After an uninspiring close to the season in Stillwater, the Sun Devils find themselves in an unexpected position: Playing on Wednesday to open the Big 12 Baseball Tournament.
The Devils were in the driver's seat holding the #2 seed in the conference entering last weekend's season finale series, needing just one win to clinch a first round bye. Instead, they played from behind for the entire weekend, putting up the most resistance on Saturday before another bullpen implosion set the series sweep in motion with Saturday's 7-4 loss.
Help elsewhere in the conference was nowhere to be found, as Arizona took two of three games at Houston with an 8-1 win on Saturday, and TCU beat Utah 8-6 in 11 innings to win their weekend series in Salt Lake City. Kansas' sweep at Morgantown only added more salt to the wound as the Devils found themselves bumped out of bye position, finishing as the #5 seed in this week's tournament.
With the regular season complete, there is no time to dwell on what happened. Only thing to do is to learn from the mistakes in Stillwater and look to Wednesday's game against #12 seed BYU. The Cougars entered the weekend tied for the final tournament position with UCF, winning two of three games at home against Texas Tech to finish a game ahead of UCF in the standings (1-2 vs. Baylor) and secure the final spot.
The Devils and Cougars locked horns less than a month ago, with that series being the springboard that launched a 10-2 stretch before the Oklahoma State series. The Devils dominated the series in Tempe, outscoring BYU by a score of 36-13, including a 16-6 mercy rule win in the finale on April 26th. The hope is that this game against BYU can spark a similar run and improve the Devils standing for the NCAA tournament, where they are currently projected as the #3 seed in the Atlanta Regional according to D1 Baseball.
The danger of playing a team like BYU is a false sense of security. The Cougars only path to the national tournament is to win the Big 12, and as the #12 seed, the odds are extremely stacked against them.
BYU isn't your typical "last team in", playing to a 27-26 overall record despite a 10-20 record in Big 12 play. Playoff baseball, especially single elimination, is a much different animal than the regular season. The margin for error is razor thin, and a first round defeat would deal a massive blow to the Devils RPI which sits at #46 after last weekend.
Starting pitching has yet to be determined for Wednesday's game. With a bye, the stage would have been set for Ben Jacobs to start on normal rest. However the added game presents the question of starting him on short rest or putting an opener out and running with a bullpen game. The bullpen is heavily taxed coming out of Stillwater, giving up 9 earned runs in 12.1 innings pitched over the weekend.
A win on Wednesday will set up a rematch with our rivals 107 miles to the south, while a loss will have the Devils anxiously waiting for Selection Monday on May 26th.
How to Watch Arizona State vs. BYU
The Devils (35-21) and Cougars (27-26) will kick off the 2025 Big 12 Tournament from Globe Life Field at 7:00am MST on Wednesday morning.
The game will be streamed only on ESPN+ (subscription required), with Tim Healey and Max Rossiter on the radio call for KDUS 1060 AM.
Betting Information
Arizona State enters the game as a 2.5-run favorite, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
The Devils are -250 on the moneyline, while the Cougars are +190.
The over/under on total runs is 11.5.