Ariz. St. charges into College World Series

Associated Press

TEMPE, Ariz.

An awkward offseason coaching change and looming NCAA punishment did nothing to diminish the power of the Arizona State baseball program.

When the colorful, sometimes outrageous Pat Murphy was shown the door by athletic director Lisa Love, the job went to Tim Esmay, a former Sun Devils player and an assistant coach at Arizona State for the last nine years.

As unassuming as Murphy is outspoken, Esmay has the Sun Devils rolling into the College World Series for the 22nd time. With a gaudy 52-8 record, Arizona State is the tournament’s No. 1 seed, a team that won its first 24 games this season and is 5-0 in the NCAA tournament. The Sun Devils will play Clemson in Omaha on Sunday.

“There’s something special to this group,” Esmay said.

Arizona State has won the College World Series five times, but the last was in 1981. Murphy’s team almost did it last year, losing to Texas in the play-in game for the final series.

Arizona State swept the Pac-10 honors with player of the year (Zach McPhee), pitcher of the year (Seth Blair) and coach of the year.

Murphy was terminated without cause last December following a two-year NCAA probe that found his program had committed ethical violations, largely stemming from hundreds of phone calls made in recruiting a player.