Sun Devil Baseball Takes on Washington State in Pullman

Washington State (5-14, 1-5 Pac-12) | ASU (12-12, 4-2 Pac-12)
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THIS WEEK
Thursday, March 29, 6 p.m. | Arizona State at Washington State (Pullman) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Network
Friday, March 30, 5 p.m. | Arizona State at Washington State (Pullman) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Network
Saturday, March 31, 12 p.m. | Arizona State at Washington State (Pullman) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Network
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NEXT WEEK
Tuesday, April 3, 6:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. Cal State Fullerton (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Network | LISTEN: NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM
Wednesday, April 4, 6:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. Cal State Fullerton (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Network | LISTEN: NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM
Friday, April 6, 6:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. USC (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Live Stream | LISTEN: NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM
Saturday, April 7, 6:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. USC (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Live Stream | LISTEN: NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM
Sunday, April 8, 12:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. USC (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Live Stream | LISTEN: NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM
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LAST WEEK
Tuesday, March 20, 6:30 p.m. | ASU vs. UNLV (Tempe) | L, 3-10
Friday, March 23, 7 p.m. | Arizona State at UCLA (Los Angeles) | L, 4-5 (10)
Saturday, March 24, 1 p.m. | Arizona State at UCLA (Los Angeles) | L, 1-12
Sunday, March 25, 12 p.m. | Arizona State at UCLA (Los Angeles) | W, 4-0
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PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball is on the road for the second consecutive weekend, treking to the Pacific Northwest to square off with the Washington State Cougars in Pullman, Wash., in a three-game series beginning Thursday, March 29 at 6 p.m. PT. Friday's is scheduled for a 5 p.m. PT first pitch while Saturday's finale will get underway at 12 p.m. PT.
 

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1. .@swiftyy23 has helped ASU turn 12 double plays this season - 8th in the Pac-12 - and is second in the league with 66 defensive assists. 

2. .@CarterRoo21 enters the weekend on a seven-game hitting streak and has reached base in 16 straight games.

3. With 22 career triples, @gagecanning is third in ASU history and chasing the NCAA record of 32 set back in the 1980s.

4. The Sun Devils currently lead the Pac-12 and are 2nd nationally with 13 triples this season (12 of those coming from Canning and Workman.)

5. .@gagecanning leads the nation in hits (46) and triples (8) while sitting fifth in the country in average (.460).

6. The ASU freshman HR record is 11 @BarryBonds was tied by @spennyt19 in just his 22nd game in the Maroon and Gold.

7. .@elingos15 has 4 quality starts in 6 starts this season and went 5.2 IP with less than 3 earned runs in his 2 others starts.

8. ASU has won the last four series against Washington State and is 56-17 in the all-time series against the Cougs.

9. .@Alika_Williams has a hit in 8 of his last 9 games and is batting .352 during that span and multiple hits in 3 of them.   

10. .@SquadSlayerChaz is a perfect 5-for-5 on save opportunities this season and leads the team with a .1.56 ERA.

Follow the Action

• This weekend's series will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks with Greg Heister on the call, alongside analyst Donnie Marbut.
• A live feed of each of the three games will be available online at Pac-12.com/live
• Fans are encouraged to follow the Devils on Twitter @ASU_Baseball for updates throughout the week. 
• Fans can also follow the stats live throughout the weekend at asu.statbroadcast.com

Scouting the Cougars

• Washington State enters the weekend with a 5-14 mark after dropping a series at Arizona 2-1 last weekend. 
• Offensively the Cougars are led by outfielders JJ Hancock and Justin Harrer with 17 hits a piece with Harrer and Blake Clanton sharing the lead with three home runs. 
• Hancock went 6-for-12 (.500) last weekend with a double, tiple and home run, capping the series with three hits Sunday. Head coach Marty Lees is in his third season at Washington State.
• Arizona State leads the all-time series 56-17, swept the three-game series last season and have won the last four series against Washington State. The Cougars last series win came in 2013, taking two of three games in Tempe. 
• The Sun Deviils own an 18-9 record in Pullman, have won three straight series in Pullman with WSU's last series win against ASU in Pullman coming in 2010.

Eli's Coming

• Eli Lingos leads the team this year with four quality starts in his six starts to date. Of note on that, however, is that he went 5.2 innings in his two other starts while allowing fewer than 3 runs, meaning he is just 2 outs away from starting the season with six consecutive quality starts.
• Lingos led the Sun Devils with six quality starts last season. No other Sun Devil had more than one quality start on the year.
• Picking up where he left off last year, Lingos has picked off a Pac-12-leading four runners thus far this season.
• Lingos is second in the league with 40.0 innings pitched and four wins this season. His 2.47 ERA is 11th in the Pac-12 and his 37 strikeouts are tied for fourth. 
• Lingos has showed a veteran presence when he gets ahead in counts, striking out 21 batters on 0-2 or 1-2 counts with opponents batting just 3-of-42 in the process (.071).
• Lingos' is throwing a strike 64 percent of a the time, a total that leads all Sun Devil pitchers.

12-Gage

• Gage Canning has put together an All-American type campaign this season, currently fifth nationally and second in the Pac-12 with a .460 average this season.
• Canning has reached base in all 24 games this season and has a hit in 22 of those.
• Canning has seven games this season with 3 or more hits - five more than any other player on the Sun Devil roster. Last season, he became the first player to reach double digits in the category (10) since Jason Kipnis had 13 in 2009. 
• He has multiple hits in 14 games to date.
• The junior became the first Devil since before 1998 at least (as early as easily accessibly game-by-game records go) to start a season on a 16-game hitting streak. 
• He is the NCAA leader in hits this season (46) and triples (8).
• Canning was a consensus National Player of the Week following ASU's sweep of Oregon and the Pac-12 Player of the Week as well. On the weekend, the junior went 10-for-13 from the plate (.769) with two home runs (one inside-the-park), two triples, eight runs scored, seven RBIs, three walks, a 1.615 slugging percentage and a .813 on-base percentage in the series.

Gage Gets Triples

• Canning is the NCAA's active leader in career triples with 22 so far in his career and eight this season - a total that also leads the NCAA and is three more than any other player.
• The NCAA career record for triples is 32 (set by Indiana State's Bob Zeihen over a four-year career from 1985-88) and the NCAA single season record is 17 (set by New Mexico's Keith Hagman in 1980). At Canning's current clip, he could be on pace to challenge both of those by the end of the season.
• The ASU career record for triples is 26 by Alan Bannister and Ed Irvine back in the 1970s.
• The junior also gets plenty of doubles - leading the Pac-12 with nine so far this season and adding two home runs for a .851 slugging percentage that is eighth nationally and second in the Pac-12.

#LINSANITY2018

• Lyle Lin had his 15 game-hitting streak to start the season come to an end in the finale against UNCW. He and Canning had become the only Sun Devils since at least 1998 to start a season on a 15-game hitting streak.
• Lin has an eight-game hitting streak coming into the weekend, the longest active streak on the Sun Devil roster.
• Lin enters this weekend batting .356 on the season, good for 11th in the Pac-12 while his 36 total hits are third in the league.
• Lin has multiple hits in 11 of the 21 games played by ASU this season.
• The sophomore leads the team with 14 hits this season with two outs - three more than any other player on the team - and is batting .424 (14-of-33) in the process.
• Behind the plate, Lin is sixth in the Pac-12 in throwing out five runners attempting to steal a base this season.

A Swift Start

• Drew Swift has been one of the elite freshmen in the country in the small sample size to date, posting a .376 on-base percentage thanks to his team-leading 16 walks - tied for sixth in the Pac-12. His biggest impact, however, has come from his much-needed defensive prowess at shortstop.
• The freshman has produced many productive at-bats, second on the team in advancing runners 24 times on 51 attempts thus far this season (.471).
• Swift is second in the Pac-12 with 66 defensive assists this season.
• The frosh has helped to turn 12 double plays this season, helping the Sun Devils to sit fifth in the Pac-12 with 17 double plays this season.
• Swift has just four errors at shortstop this season in 90 chances and rode a 11-game streak without an error until the final game of the UNCW series.

Fear the Tork

• Spencer Torkelson has provided some pop in the Sun Devil lineup that is already off to a historic pace. 
• The freshman has 11 home runs in 24 games this season, a total that is tied for fourth in the nation.
• Against UCLA, he tied the Sun Devil freshman record of 11 home runs set by Barry Bonds in 1983. 
• The freshman was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week following Long Beach State and Oklahoma State.
• Torkelson is fourth on the team with a .297 average, with 19 of his 27 hits this season going for extra bases as he has slugged .747 on the year - good for 15th nationally.
• Torkelson is fourth in the Pac-12 with 24 RBIs and is 13th nationally with four sacrifice flies this season. He has advanced baserunners a team-best 26 times on 58 chances (.448) and has provided plenty of productive outs as well - leading the way with 15 runners advanced with an out, nine more than any other Sun Devil.
• Torkelson's 10 two-out RBI also pace the squad and are four more than any other player on the roster. 
• Torkelson has eight games this season with multiple RBIs, three more than any other Sun Devil.

Aldrete All Day

• Carter Aldrete has been among the hottest players in the Sun Devil lineup in recent weeks.
• Since going 5-for-28 (.179) through his first eight games, Carter Aldrete is 20-for-55 (.364) in his last 15 games.
• Aldrete will enter the weekend with a seven-game hitting streak, the second longest active streak on the team.
• Aldrete is second on the team behind Gage Canning with a 16-game active reached base streak, also good for the second-longest by any Sun Devil at any point this season.

Dellan's Dealin'

• Dellan Raish, who redshirt for the Sun Devils last season, has been one of the exciting surprises of 2018.
• Raish has a 3.95 ERA and his first career victory already this season, striking out 15 in 13.2 innings pitched, averaging over a strikeout per inning. 
• Raish has been efficient in keeping runners off the base path, allowing the opposition to hit just 4-of-32 this season (.125) with this bases empty on the year - the lowest average among ASU's primary relievers.  

And All That Chaz

• Sophomore Chaz Montoya has been exceptional in relief this season, posting five saves in 12 appearances to date, tied for fourth in the Pac-12.
• Montoya has an impressive 1.56 ERA in those appearances - the lowest ERA on the Sun Devil roster - striking out 21 in the process.
• Montoya is striking out 1.2 batters per inning pitched this season.
• The sophomore has allowed just 3 earned runs this season - the lowest total on the team.
• He is a perfect 5-for-5 in save opportunities this season.

Sam I Am

• Sam Romero has come on strong in his debut as a Sun Devil this season, working into a role as the Friday night starter.
• In his first career Friday-night start, Romero earned the win as he went 6.0 innings with just one run allowed while he struck out seven batters.
• ASU is 3-1 on Friday nights since Romero took over the mantle.
• On the season, Romero is 1-0 with 24.1 innings pitched with 25 strikeouts and two quality starts.
• Romero has been able to lock it down when runners reach base against him, allowing the opposition to bat just .178 (8-for-45) with a runner on base this season with 9 strikeouts in that span. 
• Romero has been exceptional in not allowing walks, tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with just four walks given up this season.
• Overall, only six batters this season have seen a 3-0 count against Romero and the junior has only let the count run full on 20 of 113 batters faced this year. 

Marshing to the Beat

• Alec Marsh has been exceptional for the Sun Devils this season, third on the team with a 2.45 ERA in 6 appearances with a 2-1 record.
• Opponents .167 batting average against Marsh is the fourth lowest in the Pac-12.
• Opponents have just two extra base hits in 22.0 innings pitched.

Freshmen Phenoms

• There's no shortage of impressive freshmen on the ASU roster and Gage Workman and Alika Williams have been two that have come on strong as the season has gone on.
• Workman has worked into a role as the team's starting third baseman and has four triples this season - third in the Pac-12 and seventh nationally. 
• The frosh drove in the game-winning run in ASU's 4-0 victory over #16 UCLA and also scored a run. 
• Williams saw his share of struggles early in the season, posting just one hit in the first two weekends of action and batting .205 up until March 10 against UNCW.
• Since that UNCW game, Williams has a hit in eight of the last nine games (multiple hits in four of those) and is batting .352 in that span.