Arizona State Sundevils Final '07 Rank: 5 49-15

Arizona State finished the ’07 season 49-15, earning their 20th CWS appearance and a top five national ranking. Despite their success however, anything less than a sixth national championship (a mark which would tie them for second most historically) had to be considered somewhat of a disappointment for ASU. Nevertheless the outlook is just as optimistic in ’08 as the Devils will be coupling an experienced core of established players with yet another highly touted recruiting class for another run to Rosenblatt.

One of the biggest bats in the country will once again be swinging for the Maroon and Gold in junior Brett Wallace. Wallace, who is slated to move back to his high school position of third base from first, is one of the top returning juniors in the country, earning consensus First Team All-American status and his Pac-10 Player of the Year performance in which he won the Pac-10 Triple Crown, hitting .404 with 16 homers and 78 RBI. Rejoining Wallace in the heart of the Arizona State batting order will be Ike Davis who will move to first base from the outfield. Davis earned First Team All-Pac-10 honors for the second straight season, after batting .349 with eight homers and 61 RBI. The son of former major league pitcher Ron Davis, Davis also pitched in seven games, finishing 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA. Petey Parmore will be doning the the tools of ignorance once again for ASU after spending the summer with Team USA. The junior batted .379 with six homers and 52 RBI and also drew 53 walks which helped him to lead the Pac-10 with a .500 on base percentage. Spelling Paramore behind the plate when he’s not DH’ing will be Kiel Roling. Roling’s stellar sophomore season produced a .356 average with 15 home runs and 63 RBI in 58 games.

A pair of dominating pitchers will be leading the ASU charge from the mound. Senior southpaw Josh Satow went 13-3 with a 2.76 ERA and sophomore righty Mike Leake’s debut featured a 13-2 mark, 3.69 ERA and set an ASU freshman record with 94 strikeouts. Jason Jarvis will be back after serving as ASU’s closer in ’07. The sophomore to be pitched in 21 games, going 2-2 with 11 saves, an ASU freshman record. Senior Derik Olvey redshirted last year after undergoing Tommy John sugery. A big season from the former LSU and Notre Dame hurler could go along way in putting ASU over the top. In 2006 Olvey went 6-2 with a 3.50 ERA, pitching in 12 games (11 starts) for LSU. In 69.1 innings, he struck out 55 batters while issuing only 14 walks. Talented fireballer Seth Blair will be looking to challenge Leake’s record breaking freshman numbers as he headlines ASU’s crop of first year players. Blair, a is one of five Sun Devil freshmen who were selected in the 2007 MLB Draft.