Hot off a sweep of Gonzaga and riding a five-game win streak, Arizona State now turns its attention to the first game of conference play in their very first year in the Big 12. That said, the opponent is one they know all too well: the hated rival Wildcats.
The Sun Devils are feeling red hot right now, having won their previous four games by multiple runs. They've also had a massive improvement in pitching performance over that stretch, with a team ERA of 1.50 since last Tuesday.
The Wildcats will test that streak, though. Arizona comes into this game with a 11-4 record and they remain undefeated at home, where tonight's game will take place. Things started out rough for the Wildcats, as they dropped their first three games on the year to Ole Miss, Clemson, and Louisville; the first two teams are currently ranked.
Since then, though, the Wildcats have course-corrected. They had consecutive games won in just seven innings and swept San Diego, rattling off five straight wins leading up to the Astros Foundation College Classic in Houston. There, they knocked off Texas A&M (at the time ranked first in the nation) and Mississippi State (also ranked at the time) before losing to reigning national champion Tennessee.
They followed that up by sweeping Pepperdine in a four-game series that was decided by a combined margin of 36-8. The Wildcats were expected to be major players in the Big 12, and they're rounding into form now.
They're led by head coach Chip Hale, an Arizona alum who has an extensive MLB coaching career. He worked as a coach in mutliple roles for five different MLB organizations, including two seasons as the manager of the hometown Diamondbacks. He came home to coach his alma mater in 2022 and has taken the Wildcats to the regionals every season thus far.
He'll square off against Sun Devils head coach Willie Bloomquist, who played for the Diamondbacks, though not when Hale was coaching there. Both coaches took the head job at their alma mater the same year, and thus far Bloomquist is 7-7 against Hale. Arizona State swept the Wildcats in 2023, but they've lost to their rival in the conference tournament twice in the Bloomquist era.
Now, with both schools in the Big 12, the rivalry gets renewed.
How to watch Arizona State vs Arizona
The Sun Devils and Wildcats will throw out the first pitch at 6:00 PM MST at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona.
The game will air on ESPN+ (subscription required). Brody Dryden will be on air for play-by-play.
Betting information
For the first time all year, Arizona State enters this game as an underdog, with Arizona favored by 1.5 runs, according to DraftKings sportsbook.
The Sun Devils are +130 on the moneyline, while the Wildcats are -166.
The over/under on total runs is 12.