Takeaways From Arizona State Baseball Tournament Draw

The Arizona State baseball program is officially tournament bound.

The Sun Devils - coached by fourth-year head coach and program alum Willie Bloomquist - were officially selected to be the three seed in the Los Angeles regional on Monday morning.

With that, the selection ended several days of nervous waiting after the program sputtered to end the season.

Ultimately, the rough finish is in the rearview mirror now and the Sun Devils are looking to make the most of this chance - here are three takeaways for the weekend ahead:

1. All California Opponents

This one is obvious - the Sun Devils are in a region with the host in 15th seeded UCLA, the second region seed in UC Irvine, and Mountain West champs Fresno State.

UCLA and UC Irvine are battle-tested over the entirety of the season, while Fresno State has picked up play as of late despite only putting together a 31-29 campaign to this point.

The region will be a challenge for the Sun Devils, but it isn't insurmountable...

2. Potentially Favorable Slate

The Sun Devils have the talent to win the region - and UC Irvine's recent run of opponents leaves reason to be concerned that the Anteaters aren't currently conditioned to compete with power four competition despite having proven they can defeat high level programs this season.

UCLA also is one of the lower national seeds that received the opportunity to host a regional - it doesn't seem insurmountable for the Sun Devils - who boasted the best offense across the entire Big 12 - to capture some magic once again and make a serious run.

It feels as if a win in the opening matchup with UC Irvine is a must however, which brings the last takeaway into the fray.

3. The Sun Devils Can Win the Region - or Flame Out Early

This Arizona State baseball team truly has the ceiling of a College World Series squad - but also the floor of a squad that goes winless in the tournament.

While it would be unlikely for the Sun Devils to drop an elimination game to (presumably) Fresno State, a fifth loss in as many games could potentially prove to be too much for a team that entered the season with so much promise.

The opening game of the Sun Devils' tournament experience is set for Friday night at 6 P.M. Arizona time - the game is set to be broadcast on ESPNU.

Read more about the best-case scenario for ASU in the upcoming tournament here, and listen to the recent podcast covering the ultimate selection the Sun Devils received here.

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