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Sun Devil Baseball Faces Tough Road Test at No. 1 TCU

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Sun Devil Baseball Faces Tough Road Test at No. 1 TCUSun Devil Baseball Faces Tough Road Test at No. 1 TCU

TEMPE -- Sun Devil Baseball heads on the road for the first time in 2017 to take on the top-ranked TCU Horned Frogs in a three-game series beginning Friday, Feb. 24 in Forth Worth, Texas. The series at Lupton Stadium will get underway at 6:30 p.m. CT (5:30 p.m. AZT) on Friday evening. Saturday's tilt will get underway at 4 p.m. CT with the series finale taking place Sunday at 1 p.m.

Follow the Action

  • Sunday's contest will be available to those fans who have access to Fox Sports Southwest Plus while Friday and Saturday's efforts will have a live stream available at GoFrogs.com (subscription required).
  • Fans can hear the call of the series live online courtesy of The Blaze student radio, available at www.mixlr.com/blazeradioonline
  • Fans are also encouraged to follow along on Twitter (@ASU_Baseball) for live updates throughout the weekend. 

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1. Tuesday afternoon's contest will be the first broadcast on @Pac12Network this season, with Daron Sutton on the call.

2. 10 true freshmen made their Sun Devil Debuts in the opening week, including six that made their first career starts. 

3. .@ASU_Baseball drove in the GW run in the 8th or later twice against Northwestern after doing so 10 times in 2016.

4. Freshman Carter Aldrete and sophomore Tyler Williams knocked their first career home runs against Oklahoma State.

5. ASU is 5-13 since 1995 against teams ranked No. 1 in the country. Second time in three years they play a No. 1 TCU club.

6. The Sun Devil pitching staff allowed just three earned runs against Northwestern for a paltry 1.00 ERA.

7.  The Devils are 19-3 in series' that have been played in the month of February in the past 11 seasons.

8. .@EderTwentyUno has been named to the @NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List.

9. .@lyle_lin became the first true freshman to have three hits in a single game on Opening Weekend since Colin Curtis in 2004.

10. .@ASU_Baseball has won at least 30 games in 56 consecutive seasons, two more than Florida State in second.

Scouting the Horned Frogs

  • TCU and ASU are familiar foes in recent memory. The two teams have played four of the all-time eight games in 2015 and 2016 with TCU eliminating the Devils from the 2016 NCAA Tournament last season in the Fort Worth Regional. ASU leads the all-time series 5-3.
  • TCU maintained its No.1 ranking after sweeping Penn State on opening weekend.
  • TCU is 4-0 to start a season for the first time since 2015 and the third time under Schlossnagle.
  • TCU has stolen 11 bases in the last two games and leads the Big 12 with 12 on the season.
  • TCU has scored multiple runs in11innings this season.
  • TCU has allowed a first-inning run in three straight games.
  • The TCU pitching staff has allowed three or fewer runs in all four games this season.

Devils vs. Big 12/#1 Teams

  • The Sun Devils are 123-78 all-time against programs currently in the Big 12 Conference.
  • The 2017 schedule is baring a striking resemblance to the 2015 Sun Devil slate with the Sun Devils squaring off against a top-ranked TCU program in a three-game set in the second weekend of the season for the second time in three years. The Frogs took two out of three in Tempe during that 2015 campaign.
  • Since 1995, the Sun Devils have played the No. 1 team in the country 18 times, going 5-13 in those contests. 

Streaking in February

  • The Devils are 19-3 in series' played in the month of February over the past 12 years and have won 11 consecutive series on Opening Weekend.
  • ASU had won 16 consecutive February series until dropping a three-game series against top-ranked TCU Feb. 20-22, 2015. Prior to that, the last time was Feb. 18-20, 2005 when they were swept by No. 1 Tulane on the road.

Keeping It Interesting

  • The Devils had a knack for success in close games last season and that continued on Opening Weekend. The Sun Devils scored the winning run in the eighth inning or later twice against Northwestern, including one walk-off win. 
  • In 2016, the Devils went 6-1 in extra-inning games, had four walk-off wins and went 12-1 in one-run games including 5-1 in Pac-12 play. ASU drove in the game-winning run in the eighth inning or later 10 times.
  • Arizona State notched seven wins in 2016 when trailing after six innings.

Eli's Coming 

  • Eli Lingos, who earned first team Pac-12 All-Academic honors in 2016, made his first career Opening Night Start when he toed the rubber last Friday for Arizona State.
  • Lingos opened 2017 with a bang, pitching 6.2 scoreless innings against Northwestern with six strikeouts in arguably the best start of his career.
  • It was just the second time in Lingos's career that he went over 6.0 innings without allowing a run. 
  • Lingos was 3-5 last season with a 4.50 ERA in 20 appearances. Lingos began the 2016 season as the Devils' Saturday night starter.

Mr. Friday Night

  • Lingos is the sixth pitcher since 2014 to assume the Friday Night role, joining Ryan Burr, Brett Lilek, Seth Martinez, Ryan Kellogg and Hever Bueno. 
  • ASU used four pitchers in the Friday night role in six seasons between 2008 and 2013 with Mike Leake ('08, '09), Seth Blair ('10), Brady Rodgers ('11, '12) and Trevor Williams ('13).
  • Lingos joins a long and illustrious line of Mr. Friday Night's at ASU that includes nine Major Leaguers and numerous ASU Hall of Famers, including Eddie Bane, Floyd Bannister, Kendall Carter, Mike Esposito, Larry Gura, Gary Gentry, Mike Leake, Trevor Williams and Brady Rodgers.

Erives On Fire

  • Sun Devil Baseball senior RHP Eder Erives has been named to the preseason watch list for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball, members of the association announced Monday.
  • Erives is the first Sun Devil to be named to the preseason watch list for the award since Ryan Burr in 2014.
  • Erives, a Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention in 2016, notched a 6-2 record with a 2.95 ERA last season. His 10 saves trailed only Oregon State's Max Englebrekt, whose 11 saves top the list of returning relievers in in the Pac-12.
  • Last season, Erives struck out 73 batters and walked 36 in 76.1 innings. The 76.1 innings pitched rank fourth among the 55 players named to the watch list while his 73 strikeouts are good for seventh. Erives held opponent batting average to .192, a career-low for the right-handed pitcher. He made 23 appearances with three starts and finished fourth in the conference in saves.
  • Erives holds a 3.00 career ERA and a 9-4 record overall with 61 total appearances, three starts and 11 saves over 129 innings.

Clutch Hitting

  • The Sun Devil batters got the job done when it mattered most against Northwestern, posting a solid .329 average with runners in scoring position (11-of-29) and 15-of-39 (.385) with two outs. 
  • It was a a different story against Oklahoma State where ASU went just 1-of-6 with runners in scoring position.
  • The ASU offense has accounted for eight two-out RBIs out of the team's 15 total RBIs in the first four games this year.

Stingy Pitchers

  • The Sun Devil pitching staff was exceptional against Northwestern with seven of the 10 pitchers that made an appearance not allowing a single earned run.
  • The pitching staff as a whole allowed just three earned runs against NU (1.00 ERA), striking out 24 and holding the Wildcats to a paltry .112 average. 
  • The staff was especially effective getting out of jams in the series, holding Northwestern to 3-of-22 hitting (.136) with runners in scoring position and shutting down innings with just five hits allowed on 27 two-out at-bats (.185) from the opposition. 

What a Relief

  • The Sun Devil relief pitchers filled in admirably against Northwestern, allowing just two earned runs between eight relief appearances.
  • Reagan Todd appeared in two games striking out five in 4.1 IP while allowing just two hits and no runs. 
  • James Ryan earned his first career win in 3.0 IP in the series finale against Northwestern, striking out one and retiring all nine batters that he faced.

12-Gage

  • Gage Canning is the only Sun Devil to have a hit in each game this season.
  • It was a tale of two halves last season for OF Gage Canning. In the first 26 games of the season he batted .197 with 15 hits, including one double and one triple, 12 RBI, seven runs scored and 18 total bases. In the final 29 games of the regular season he is batting .346 with a team-best 37 hits, including 13 for extra-bases (five doubles, five triples, three home runs), and 14 RBI, and 20 runs scored and 61 total bases. 
  • He reached base in 26 of the 29 games during the stretch and put together a team-high 13-game hitting streak.

Freshman Frenzy

  • There were plenty of fresh faces on the diamond during the first four games of the season for the Sun Devils. Ten true freshmen made their Sun Devil debuts, including six who made their first career starts (Sam Ferri, Carter Aldrete, Lyle Lin, Hunter Bishop, Myles Denson and Spencer Van Scoyoc). Lin had the best series against Northwestern of any position player while Aldrete, Ferri, Bishop and Denson all logged their first career hits in the first four games. 
  • Chaz Montoya also received his first action in a closing role, responding with his first career save in his debut. 
  • Additionally, two junior college transfers made their debuts as Sun Devils in RHP Jake Godfrey and INF Taylor Lane. Godfrey earned his first victory in his first appearance in the second game against Northwestern, not allowing a run in three innings pitched in the team's walk-off victory.

Lin-Sanity

  • True freshman Lyle Lin finished the Northwestern series on Opening Weekend 7-of-13 with three RBIs and two doubles. He had multiple hits in each game of the series, becoming the first ASU true freshman to notch two hits in the first game of the season since Zach MacPhee in 2009. 
  • He followed that up by becoming the first true freshman to have three hits in a game on opening weekend Colin Curtis in 2004 in the third game of the series. 
  • Lin played played two games at first base, a position he had never played before in his career and one game at catcher.
  • Lin was 4-of-7 with two outs on the board in the series and had an an excellent two-strike approach with four hits on eight two-strike counts.

Going Yard

  • There were few positives in ASU's loss to Oklahoma State, but one of those was found in the long ball as sophomore Tyler Williams and freshman Carter Aldrete both went long for the first times in their careers.

Not Wasting Time

  • Freshman Spencer Van Scoyoc became the first Sun Devil freshman to start a game in the Opening Weekend since Adam McCreery against Western Michigan in 2012. 
  • Van Scoyoc was selected in the 19th round of the MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays but elected to attend ASU instead. 
  • He was rated the #1 LHP and #1 overall player in Iowa and the #8 overal LHP in the nation.

Baseball's in Their Blood

  • There are eight Sun Devils on the 2017 squad who have a history of baseball in their family: Ryan Hingst (father, David, UT El Paso), Andrew Snow (cousin, Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox), Garvin Alston Jr. (father, Garvin, MiLB), Eli Lingos (brother, Angelos, UC Riverside), Jackson Willeford (brother, Guy, Palomar JC; brother, Alex, Palomar JC/SDSU), Hunter Bishop (brother, Braden, Seattle Mariners), Fitz Stadler (Brothers Sullivan and Walker, Indiana), Carter Aldrete (father, Rich, MiLB; uncle, Mike, New York Yankees).

#Bishete

  • Freshman outfielder Hunter Bishop and infielder Carter Aldrete have history before coming to Arizona State. Both played in the 2015 Under Armour All-American games and selected to play for the Oakland Athletics' Area Code team in 2015. 
  • Both hail from Northern California and are expected play prominent roles in the Sun Devil lineup this season.

#OccupyPHXMuni 

  • ASU drew more than 78,000 fans last season, finishing in the top 30 nationally in total attendance and attendance per game. 
  • ASU ranked 13th in total attendance and was the only school west of Texas to draw more than 100,000 fans in 2015, and ranked 18th in average attendance with 3,082 fans per game. ASU's 107,010 fans were the program's most since 2010 and ranked as the fourth-highest regular-season attendance since 1988. 
  • ASU moved back to Phoenix Municipal Stadium in 2015 after playing 40 seasons at Packard Stadium from 1974-2014, winning their first contest in the team's on a walk-off home run in extra inning against No. 5 Oklahoma State on Feb. 13, 2015.
  •  The Devils played 137 games at Muni from 1964-74, and went 111-26 at the stadium, including 17-6 against Arizona. ASU's first game at Muni was April 10, 1964, and was a 5-3 win over Arizona. ASU's last game at Muni was March 18, 1974, and was 9-6 win over Colorado. ASU won District 7 titles in 1965 and 1967 at Muni before going on to win National Championships in Omaha. 
  • Former Sun Devil and eventual Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson was the first college player to hit a home run at Muni.

A Look Back - Opening Weekend/Northwestern

  • The Sun Devils are now 46-12-1 in season openers and 490-143 in doubleheaders. 
  • ASU has won 10 of its last 11 season openers, the lone loss coming in 2014 to Baylor.
  • ASU is now 4-0 all-time against Northwestern.
  • The Sun Devils are now 112-39 all-time against programs currently in the Big Ten Conference and winners of 16 straight regular season contests against the conference, not having lost a regular season tilt to a current Big Ten team since 1974.