"We went toe-to-toe in two heavyweight matches — the regional and the super regional — and we didn't throw a sucker punch," Serrano said. "We lasted until the last round and we got our hand raised."
The Sun Devils, champions of the Pac-10, figure to also pack a punch. Coach Pat Murphy's squad, making its 20th appearance in the College World Series, has one of the most feared offenses in the nation.
Sophomore first baseman Brett Wallace, the Pac-10 Player of the Year and a candidate for national player of the year laurels, leads a potent attack with a .423 average. Wallace, named first-team All-American by Rivals.com, has 16 home runs and 78 RBIs.
The Sun Devils also feature two-time All-Pac-10 performers Eric Sogard, Ike Davis and Petey Paramore, as well as all-conference pitchers Mike Leake and Josh Satow.
Sogard, the Pac 10 Defensive Player of the Year, as a junior second baseman, is no slouch with the bat, either. He is hitting .394 with 11 homers and 58 RBIs, with 18 stolen bases.
Kiel Roling is hitting .373 with 15 dingers and 63 RBIs, while Davis (.316, seven homers, 59 RBIs) and Paramore (.379, five homers, 50 RBIs) are other notable challenges awaiting UCI ace Scott Gorgen.
Gorgen, a sophomore right-hander who completed his last four starts and has allowed just one earned run in his last 37 innings, is 12-2 with a 2.64 earned-run average.
Leake, one of only five pitchers with more wins than Gorgen, is 13-1 with a 3.59 ERA.
Arizona State is hitting .350 as a team with 75 homers, while UCI, with all 10 regulars hitting better than .300, has a .321 team batting average and 35 homers.
"On paper, Arizona State is one of the best hitting teams to ever come in here," Serrano said. "And [its] pitching and defense are pretty good too."
