Arizona
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:
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…
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.
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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Any time we go to Globe Field, memories immediately go back to the 2023 World Series, when we faced the Texas Rangers in this ballpark. It’s interesting to note that neither team has made it back to the postseason since then. Indeed, at least the D-backs have come close: the Rangers failed to post a winning record in 2024 or 2025, missing out on the playoffs by eight and six games respectively. The two sides have similar records right now as well, with Texas’s 19-21 a mere half a game behind Arizona’s 19-20. However, in the mediocre AL West, that’s good enough for the Rangers to be in second, two games back of… the Athletics? Wait, what?
Yeah, the last time before this year the A’s had sole possession of first was June 19, 2021 – y’know, back when they were in a different city, and weren’t embarrassed to name it. But, then, the AL as a whole is strikingly mediocre, with only three teams above .500: the Yankees, Rays and A’s. It’s because just four teams have winning records in interleague play, and none of those are better than 5-4. Right now, the National League is 25 games above .500 in interleague play, at 315-290. Texas are 7-8, taking two of three from the Cubs, Phillies and Pirates, but losing to the Dodgers and getting swept by the Reds (y’know back when they didn’t suck).
Last time the Diamondbacks were here was in August last season, and we took two out of three. We lost the opening game on a walkoff, 7-6, but rebounded to take the next two contests, by margins of 3-2 and 6-4. Andrew Saalfrank got the save in the final game. How long ago that all seems. We’ll see if Michael Soroka can keep the sterling streak of starts going. He was certainly a hard-luck loser last time, allowing just the one run over 6.1 innings. But that was enough in a 1-0 loss. In his last three start, the D-backs have scored a total of two runs, so hopefully he gets a bit more support tonight.
Arizona
Where to watch Arizona Diamondbacks vs Texas Rangers: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 11
What to know about MLB’s ABS robot umpire strike zone system
MLB launches ABS challenge system as players test robot umpire calls in a groundbreaking season.
Baseball is back and finding what channel your favorite team is playing on has become a little bit more confusing since MLB announced plans to produce and distribute broadcasts for nearly a third of the league.
We’re here to help. Here’s everything you need to know Monday as the Arizona Diamondbacks visit the Texas Rangers.
See USA TODAY’s sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division.
What time is Arizona Diamondbacks vs Texas Rangers?
First pitch between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. (ET) on Monday, May 11.
How to watch Arizona Diamondbacks vs Texas Rangers on Monday
All times Eastern and accurate as of Monday, May 11, 2026, at 6:32 a.m.
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MLB regional blackout restrictions apply
MLB scores, results
MLB scores for May 11 games are available on usatoday.com . Here’s how to access today’s results:
See scores, results for all of today’s games.
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