Arizona State duo present a tough challenge

CLEMSON — Clemson's baseball hitting coach Tom Riginos is lacking in sleep. It's understandable with a newborn son — and with a pair of Arizona State aces awaiting the Tigers in Tempe, Ariz.

Arizona State's Mike Leake and Josh Spence often produce this effect.

They are a combined 23-1 this season and have spearheaded the Sun Devils' nation-best 2.79 ERA. Clemson faces the No. 5 national seed in a best-of-three super regional series beginning Saturday.

Riginos said unlike the hard-throwing Oklahoma State pitchers Clemson witnessed in the regional, the 6-foot, 180-pound Leake, a lite version of Tim Lincecum, possesses laser-guided control and command over four pitches.

A team cannot wait out the two-time, Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year, hoping the projected first-round pick reaches a pitch limit in the fifth inning. Leake is averaging eight innings per start and has seven complete games. By comparison, Clemson pitchers have combined for one complete game this season.

Leake (15-1, 1.23 ERA) can pitch backward, or with power (mid- to low-90s fastball). Inside or out. Up or down. He keeps the ball out of play (143 strikeouts in 124 2/3 innings) and limits free passes (20).

Arizona State's No. 2 option, left-hander Spence (8-1, 2.37 ERA, 99 strikeouts/24 walks in 79 2/3 innings), would be a No. 1 on most staffs.

How might Riginos combat this? Perhaps by having the majority of the lineup study second baseman Mike Freeman.

"What we are going to have to do is have really good pitch recognition,'' Riginos said. "You're not going to be able to sit back and work the pitch count up.

"(Freeman) does a really good job of letting the ball get deep and spraying it to all fields."

Of all the Tigers, a National League scout earlier this year was most impressed with Freeman's compact, inside-out swing.

It is no coincidence that Freeman (42 walks/42 strikeouts) walks as much as he strikes out. Or that his spray chart — which records the direction of his batted balls — look like a piece of Jackson Pollock art.

Riginos explained the Tigers can't use the same strategy of locking onto the fastball as they used against Oklahoma State hard-throwing right-hander Tyler Blandford. The Tigers will also not be able to ignore breaking pitches, as they will be in the strike zone.

Riginos said fellow lefties Jeff Schaus — who he noted has five opposite field home runs this season — and Chris Epps also have all-field approaches and plus pitch recognition.

Pitch recognition is a skill difficult to describe for Freeman.

It's part vision. As a freshman at Georgia — he transferred to middle-infield needy Clemson last season — he began wearing contacts, which improved his vision to 20-10.

It's part experience. As a junior, he now intently studies opposing pitchers, trying to identify any giveaway in their delivery to indicate an impending curveball or changeup.

It's part athletic gifts, strong quick wrists that allow him to start his swing later and thus watch the ball longer.

"As I have gotten older I have gotten better. ... more patient," Freeman said. "I let the ball travel so you can see it farther. I pick it up (better) out of his hand. I see things in the dugout while watching.''

The approach is also beneficial against left-handers, which the Tigers are 16-9 against this year, holding a higher batting average against than right-handed pitching despite possessing six regular lefties in the lineup, including Freeman. Riginos credits that to the amount of left-handed pitching the Tigers have seen this season.

Freeman's bat is made more valuable as he plays a center-of-the-field position, and fields it well, consistently gobbling up balls and covering a tremendous amount of ground at second.

All said, on a team of interchangeable parts, lacking star power, Tigers head coach Jack Leggett notes Freeman is one of its overlooked keys.

"He loves to play, he loves to practice," Leggett said. "He's been one of our solid players all year."