Opponents announced for ASU's baseball regional

Although a No. 3 national seed earned Arizona State home-field advantage for the first two rounds of the NCAA baseball tournament, it did not get the team an easy path to the College World Series.

The Sun Devils host Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Stony Brook in this weekend’s Tempe Regional at Packard Stadium. It is considered one of the toughest pairings in the 64-team field, perhaps surpassed only by the Long Beach (Calif.) Regional grouping of Long Beach State, San Diego, California and Fresno State.

The Tempe winner will face the Long Beach champion in a best-of-three super regional. That winner advances to the CWS in Omaha, Neb, June 14-25.

“It’s a very challenging road,” ASU coach Pat Murphy, one of 10 members of the Division I baseball committee that selected the tournament field, said on Monday. “There are some No. 1 seeds that have the way paved a little easier on paper, but it still comes down to the way you play.”

ASU (45-11) is the top seed for the double-elimination regional. It begins play against No. 4 Stony Brook on Friday or Saturday.

No. 2 seed Vanderbilt (40-20) boasts All-America candidates Pedro Alvarez at third base and Ryan Flaherty at shortstop. The Sun Devils drilled the Commodores 18-6 at Packard Stadium in February, a game Alvarez missed due to injury.

Murphy and Vandy coach Tim Corbin are close friends. Corbin’s stepdaughter, Molly Blatt, is part of ASU’s baseball operations staff.

Third-seeded Oklahoma (34-24-1) limped down the regular-season stretch but beat regional-host teams Oklahoma State and Texas A&M in the Big 12 tournament. Stony Brook (34-24) qualified as champion of the America East conference.

“This time of year, you have to expect that you are going to play a good team,” catcher Petey Paramore said. “That’s just what the road to Omaha is like. We just have to prepare for games the way we always do.”

ASU’s preparation could include deviating from its normal pitching schedule. It is possible that ace Mike Leake might not pitch the opener to be saved for a tougher second-game matchup against Vanderbilt or Oklahoma.

Such a decision comes with at least some risk degree, as last year’s Tempe Regional opener against Monmouth was no breeze for ASU. However, Murphy said, “You don’t play to win one game. You play to win the tournament. So, you do what you can, and I’ve been thinking about (how to handle the pitching).”

The other seven national seeds are No. 1 Miami (Fla.), No. 2 North Carolina, No. 4 Florida State, No. 5 Cal State Fullerton, No. 6 Rice, No. 7 Louisiana State and No. 8 Georgia.

Among other Pac-10 schools, Arizona is the No. 1 seed in the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Regional; Stanford is hosting a regional as the top seed; UCLA is seeded second at Fullerton, Calif., and California is the No. 3 seed at Long Beach.

Two-time defending national champion Oregon State (28-24) was left out. Murphy broke the news to Beavers coach Pat Casey, a friend, in a telephone call early Monday morning.

“That was a tough thing to do, and I don’t know if it was appropriate to call,” Murphy said. “But I didn’t want him to get the news by seeing it on the TV screen. … He knows I supported Oregon State (for a tournament berth).”

Oregon State handed the Sun Devils two of their three losses this season at Packard Stadium. ASU is 70-6 at home the last two years, a source of comfort as they prepare for the rigors of the postseason.

Of their 20 CWS appearances, the Sun Devils got their via a Valley-staged district/regional/super regional 16 times, including in all five national title seasons (1965, ’67, ’69, ’77 and ’81).

“We’ve always taken pride in playing well at home,” third baseman Brett Wallace said. “Our fans pick us up and do a great job of being the 10th player for us. We’re comfortable at home and excited about being able to host. This should, hopefully, get us off to a good run.”