If Clemson wants to make it back to the College World Series for a fourth time this decade, the Tigers will have to do something they have never done in four tries -- win an NCAA super regional on the road.

Clemson heads 1,700 miles west this weekend to take on No. 5 national seed Arizona State in the best-of-three series.

The Sun Devils have the best ERA in the country at 2.79, nearly a run better than Clemson's fifth- ranked 3.57 ERA. Arizona State is 34-4 at home this year and has won 14 of its past 15 games, including a sweep of the Tempe regional that provided few challenges.

The Sun Devils' likely starter Saturday is Mike Leake, a finalist for the Golden Spikes award, given each year to the nation's top amateur player.

The junior right-hander is 15-1 with a 1.23 ERA. He has 143 strikeouts and 20 walks in 124w innings and has completed seven of 15 starts.

And while Clemson missed the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time in 21 years, Arizona State made it to the super regionals before losing in three games to eventual national champion Fresno State.

But the Tigers have been resilient. They emerged from the losers bracket in their own regional and trailed 5-1 going into the bottom of the seventh of Monday's title game against Oklahoma State before scoring five runs, all with two outs, to pull out a 6-5 win.

"We had to win five games in three days and now we just have three games in three days," first baseman Ben Paulsen said.

Coach Jack Leggett has told his team to continue doing what they've been doing. He noted their best baseball in recent weeks came Sunday when they won two elimination games.

"I want to go out there and get in our zone and play really good baseball like we did last Sunday," Leggett said.

The Tigers appear to be catching a break with the weather, too. Highs have topped 100 in the desert to start the week, but temperatures are forecast to be in the Clemson-in-the-summer-like 80s and low 90s for the weekend.

Clemson practiced Wednesday, a day before the team will hop a plane to Arizona for its longest road trip in eight years. Infielder Brad Miller said the practices have been loose as Clemson enters a series it isn't expected to win.

"People doubted us at our own regional," Miller said. "I think right now we're just trying to ride the momentum ride the wave and see how far it can take us."