Sun Devil Baseball Set for Three-Game Series Against UNCW

UNC-Wilmington (9-3) | ASU (7-6)
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Family Night Mar. 9 – Bring the whole family out to the ball park. We'll have inflatables and other family friendly activities. Take advantage of our $49 Family-4-Pack! Get Tickets
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THIS WEEK
Tuesday, March 6, 3 p.m. | ASU at Pepperdine (Malibu, Calif.) | W, 10-7
Friday, March 9, 6:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. UNC-Wilmington (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Live Stream | NO RADIO
Saturday, March 10, 6:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. UNC-Wilmington (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Live Stream | NO RADIO
Sunday, March 11, 12:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. UNC-Wilmington (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Live Stream | NO RADIO
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NEXT WEEK
Tuesday, March 13, 7 p.m. | ASU vs. Arizona (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Network | LISTEN: NBC Sports 1060 AM
Friday, March 16, 6:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. Oregon (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Live Stream | LISTEN: NBC Sports 1060 AM
Saturday, March 17, 6:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. Oregon (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Live Stream | LISTEN: NBC Sports 1060 AM
Sunday, March 18, 12:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. Oregon (Tempe) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Live Stream | LISTEN: NBC Sports 1060 AM
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LAST WEEK
Tuesday, February 27  | ASU 1, Long Beach State 0
Wednesday, February 28 | ASU 4, Long Beach State 16
Friday, March 2  | ASU 9, Okalahoma State 1
Saturday, March 3 | ASU 14, Oklahoma State 2
Sunday, March 4  | ASU 2, Oklahoma State 3 (10)
 

PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball enters its final weekend of non-conference action before Pac-12 play starts as it takes on UNCW this weekend in a three-game series beginning Friday, March 9 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Phoenix, Ariz. The three-game set will take place at 6:30 p.m. AZT on Friday and Saturday with Sunday's tilt getting underway at 12:30 p.m.  All three games will be streamed live online through the Pac-12 Network Digital Stream.

Follow the Action

Each game in the series will be streamed live through the Pac-12 Network and available online at https://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university.

Fans are encouraged to follow the Devils on Twitter @ASU_Baseball for updates throughout the week. 

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1. .@gagecanning and @lin_lyle have started the season on 13-game hitting streaks, the first to do so since Johnny Ruettiger reach 14 in 2011. 

2. Since at least 1999, there has not been a year in history that two different players started the season with a 13-game hitting streak.

3. With 20 career triples, @gagecanning is fourth in ASU history and chasing the NCAA record of 32 set back in the 1980s.

4. The Sun Devils currently lead the country in triples with 10 this season, six of those coming from @gagecanning, who leads the country. 

5. .@gagecanning leads the nation with 28 hits this season, two more than any other player in the NCAA.

6. The ASU freshman HR record is 11 @BarryBonds. @spennyt19has 8 in just 13 games this season. 

7. .@lin_lyle has a hit in every game for ASU this season, multiple hits in seven games and is 10th nationally with 17 hits this season.

8. .@AlecMarsh8 has not allowed a run in three appearances and 9.0 innings pithed this season, striking out 6 with just 6 hits allowed

9. Freshman shortstop @swiftyy23 hasn't committed an error in nine straight games and has recorded or assisted 37 straight outs without one. 

10. .@sammmm009 has allowed oppositing teams to bat just .091 (2-for-22) against him when there's runners on the base path.

Scouting the Seahawks

• This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams. 
• The Seahawks had their first postponement of the season earlier this weekend when inclement weather forced the Seahawks and nationally-ranked NC State to look for an open date later this season ... No date has been announced.
• UNCW senior outfielder Zack Canada was named Collegiate Baseball National Player-of-the-Week on Monday after helping UNCW to a sweep of Princeton last weekend. Canada hit .474 for the week with three home runs and 10 runs batted in ... Canada and freshman Landen Roupp were honored by the CAA as its player and rookie-of-the-week, respectively ... Roupp tossed five innings of one-hit, shutout baseball against Princeton in his collegiate debut.
• The UNCW bullpen has compiled a 7-0 record with four saves and an ERA of 2.03 ... Opponents are hitting just .222 against Seahawk relievers.
• Junior closer Clark Cota, who was named to the Stopper Award watch list, ranks sixth nationally with a team-high and conference-leading four saves
• Seahawk pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts, a season-high, in game one of the Princeton series ... Zarion Sharpe struck out a career-high 10 in the second game of the series
• Levi Gesell's homer in the bottom of the ninth lifted UNCW to a 9-8 win over Princeton ... It was UNCW's fourth win of the season in its final at-bat.
• UNCW returns to Brooks Field next week with a two-game midweek series against visiting Ohio State ... Game one is set for 4 p.m. on Mar. 13.
   

Eli's Coming

• Eli Lingos led the Sun Devils with six quality starts last season. No other Sun Devil had more than one quality start this season.
• Already, Lingos has started 2018 where he left off as he picked up the win in a quality start during opening weekend. He went 5.2 innings in his last two starts, allowing 3 or fewer runs in each of those as he is just two outs away from three quality starts to kick off the season. 
• Lingos leads the team and is tied for eighth in the Pac-12 with 18 strikeouts this season.

12-Gage

• Gage Canning has put together an All-American type campaign early in this season, currently ranked fourth nationally and second in the Pac-12 with his .500 average so far this season while his 28 total hits hits lead the NCAA currently.
• Canning has a hit in each game this season (13) and multiple hits in 9 of ASU's 13 games so far, including 5 games with 3 or more hits.
• Canning is the NCAA's active leader in career triples with 20 so far in his career and six this season - a total that also leads the NCAA.
• 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 pace, 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.
• Canning already has five games with 3+ hits. Last season, he became the first player to reach double digits in the category (10) since Jason Kipnis had 13 in 2009. 
• Canning was the only player in the Pac-12 last season to finish with a double-digit number doubles while also posting at least six home runs and six triples.

#LINSANITY2018

• Lyle Lin and Canning are the only two players to have a hit in each game this season.  
• Lin is batting .442 on the year and his 23 hits are tied for 11th in the country.
• Lin has matched Canning with multiple hits in 9 of the 13 games played this season. 
• The sophomore leads the team with 8 hits this season with two outs, batting .421 in the process.

A Swift Start

• Drew Swift has been one of the elite freshmen in the country in the small sample size to date, batting .286 average and a .444 on-base percentage while adding a much-needed defensive prowess at shortstop.
• Swift leads the team with 10 walks, a total that's good for 5th in the Pac-12. 
• The freshman has produced many productive at-bats, leading the team in advancing runners 17 times on 32 attempts thus far this season (.531) and he is second on the team with runners in scoring position with a .353 average this year.
• Swift is tied for second with 37 defensive assists this season.
• The frosh has helped to turn eight double plays this season, helping the Sun Devils to be tied for first in the Pac-12 with 13 double plays this season.
• In 13 games at shortstop, Swift had two errors in one game and has been flawless in 12 others. Ofter the anomaly of a game during opening weekend, Swift has gone nine games without an error and has made 37 putouts or defensive assists consecutively without an error. 
• Of all Pac-12 shortstops with over 50 defensive chances this season, Swift is tied for second with a .961 fielding percentage.

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 eight home runs in 13 games this season, a total that is tied for first in the nation as he has three more home runs than any other freshman in the country 
• The Sun Devil freshman record is 11 home runs by Barry Bonds in 1983. Torkelson is already tied for fifth in ASU freshman history in the category.
• Torkelson and Kentucky's Luke Heyer are the only two players in the country with 5 doubles and 8 home runs. 
• The freshman was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week following Long Beach State and Oklahoma State.
• Torkelson is third on the team with a .367 average, with 13 of his 18 hits this season going for extra bases while averaging a home run per every six at-bats. 
• He is 8th nationally and 2nd in the Pac-12 with a .959 slugging percentage this season and 5th in the Pac-12 with 15 RBI this season. His 47 total bases touched this year are 5th nationally and first in the Pac-12.

Not Playing Kooi

• Boyd Vander Kooi has been as impressive a freshman as any in the country thus far this season, logging a 2-0 record in his first career starts with a paltry 0.61 ERA.
• After two weeks of action, Vander Kooi was the only freshman pitcher in the country that had pitched at least 14.0 innings this season and maintained under a 1.00 ERA.

Keeping It Interesting

• The Devils have a knack for success in close games in recent years.
• Since 2016, the Devils are 7-3 in extra-inning games, with six walk-off wins (two last season) and are 23-8 (1-1 this year) in one-run games - including 7-6 in Pac-12 play. 
• ASU has driven in the game-winning run in the eighth inning or later 14 times (four times this year).
• Arizona State has notched 10 wins since 2016 when trailing after six innings (four times last season).

And All That Chaz

• Sophomore Chaz Montoya has been exceptional in relief this season, posting three saves in six appearances to date, tied for fourth in the Pac-12
• Montoya has an impressive 0.96 ERA in those appearances, striking out 12 with two walks.

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.
• On the season, Romero is 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA in 12.1 innings pitched with 11 strikeouts.
• Romero has been absolutely lockdown when runners reach base against him, allowing the opposition to bat just .091 (2-for-22) with a runner on base this season. 

Marshing to the Beat

• Alec Marsh has been exception for the Sun Devils this season, leading the team with a 0.00 ERA in 3 appearances with a 1-0 record.
• Marsh has allowed just six hits while striking out six.