It's been 1,454 days since Sun Devil Baseball saw postseason action, but today, the boys are back on the road to the promised land.
That road begins tonight against the Big West regular season champion UC Irvine Anteaters in the 2-seed/3-seed matchup of the Los Angeles Regional.
Ben Jacobs will be getting the ball in his biggest start of the season as he takes on a team that reached the 40-win plateau, while also looking to shake off the current 4 game losing streak for the Devils. He will enter this matchup carrying a 3-3 record with a 5.03 ERA and 1.37 WHIP.
After a shaky start to the season, Jacobs settled in and tossed 6 innings of shutout ball against Gonzaga and posted three other starts allowing two or fewer earned runs, before getting hit hard in his last two starts of the regular season. Despite allowing just two runs on three hits against BYU in the Big 12 tournament, he still was tagged with the loss as the offense could not contribute behind him.
Opposing the Devils for Irvine will be sophomore starter Trevor Hansen. In 15 starts, he has posted a 9-2 record with a 3.24 ERA. While his best game of the season was a complete game 3-hit shutout against Hawaii on April 18th, he allows a lot of traffic on the basepaths.
In 89.0 innings he allowed 81 hits and 29 walks for an above-average 1.236 WHIP. Unlike what the Devils did last week in the Big 12 tournament against BYU, the scouting report on Hansen has to be to wait for him to make mistakes and force his pitch count high early by working deep counts.
The Anteaters are led on offense by the power hitting duo of Jacob McCombs and Colin Yeaman. Both reaching double digits in home runs (11 for McCombs, 13 for Yeaman) and each recording 30+ extra-base hits, they will represent the danger part of the order for Jacobs to navigate with care. Collectively, the Anteaters slashed .301/.418/.476/.894, while their pitching held opponents to a .258/.360/.397/.757 slash line.
For the Devils, Isaiah Jackson has been the well known story of the second half with his late season power surge to finish the regular season with 16 home runs and a slash line of .304/.410/.614/.1.009. Matt King's .405 average led the Devils and was good for 12th in the nation in his 53 games this season. Patience will be the big key for the Devils at the plate today in support of Jacobs on the mound.
How to watch Arizona State vs. UC Irvine
The Sun Devils and Anteaters will face off from Jackie Robinson Stadium, just off the campus of UCLA at 6pm MST.
Dani Wexelman and Xavier Scruggs will have the call on ESPN2, and simulcast on ESPN+ (subscription required).
The incredible duo of Tim Healey and Max Rossiter will be in the booth on the Sun Devil Radio Network on KDUS 1060 AM.
Betting Information
The Sun Devils enter tonight's matchup as 1.5-run underdogs, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
The Devils are +114 on the moneyline, while the Anteaters are -145.
The over/under on total runs is 12.5.