Don't look now, but the Sun Devils are flying.
After watching their bullpen blow a late lead on Friday in the opener of a road series with Baylor, Arizona State got up early and never looked back Saturday, evening the series with a 4-1 win. Heading into Sunday's rubber match, both teams traded runs back and forth, but a five-run seventh from the Sun Devils put them on top.
It marked their fourth straight series win and their seventh win over the last eight games. Not only that, but the Sun Devils moved into sole possession of second place in the Big 12 with just two weeks left to go in the year.
West Virginia still sits atop the conference standings, as they have for most of the year, but their 18-4 conference record isn't out of reach for the Sun Devils, 16-8 in Big 12 play. Behind them, it's a three-way tie between Kansas, TCU, and Arizona; Arizona State has series wins over two of those teams.
Nothing is guaranteed still, but it sure looks as if Arizona State has played its way into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021. It would also mark the first appearance for head coach Willie Bloomquist, who came into the year desperately needing to snap the drought.
The most recent batch of tournament projections sees Arizona State securing a No. 3 seed in the Irvine Regional, which would square them up against No. 13 UC Irvine, No. 5 Oregon, and New Mexico. It wouldn't be ideal, given some tough competition, but the Sun Devils will take it.
Of course, there's plenty of time until the brackets are finalized.
Arizona State has two weeks left of the regular season, and they have to finish strong. This upcoming weekend, they'll host Houston; the Cougars haven't done much all year, but they're winners of four straight and are showing some late signs of life.
After that, the Sun Devils get a chance for revenge against Grand Canyon before traveling to Stillwater for a series against Oklahoma State. That will wrap up the regular season and commence the Big 12 conference tournament.
Under Bloomquist, the Sun Devils are 2-5 in the conference tournament, never winning more than one game in a season. They lost both games last year, marking a disappointing end after Arizona State won 15 of their last 18 regular season games.
The Sun Devils are having another late-season surge, due in part to their schedule ending with series against some of the Big 12's worst programs. Still, they've won 12 of their last 18 and have a great shot at winning each of their two remaining series, echoing their finish last season.
They cannot afford to repeat last year's conference tournament showing, but Arizona State has put themselves in a good position thus far.