Coaches: ASU to win 2010 Pac-10 Baseball Crown

Arizona State baseball has been chosen to win the Pac-10 Conference in a vote of the Pac-10 head baseball coaches. This is the second straight season and third time in the past four years the Sun Devils have been tabbed to win the conference by the coaches.

"A true statement about our program is that it is being recognized by the other Pac-10 schools," said head coach Tim Esmay. "With that said, preseason rankings are great, but when that first pitch is made during a very tough Pac-10 Conference schedule, it becomes about playing good baseball day in and day out.

The Sun Devils are coming off their third straight Pac-10 title and 21st all-time trip to the College World Series. Last season, Arizona State went 51-14, including a 21-6 record in the Pac-10, and made its 11th straight appearance in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. This is the thrid time in school history ASU has been picked by the coaches to win the Pac-10.

Arizona State received seven of the nine first place votes, earning 78 points overall. Oregon State received two first place votes and was picked to finish second with 67 overall points. UCLA, Stanford, Arizona, Washington State, Cal, USC, Washington and Oregon rounded out the poll. Coaches could not vote for their own teams.

ASU is ranked as high as 5th in the preseason polls and features one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. All-American LHP Josh Spence, College World Series standout Kole Calhoun and Freshman All-American LHP Mitchell Lambson headline the returning Sun Devils. The Devils open the 2010 season on February 19, when they host Northern Illinois at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.