It’s that time of year, when you can hear the “ping” of the aluminum bats. College baseball is starting this weekend for USA TODAY/ESPN No.1 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils as they take on Miami (Ohio), No.6 Vanderbilt and two-time defending College World Series champion No.11 Oregon State. Packard Stadium in Tempe will host the DeMarini Invitational Friday through Sunday. The Devils play No.18 Michigan Wolverines on Thursday night at Packard.
The Devils are going to have a tough season this year. Not that they are going to struggle, because they’re not. It’s just that they are in arguably the best conference in college baseball. The Pac-10 is loaded this year with teams that can go the distance. USA TODAY/ESPN has Sun Devil arch rivals the Arizona Wildcats at No.5 and Oregon State Beavers at No.11. UCLA is ranked No.17. UCLA is ranked much higher in other polls in the country.
The Devils have a solid team returning in 2008 led by the Pac-10 Player of the Year Brett Wallace (.404, 16 HR, 78 RBI). Wallace is making the move to 3B from 1B to free up the outfield. Playing 1B this year will be Ike Davis (.349, 61 RBI). Catcher Petey Paramore (.379, 52 RBI) is one of the clubhouse leaders and one of the best catchers in college baseball. Designated Hitter Kiel Roling (.356, 15 HR, 63 RBI) adds great pop in the middle of a devastating lineup.
The Devils are returning two of their best pitchers from last season. The ace of the rotation LHP Josh Satow (13-2, 2.76, 119 K in 133 innings) is returning for his senior year to help the Devils win another national championship. RHP Mike Leake (13-2, 3.69) is the No.2 starter this year.
Head Coach Pat Murphy is entering his 14th season with the Devils and has his team ready to travel to Omaha for the College World Series for the third time in four years. Coach Murphy told the Arizona Republic “We don’t care about other people’s expectations,” Murphy said Tuesday. “Our expectations are very high. The fact other people have flipped on such high expectations is really due to the excitement that these guys coming back have caused.”
Book your plain tickets and reserve your seats in Rosenblatt Stadium, because the Devils will return to the College World Series in 2008.
3 Comments
February 20, 2008 at 7:13 pm
[...] maximusmaxmcmaxerson wrote a fantastic post today on “Sun Devil baseball is #1″Here’s ONLY a quick extractThe least watch and covered of the major three college sports, college baseball is starting this weekend for USA TODAY/ESPN No.1 Arizona State as they take on Miami (Ohio), No.6 Vanderbilt and two-time defending College World Series … [...]
February 21, 2008 at 4:02 pm
You gotta love the Devils chances coming into this season. They have a powerhouse in Brett Wallace that might shatter every record this year. Look out!
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March 3, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Hey, I’m interning with an MLB club and we’re putting together a collarative evaluation on D1 players defense. We’re working with passionate and savvy fans like yourself, and the results will be available to those who participate. We have a website that makes it easy to do, and I was wondering if you go to enough games in person to participate. If that’s something you’d be interested in, email me at eriknmanningATgmailDOTcom