Another ASU softball season is in the books.
The Sun Devils (36-22) nearly pulled off a stunner, but lost to No. 5 seed LSU in the Baton Rouge regional final on a walk-off in the ninth inning.
Ryan Clarke, The State Press' 2015 softball beat writer, and Justin Janssen, the 2013 beat writer and 2015 sports editor took part in a roundtable to break down what it means going forward.
1. Elephant in the room... Clint Myers went to seven Women's College World Series and advanced past the regional round in each season with the Sun Devils. He has Auburn in its first-ever super regional. In Tempe, Craig Nicholson has lost in the regional round twice. Does ASU have an issue at the top?
Ryan Clarke: Absolutely not. While the buck does stop with Nicholson, the last two early exits are no fault of his. Last season, Amber Freeman had a walk-off home run robbed, one that would have taken a very good ASU team to the super regionals and possibly even further. This season, with a young and depleted pitching staff, it's a wonder that ASU even made it as far as it did. Top-to-bottom the ASU offense was struggling, and freshman Breanna Macha quite literally shouldered the load in the circle in every game. The fact that this team made it just as deep in the postseason as last year's is a testament to coach Nicholson's leadership.
Justin Janssen: I don’t think ASU could have hired anyone to duplicate Myers’ success from those eight seasons, probably even Myers himself. That said, he’s one of the top five coaches in the game, just being named Coach of the Year in the nation’s best conference. On the surface, Nicholson hasn’t gotten close to Myers’ success, even with his players, but we’ll find out how he develops his own program soon enough. But going back to the regional, I thought LSU was the team making mistakes, not ASU, and the Sun Devils were the only unseeded team to beat a top-8 seed at a regional. If you recall, LSU was thrown out at home on short fly ball, Bianka Bell threw to third on a chopper, A.J. Andrews got hit by a batted ball.
2. ASU's two regional exits were heartbreakers, losing twice on Sunday in consecutive years. How soon can ASU get back to Oklahoma City?
RC: The only way ASU can make it back to Oklahoma City is if it can find consistency in the circle and become one of the most consistent hitting teams in the country. That's the formula for success in today's NCAA softball. With scoring higher than ever, it's a tough time to be a pitcher, but there's never been a time where it's more important to have great pitching. There's also never been a time where it's more important to have constant production from the leadoff hitter all the way down to the nine-spot.
JJ: If ASU gets to the Women’s College World Series under Nicholson, I don’t think it will be next year. 2016 looks like a second consecutive rebuilding season, with most of the offensive firepower departing (we’ll get into that later), although the pitching should improve. The 2017 season allows ASU’s young offensive talent to develop. Macha showed she’s good enough to win in the postseason, nearly pulling off a stunning upset at No. 5 LSU despite her team hitting below .200 in the postseason.
3. ASU is losing a ton of its power from 2015. How do the Sun Devils go about replacing some of it?
RC: It's incredibly hard to replace power when you have so little of it returning. At this stage, it looks like ASU will have to overhaul its offensive strategy completely. Gone are the days of the walk-off grand slam — those graduated with Freeman, Steele, Kemp and company. Nearly none of the returners and incoming freshmen posses the ability to hit 15-20 home runs in a season, which means the Sun Devils will have to adopt the offensive gameplan of a team like Oregon and live off of RBI singles and doubles if they want to be successful.
JJ: As Nicholson said after the season ended, ASU can’t replace the power it lost. The team’s going to have a ‘different’ look to it next year, having to use other methods than the home run ball to score. ASU's going to have to manufacture more runs and not reliant on one swing. The Sun Devils only had 12 stolen bases all last season, so that’s one area it should improve next season.
4. Breanna Macha was outstanding in the postseason after an up-and-down regular season. Does her success in Baton Rouge carry over into next season?
RC: I think it does. Macha was relied upon as the No. 1 pitcher all season, with her and Ryndak splitting nearly all of the time in the circle. After a postseason in which she started all four games and threw roughly 400 pitches, Macha will take that experience and use it to her benefit in the next three years at ASU. As far as her sophomore campaign is concerned, I expect Macha to continue to work toward being one of the top pitchers in the conference. She's still got plenty of work to do, but I think that's her ceiling.
JJ: ASU sure hopes so. As good as she was in the regional (28 IP, 31 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 15 K), you can’t just ignore the regular season, one in which she allowed 41 home runs. She’ll certainly get better from her freshman season (18-13, 3.69 ERA). With the offense slumping and a lack of a reliable No. 2, Macha had a lot of pressure on her in the postseason, but some of that might be relieved next year, as we just into the next question...
5. Pitcher Kelsey Kessler had to sit out this year. She had postseason experience with Kansas. What are your expectations for her next year, assuming she is eligible?
RC: Kessler provides a very interesting storyline for this Sun Devil team. I expect her to compete with Macha for the role of No. 1 pitcher right out of the gate next year. If it weren't for her eligibility issue, I think she would have taken on that role in 2015 and allowed Nicholson to have a normal rotation of three starting caliber pitchers. If she can shake off the rust and return to the form that she was in at Kansas, Kessler will be crucial to ASU's success in 2016.
JJ: I thought going into this year she would be in the rotation, possibly even the No. 1 starter, but obviously that didn't happen. In two seasons with Kansas she was 32-21 with a 2.38 ERA, averaging more strikeouts than innings pitched. I’m not sure she’ll take over Macha’s No. 1 starting spot next year, but she'll definitely be in the rotation and good starting pitcher in the Pac-12. It'll be interesting to see whether ASU sticks to its two-person staff it traditionally has, or expands next season.
6. ASU has a ton of seniors on next year’s squad, but they're not as accomplished as past seniors. Who leads the team from a player perspective in 2016?
RC: It's a shame that someone like Amber Freeman won't be able to play the role of "mama bear" for the next crop of ASU freshmen, but the Sun Devils won't be without vocal leadership next season. Naturally, some of that leadership will come from the senior class, but a large portion will come from younger players like Macha, Ryndak and Sashel Palacios. All three of them were under Freeman's wing at some point this year, and the Sun Devils are likely hoping that they pass on what they've learned.
JJ: In the past two seasons, ASU has had obvious senior leadership (Dallas Escobedo and Amber Freeman). The younger players have obviously watched them, but I think the torch gets passed to Macha team after putting the team on her back in the postseason, will command a lot of respect.
Reach the reporters at rclarke6@asu.edu and jmjanss1@asu.edu or follow them @RClarkeASU and @jjanssen11
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter
