OMAHA, Neb. — As a captain on the ASU baseball team, senior Kole Calhoun takes pride in stepping into any role necessary to help his team win.
While his club-leading 17 home runs have certainly been a large part of the aid Calhoun has provided to the No. 1 Sun Devils (52-8), who open up play in the College World Series on Sunday against No. 20 Clemson (43-23), it's been his 90-foot strolls that are giving headaches to opposing pitchers.
The left-handed slugger is fourth nationally in walks (62) this season, an indication of the improved patience the senior has displayed at the plate.
“I just try to get what they give me,” Calhoun said after tying a school record with five walks in Game 1 of ASU's Super Regional against Arkansas. “I'm not going to go and make outs that I don't have to make. I've got Riccio [Torrez] hitting behind me, and what a great thing to have because he's going to get me over. If they're going to walk me, I'm going to take my walks.”
Earlier in the season, when Calhoun was struggling to find his rhythm in the batter's box, ASU coach Tim Esmay applauded the captain's ability to find other ways to contribute, including his propensity for collecting free passes.
Now, with his swinging stroke at its peak — Calhoun has four home runs and seven RBI in five postseason games — and his improved plate discipline intertwining with the sophomore Torrez's 25-game hitting streak, the middle of the order may be one of ASU's greatest strengths as it attempts to capture the program's sixth national title and first since 1981.
The evolution of Calhoun's game certainly hasn't gone unnoticed. After going undrafted out of high school and not being selected after any of his draft-eligible college seasons, the native of Buckeye, Ariz., was selected in the eighth round (264th overall) by the Los Angeles Angels earlier this month.
“It only took five years to fool somebody into picking me,” Calhoun mused last week. “[My teammates] started yelling at me when I was [practicing at] first base and said I got picked up by the Angels. I was ecstatic. I was yelling out at first base; you know how I am.”
A meeting of Legends
As part of the celebration of the final season of Rosenblatt Stadium, which first hosted the College World Series in 1950, the College World Series Legends Team was announced as part of opening ceremonies on Friday.
Four former Sun Devils were named to the team: Infielders Sal Bando and Bob Horner, pitcher Eddie Bane and outfielder and MLB career home-run leader Barry Bonds.
Bonds received a standing ovation when he was introduced to the packed house at Rosenblatt, and he and the rest of the ASU legends spoke with the team following the opening ceremonies.
Esmay was asked by reporters on Friday to describe the pulse of his team, the only returning squad from last year's CWS field.
“I think with our club [it] is the ability to handle adversity and handle situations and stay pretty focused and pretty directed,” Esmay said. “The old cliche one pitch at a time, one play at a time, our team is definitely that type of team. They've handled everything that's been thrown at them. They've been thrown every type of behind, ahead, extra innings.”
Esmay named junior Seth Blair his starting pitcher for Sunday's game against Clemson. The team's No. 3 starter a season ago, Blair (12-0, 3.35 ERA) pitched just part of one inning during last season's CWS run. Esmay said his ace has the poise necessary to take the ball on the grandest of college baseball stages.
“[It's] tremendous what he's done,” the coach said of his pitcher. “Tremendous growing-up process. It's been fun to watch. From a freshman spot guy to a sophomore who was our Sunday guy that everybody kind of forgot about because you did have Mike Leake going on Friday and you had Josh Spence going on Saturday — and so kind of he's been kind of laying low in the weeds, and this was his year, this was his moment.”
Junior Casey Harmon (7-3, 3.73) will start for Clemson on Sunday.
