to earn your spot in the tournament in a lot of ways,” Cahill said of the importance of conference play. “Those are the teams you play the most often so how you perform against them is weighed reasonably heavily.”

ASU, on the other hand, has struggled against all opponents this year. Though the Sun Devils are extremely young — playing as many as eight freshmen some nights — they have also been extremely inconsistent both on the mound and in the field. While the team’s .295 batting average ranks second in the Pac-12, it owns the conference’s fourth-worst ERA (4.80) and the worst fielding percentage (.963). On Saturday night, for example, a dropped ball by sophomore outfielder Hunter Bishop in the seventh inning helped fuel the Wildcats rally in the series finale.

“We’ve got a very young team and we are going to commit to that and keep playing them,” Smith said. “I think brighter years (are) ahead.”

Max Rossiter was a key member of ASU’s bright years of the past. Now a color analyst for Sun Devil baseball radio broadcasts, the memories came flooding back to the former catcher as he stood field-side during the Sun Devils’ pregame batting practice on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s weird to see both teams possibly not making the playoffs,” said Rossiter, who was part of the 2012 ASU squad that was ineligible for the postseason but handed Arizona its final loss before the Wildcats finished on an 11-game win streak en route to a national championship.

“I don’t like coming down to Tucson, but there were some great memories here,” he said. “I think 2012 was one of the best series I’ve ever been a part of.”

This year’s edition was just as hectic. Friday’s game, a 10-5 ASU win, was the only one decided by more than two runs. When UA sophomore Nick Quintana scored the winning run in walk-off fashion in the 11th inning on Saturday night, it set the 6,000-person crowd (there were over 16,000 in attendance in the three games combined) into delirium in the Wildcats’ final home game of the year.

“The big thing was we want to put this field to rest the good way,” UA junior pitcher Cody Deason said. “You gotta look around and say, ‘Wow, I’m not going to see (these guys) again so let’s win this one for us.’”

But entering the final week of the year, having both teams projected to miss the NCAA tournament is unusual territory. Cahill thinks it might be the way the game is headed. He, like Smith, sees increased parody in the game as a key reason why. According to Cahill, NCAA rule changes (such as caps on roster sizes) and swollen television revenue have helped level the playing field.

“It feels like it should be significant (that both ASU and UA could miss the postseason) but it feels like it’s not,” Cahill said. “In some respects, this is just where college baseball is right now. There’s a lot of parody in the game and just because you’re a powerhouse program doesn’t mean much of anything.”

The rivalry itself still means a lot. ASU junior reliever Connor Higgins – who earned the win in Friday’s game – insisted “there is big pressure” when playing Arizona. Johnson said that, even though the Wildcats had less wiggle room playing against ASU this year, the series “feels very similar” to years past.

“Feels like it’s a must-win,” the Wildcats’ skipper added.

Deason echoed the same message. He was a key member of Arizona’s 2016 team that came within a game of a national championship before losing to Coastal Carolina in the CWS Final. Beating ASU this weekend was important but so, too, was keeping his team’s postseason chances alive.

“We’re going to be on the brink,” he said amid a Saturday night postgame celebration. “We got a shot.”

It wasn’t long ago though, that Arizona and Arizona State baseball entered the final week of May with so much more than “a shot” of making the tournament.

“The history and tradition of both schools is no doubt something we embrace, sell in recruiting, that we talk about in recruiting,” Smith said. “But we cannot rely on that.”

Cronkite Sports

Cronkite Sports

Sports gambling in Arizona moves closer to reality

In the near future, the Arizona sports fan’s experience could include the ability to place bets inside sports venues while the action unfolds.

3 years ago

Higley quarterback Kai Millner committed to Cal this spring, despite visiting the campus just once ...

Cronkite Sports

Arizona high school football recruits still committing amid coronavirus

Despite visiting campuses few times if at all in some cases, class of 2021 high school football prospects from Arizona are committing at record rates.

4 years ago

(Photo via Cronkite News courtesy Mesa Community College Facebook)...

Arizona Sports

COVID-19 prompts junior colleges to push for cancellation of sports

The 2020-21 school year for Maricopa County community colleges may not include sports, schools await a decision by the district chancellor.

4 years ago

New Coyotes President and CEO Xavier Gutierrez believes outreach in the Arizona Hispanic market is ...

Cronkite Sports

New Coyotes CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez looks to reach Latino community

New Coyotes CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez is the first Latino president and CEO in NHL history and hopes to reach new fans in the Valley.

4 years ago

Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, who joined the Phoenix Mercury in the offseason, is ready to get the WNBA...

Cronkite Sports

Full pay, 22-game season in Florida on tap for Phoenix Mercury

Another league has agreed on a return-to-play plan in the month of July. This time it’s the WNBA, whose members include the Phoenix Mercury.

4 years ago

Phoenix Rising FC assistant coaches Peter Ramage (left) and Blair Gavin are awaiting details about ...

Cronkite Sports

Phoenix Rising players await news on resumption of USL Championship

Phoenix Rising FC and the USL Championship are set to resume play July 11 while players wait on more details for the return.

4 years ago

Is this the year both ASU, Arizona miss out on baseball postseason?