Weekend sports update: March 2-4

Column by Nick Prete, ASU News

Baseball

The No. 11 Sun Devils will be making their 10th consecutive appearance at the Coca Cola Classic in Surprise this weekend where they will be playing two games. ASU is 5-1 on the season and have a 20-10 overall record at the tournament. Games are at 4 p.m., Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

-St. Louis Billikens: 11-4 on the season and 0-2 versus the Sun Devils in their previous meetings. 
-Northern Illinois Huskies: Northern Illinois looks to be one of the underdogs in the tournament and is currently 0-7 to start the season. The Huskies have lost all 8 of their last bouts with ASU. 
- Winthrop University Eagles: The last time these two teams met up was in 2009 when ASU swept their three-game series. This year the Eagles are 0-8 going into the tournament. 
- Saint Mary's Gaels: St. Mary's (5-3) won the last match up versus the Sun Devils, 6-4 back in 2001. Overall, ASU is 5-2 against the Gaels.

Water Polo 

The women's water polo team had a strong start to the year, going undefeated in their first 12 games of the season. Last weekend however, the team lost to No. 4 Cal and their opponent this Saturday, the No. 5 SDSU Aztecs. The game is 1 p.m. at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. 

-San Diego State Aztecs: The Aztecs are 11-3 on the season and while the Sun Devils have a better record with 14-2, the Aztecs took the #5 spot in the rankings from the ASU with their victory last weekend. In their last meeting the Aztecs entered the fourth quarter trailing, 6-5, before pulling away for their 9-8 victory. This game looks to be another close one. 

Softball

The ASU softball team (15-2) looks to have a full weekend and will be playing five matches during the Wilson/DeMarini Invitational. The tournament is in Tempe on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and the Sun Devils will play between 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m on each day. 

- North Dakota State Bison: The Sun Devils hold a 3-1 record over the Bison. NDSU is 9-6 this season.
- Boise State Broncos: ASU has only faced the Broncos once, winning in 2011. Boise State is 9-6 thus far.
- Wichita State Shockers: The Sun Devils were 2-1 going in against the Shockers (4-6)  and beat them 11-0 in their game on Thursday. The two teams will match up again on Saturday.
- Howard University Bison: The Devils are 1-0 over Howard, who hold a 1-4 record this year.
- Creighton University Bluejays: ASU is currently 11-2 against the Bluejays. Creighton is 7-3 after three straight losses to Louisville. The Sun Devils also play the Bluejays Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Basketball

University of Arizona Wildcats: This is the second meeting of (21-9, 12-5 Pac-12) U of A Wildcats and the Sun Devils (9-20; 5-12 in Pac-12) who look to avenge their 68-51 loss to the Wildcats back in December. The Wildcats have won 28 of their last 35 meetings though, which may make winning the last regular season game for ASU quite a challenge. Tip-off is Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Wells Fargo Area.