TEMPE -- The Sun Devils continue a lengthy homestand with a three-game series against Loyola Marymount this weekend at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, starting a streak of 11 home games in an 18-day span in the month of March. The Devils have not played 11 games in the month before March 20 since the 2013 season. The series will kick off Friday at 6:30 p.m., followed by another 6:30 contest on Saturday before the season finale on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
Follow the Action
- Fans will be able to view each game in the series via the Pac-12 Network Live Stream, available for free at http://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university.
- Fans are also encouraged to follow along on Twitter (@ASU_Baseball) for live updates throughout the weekend.
#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)
1. 20 of ASU's 44 total RBIs in the 2017 season have come with two outs, led by Lyle Lin/Andrew Snow's four each.
2. The Devils are 23-of-65 (.365) w/ RISP in the team's wins compared to just 5-of-28 (.179) in losses.
3. .@andrewsnow_4 is coming off a 4-for-4 effort against NMSU with a walk and an HBP. Leads team with .500 AVG. .
4. ASU is 29-6 all-time in its series against LMU, winning 11 straight and without a loss to the Lions since 1995.
5. The Devils have scored 45 of their 48 total runs this season in innings 4-9 and just three in the first three innings.
6. .@elingos15 has two quality starts in his two starts, allowing just two earned runs and a W over #1 TCU.
7. .@lyle_lin is the only Sun Devil to reach base in each game this season and leads the Pac-12 with 16 hits.
8. The Sun Devils lead the conference with 69 singles and 10 steals this season, manufacturing the majority of their runs.
9. .@lyle_lin has multiple hits in six games this season already. No other Sun Devil has done so in more than 2.
10. .@ASU_Baseball has won at least 30 games in 56 consecutive seasons, two more than Florida State in second.
Scouting the Lions
- Is picked to finish seventh in the WCC Preseason Coaches' Poll and is also picked seventh according to D1Baseball.com.
- Leads the WCC in hits, on-base percentage, runs scored and stolen bases, and is second in average.
- Posted a season-high 18 runs on 20 hits on 2/25 vs Washington State.
- Has played for the WCC Championship two of the last three years (losses to Pepperdine in 2014 and 2015).
- Last earned a WCC Championship and NCAA berth in 2000.
Devils vs. The Lions/WCC
- The Devils have dominated the all-time series against the Lions, holding a 29-6 record.
- The two squads last faced off in a three-game series in 2008, a series in which the Devils earned the sweep.
- ASU has not lost a contest to LMU since 1995 and enter the series with an 11-game winning streak over the Lions.
- ASU has historically dominated the WCC, holding a 142-35-1 record all-time against programs currently in the conference.
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 for Arizona State against Northwestern.
- 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' career that he went over 6.0 innings without allowing a run.
- Lingos followed his opening outing with another gem, going 6.0 innings with a career-best eight strikeouts while allowing just two hits and two runs in an upset on the road over #1 TCU.
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 Devils have lived and died by their clutch hitting this season, currently batting 23-of-65 (.354) with runners in scoring position in the team's wins but struggling to plate runners in the team's losses at just 5-of-28 (.179).
- The Sun Devils are batting a solid .300 as a team this year but have had an even more excellent two-out approach, going 32-of-100 (.320).
- The ASU offense has accounted for 20 two-out RBIs out of the team's 44 total RBIs in the first seven games this year.
12-Gage
- Gage Canning holds the Devils' longest hitting streak this season at seven games. Canning had a team-best 13-game hitting streak as a freshman in 2016.
- Canning has spent time at the leadoff spot and turning the order back around in the nine-hole this year and done exactly what's expected of him in that role, stealing two bases, leading the team with seven runs scored and laying down two sacrifice bunts.
- Canning also leads the Devils with three doubles this season.
Freshmen Frenzy
- There were plenty of fresh faces on the diamond during the first couple 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).
- Chaz Montoya also received his first action in a closing role, responding with his first career save in his debut.
- Additionally, three junior college transfers made their debuts as Sun Devils in RHP Jake Godfrey, INF Jackson Willeford 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 continues to be the highlight of a young freshmen class, leading the Pac-12 Conference with 16 hits this season.
- Lin has had three or more hits in three games on the year while only two other Sun Devils have just a single 3+ hit game.
- Lin has started every game this season, one of just three players to do so - batting .457 with a team-leading eight RBI in the process.
- Lin has multiple hits in six of the eight games so far this season. No other Sun Devil has more than two. Last season, no player had multiple hit in more than four games at the eight-game mark in the season.
Re-LYLE-able
- Lyle Lin has an approach at the plate that is tough to find in many freshman. The youngster lead's the team's starters with a .438 average this season with two outs on the board on 7-of-16 hitting. No other Devil has more than four 2-out hits.
- Lin is tied for the team lead with four two-out RBI and has a team-leading seven hits with runners in scoring position on 15 at bats (.467), two more than the next closest Devil.
Today's Forecast: Sunny With a Chance of Snow
- Andrew Snow has been one of the team's most reliable hitters for several seasons now and 2017 has proven to be no exception.
- The junior is currently leading the team with a .500 average on 10-of-20 hitting and tied for the team lead with eight RBIs.
- Snow's knack for getting on base has been important this season as well as he currently sits 10th in the Pac-12 with a .571 OBP while sitting second on the team with six runs scored.
Small Ball
- The Devils have done the majority of their damage by manufacturing runs this season. Despite having the third-fewest extra base hits in the conference this year, the Devils still sit third in total hits (86) and tied for fourth in runs scored (48) and RBIs (44).
- The Devils lead the conference with 69 singles this season as well as stolen bases (10), while ranking in the top four in walks (34), hit by pitches (7) and sacrifice flies (5).
Getting Their Bearings
- ASU has certainly taken its lumps the first time through the order, not posting a combined team average in the first thing innings of games over .200 while combining for just three runs
- Adjustments have been a key part of ASU's offensive approach, with team averages above .250 in each of the remaining innings of games including .300+ marks in the fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth innings.
- The Devils have scored 45 of their 48 runs (93.8 percent) in inning four through nine this season.
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 pitched a gem in his start against #1 TCU, going 6.0 innings with four strikeouts and no earned runs allowed in his first career quality start.
- Van Scoyoc currently sits ninth in the Pac-12 with a 1.08 ERA, good for third among all Pac-12 freshmen hurlers.
- 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.
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.
#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.
Streaking in February
- The Devils are 19-4 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.