ASU, UA play for Pac-10 baseball title

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ASU, UA play for Pac-10 baseball title
Jeff Metcalfe
The Arizona Republic
May. 20, 2007 08:02 PM

One win needed in three chances against your rival, which is in second place.

That is about as good as it gets for an Arizona State-Arizona baseball series. Seventh-ranked ASU (41-12, 17-4 Pac-10) can do no worse than tie for the conference title after completing a sweep at defending national champion Oregon State on Sunday.

No. 17 UA (39-13, 14-7) swept Washington to move past UCLA into second in the conference standings. If the Wildcats sweep the Sun Devils, they would earn the Pac-10's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament because of a tiebreaker advantage.

ASU needs one win to clinch its first outright Pac-10 title since the South and North divisions merged in 1999. The Sun Devils finished in a three-way tie for first in 2000. They won Pac-10 South titles in 1981, '82, '84, '88 and '93.

The rivalry series at Packard Stadium is Wednesday through Friday because ASU coach Pat Murphy must be in Indianapolis next weekend to serve on the committee that chooses the NCAA field.

"You've got to play this (UA) series like you play all of them, with a special flavor to it," Murphy said. "We really don't want to share the Pac-10 title. We've worked this hard. It'll be special."

Tuesday is the 40th anniversary of what is widely regarded as the greatest ASU-UA baseball game.

In a playoff for the 1967 Western Athletic Conference Southern Division title in front of 8,314 Phoenix Municipal Stadium, ASU's Gary Gentry pitched a 15-inning complete game on two days' rest in a 3-2 ASU win. The Sun Devils went on to win the second of their five national titles.

ASU and Arizona will be among the 64 NCAA Tournament teams. The Sun Devils, No. 5 nationally in power ratings entering Sunday, are a virtual lock to host a four-team regional tournament from June 1-4. By finishing strong against UA, they almost certainly would be among the top eight national seeds and have a chance to host their first Super Regional.

Regional hosts will be announced Saturday. The NCAA field will be unveiled May 28.

ASU's starting pitching was superb at Oregon State, as all three starters went eight or more innings. A week before, none of the starters made it past 6 2/3 innings as the Sun Devils used their nation-leading offense to sweep UCLA.

Against Arizona, ASU will need a combination of both, plus its defense, ranked third nationally. The teams split in non-conference play, ASU winning 22-8 in Tucson on Feb. 27 and losing 6-5 on March 28 in the Challenge at Chase.

UA's Preston Guilmet (11-1, 1.58 ERA) is the Pac-10 ERA and strikeout (126) leader. ASU probably will counter with freshman Mike Leake (11-1, 3.57) on Wednesday in a game that will either end the drama surrounding the Pac-10 race or exponentially increase it.

This is the first season-ending rivalry series with a title on the line since 1989.
 

Lefty

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The Cats are realistically playing for 2nd place. I doubt they will sweep ASU, especially since Mills(2nd starter) is out.

The UofA needs to play well to improve their ranking and seeding in the playoffs. Also, the Wildcats have taken the series three years in a row from ASU so they need to keep that streak alive.
 

MaoTosiFanClub

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No TV coverage for three rivalry games that will determine the conference championship? That pretty much explains how I can't get into college baseball.
 

Kel Varnsen

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No TV coverage for three rivalry games that will determine the conference championship? That pretty much explains how I can't get into college baseball.

TV coverage sucked this year.

There were zero games on KAZ or one of those kind of channels. I don't know why.
 

Lefty

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Ryan Perry is starting tonight for the Cats, not Guilmet. Preston will pitch tomorrow.
 

Nasser22

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TV coverage sucked this year.

There were zero games on KAZ or one of those kind of channels. I don't know why.
I agree, weren't there like 3 games on TV? At least the tourney will be televised.
 

Lefty

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Cats lose 8-5 as ASU wins the Pac-10. Congrats! Now the Cats look to take tomorrow and Friday and at least get the season series. Also, they need to win the next two to get a better seeding for next week. Once again, congrats to the ASU baseball team. Next year will be the Cats turn.:)
 

Nasser22

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:fans: Now to sweep and get in a good position for the postseason. I'm really looking forward to the tourney with this team. They may be able to win it all. It's been around 20 years since their last championship right? It'll be about time we get that 6th.
 

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I will give U of A credit for having a good team and I think they will be a #2 seed in the tournament. The 2B for UA had 2 very costly errors last night. I am not sure who the second pitcher was for UA last night but he had a good game. Perry got rocked and the second pitcher came in and gave them 4 good innings.

This years ASU team really is a damn good team and I think they will actually be even better next year since most of their better players are young. I wish I could get out there again tonight but won't be able to.

Go Devils!!
 

Lefty

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I will give U of A credit for having a good team and I think they will be a #2 seed in the tournament. The 2B for UA had 2 very costly errors last night. I am not sure who the second pitcher was for UA last night but he had a good game. Perry got rocked and the second pitcher came in and gave them 4 good innings.

This years ASU team really is a damn good team and I think they will actually be even better next year since most of their better players are young. I wish I could get out there again tonight but won't be able to.

Go Devils!!

Weldon, the second baseman has not played much this year. I wonder if Lopez will stick Abel back in the rotation? Ryan Perry is not even a starter for the Cats. In fact, he has not pitched much because he was in a serious motorcycle accident before the season began. Brad Mills, who relieved him, is the #2 starter but has been hurt the past three weeks. I'm hoping he will be okay next week.

Tonight the Cats are throwing Preston Guilmet, who by the way was voted the best pitcher in the Pac-10. Preston has been unbelievable and luckily for the UofA, is only a sophomore. If the Devils win tonight, they definitely will have earned it.
 

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So I nabbed some tickets for game 3 of the series on Friday, and I haven't been to Packard in years and years, so I have a question:

My tickets say they are in section F level S. I see on ASUs site that section F is right behind home plate, what does level S mean? "second" level is all I can guess? I'm actually hoping to be on the 2nd level, so I can be a bit higher up and possible receive some minimal shade from the press box.
 

Lefty

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Game 2 Top 4 and ASU is up 6-2, scoring 6 runs in the third after Arizona scored 2 in the top of the 3rd. You can "watch" it here.

Game Tracker

I'm listening to it on radio. The UofA's defense has been their achilles heal. ASU taking advantage when the opportunity presents itself. Good teams do that.
 

Lefty

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Does UA have second place wrapped up or do they need a win in this series?

They were a half game ahead of UCLA going into tonight. The Bruins play three at home against Oregon State. I was hoping for two wins this week but right now it's not looking good. Tomorrow Coulon pitches and you just don't know which Coulon will show up. I think ASU will hit him pretty good.
 

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