The Sun Devils look to advance past the NCAA regionals for the first time since 2013.
Arizona State softball won the Women's College World Series in 2011 and made it back to Oklahoma City for the 2012 and 2013 WCWS.
Since then, the Sun Devils have had three different coaches as their win total has been cut in half, from 60 in 2011 to their current 30.
Despite the coaching instability, seemingly resolved with the arrival of Trisha Ford, ASU still has fought its way into the NCAA Tournament for a 13th consecutive season. In order to advance to a super regional for the first time in four years, the No. 22-ranked Sun Devils must win a double-elimination regional at No. 13 Mississippi, which won the SEC Tournament.
ASU (30-20) opens at 4 p.m. Friday against North Carolina (38-19), followed by Ole Miss (40-18) vs. Southern Illinois (33-22). Winners and losers play Saturday followed by a third game then the regional title will be decided Sunday.
"It's going to be good for us that we're going to be facing different teams and their styles," ASU sophomore outfielder Fa Leilua said. "It challenges you as a player and as a team to see how much we can adjust to a different pitcher that we've never faced. I'm pretty sure this team is set for regionals to start fresh."
ASU also had 30 regular-season wins in 2016 then went 2-2 at a regional in Baton Rouge, La., losing 4-0 in the championship game to LSU. The Sun Devils also were 2-2 in a Baton Rouge regional in 2015 and 2-2 in a home regional in 2014.
"These players know how to compete in a regional," Ford said. "They're all used to playing in postseason and it's expected, which is great."
ASU is on a four-game losing streak after being swept by No. 9 UCLA. If the Sun Devils and Bruins advance, they would meet in a best-of-three super regional at UCLA.
"We were doing things in slow motion and second-guessing ourselves" against UCLA, Ford said. "I told them it's a life skill. You can either go through life worried about failure or you could grab it by the horns and execute and whatever happens, happens."
Shortstop Chelsea Gonzales and catcher Sashel Palacio, both seniors, made All-Pac-12 first team for ASU. Junior pitcher Breanna Macha and sophomore third baseman Taylor Becerra earned third-team honors and pitcher Giselle Juarez made the All-Freshman team. All will have key roles in the regional, along with hot-hitting Leilua and senior first baseman Margaret Stahm.
No. 2 national seed Arizona opens at home
Eight-time national champion Arizona softball is seeking a return to the WCWS for the first time since 2010.
The No. 5-ranked Wildcats (48-7) are seeded second nationally behind Florida. They are hosting a regional and opening at 6:30 p.m. Friday against New Mexico State (29-23). Others playing are Hillenbrand Stadium are South Carolina (32-23) and St. Francis (Pa.) (48-9).
If UA advances, it would remain at home for a super regional against the winner of a Baylor regional that includes Oregon State. Eight of nine Pac-12 teams are in the 64-team field with five hosting regionals.
For the conference champion Wildcats, third baseman Katiyana Mauga is Pac-12 co-Player of the Year, Danielle O'Toole is Pitcher of the Year and Mike Candrea is Coach of the Year. The only other teams to sweep those awards were ASU in 2008 and California in 2012.
Five UA players have double-digit home runs, led by Mauga with 22. O'Toole is 27-4 with a 1.08 ERA and 191 strikeouts. Mauga and O'Toole, both seniors, are among 10 finalists for USA Softball college Player of the Year.
Mauga has 89 career homers, six away from tying the NCAA-record 95 set by Oklahoma's Lauren Chamberlain (201215).
Candrea, in his 30th season, has 1,516 career wins, second-most nationally behind Michigan's Carol Hutchins (1,522).
ASU clinches Territorial Cup Series again
Arizona State clinched a fourth consecutive undisputed Territorial Cup Series title over rival Arizona last Sunday after picking up both outdoor track points to reach the needed 10.5 points for the 2016-17 series crown.
The ASU women's track team was sixth at the Pac-12 Championships in Eugene, Ore., two places ahead of UA. On the men's side, the Sun Devils finished eighth, edging the Wildcats by one point.
Only a baseball point is left to be decided. After splitting non-conference games, ASU and UA baseball are playing a three-game Pac-12 series that started on Thursday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
In 2016-17, ASU won series points in men's cross country, men's swimming, gymnastics, men's golf, women's tennis, men's and women's indoor track, men's and women's outdoor track, volleyball (half point), women's basketball (half point) and beach volleyball (half point).
Arizona's 2016-17 points are in football, men's basketball, soccer, women's cross country, women's swimming, women's golf, softball, volleyball (half point), women's basketball (half point) and beach volleyball (half point).