Sun Devil Baseball Hits the Road For Pac-12 Series at #16 UCLA

UCLA (13-4) | ASU (11-10)
--------------
THIS 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) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Network
Saturday, March 24, 1 p.m. | Arizona State at UCLA (Los Angeles) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Network
Sunday, March 25, 12 p.m. | Arizona State at UCLA (Los Angeles) | WATCH LIVE: Pac-12 Network
--------------
NEXT 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
--------------
LAST WEEK
Tuesday, March 13, 7 p.m. | ASU vs. Arizona (Tempe) | L, 2-6
Friday, March 16, 6:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. Oregon (Tempe) | W, 7-4
Saturday, March 17, 6:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. Oregon (Tempe) | W, 18-4
Sunday, March 18, 12:30 p.m. | Arizona State vs. Oregon (Tempe) | W, 6-1

--------------
 

PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball heads to Los Angeles this weekend for its first Pac-12 road series, taking on the Top-25 ranked UCLA Bruins in a three-game set beginning Friday, March 23. That game is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. AZT. Saturday's game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch with the series wrapping up Sunday at Noon. All three games will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network. 

Follow the Action

• All three games this weekend will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network. JB Long and Scott Erickson will be on the call.
• 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

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1. .@swiftyy23 has helped ASU turn 11 double plays this season and ASU is 3rd in the Pac-12 with 16 double plays to date.

2. .@CarterRoo21 has an RBI in four straight games and has reached base in 13 consecutive 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 country in triples with 12 this season, eight of those coming from @gagecanning, who leads the NCAA. 

5. .@gagecanning leads the nation in hits (43) and triples (8) while sitting fourth in the country in average (.494).

6. The ASU freshman HR record is 11 @BarryBonds. @spennyt19 has 10 in just 21 games this season. 

7. .@elingos15 has 3 quality starts in 5 starts this season and went 5.2 IP with less than 3 earned runs in his 2 others starts.

8. .@boyd__19 has the third lowest ERA of any freshman pitcher in the country at 1.07, good for 25th overall in the nation.

9. .@Alika_Williams enters the weekend with a team-leading 6-game hitting streak and has reached base in 9 straight games.  

10. .@sammmm009 is tied for fourth in the Pac-12 this season with just four wals allowed compared to 23 strikeouts.

Scouting the Bruins

• Sophomore Michael Toglia is leading the Bruin offense so far the season. Toglia comes into the game leading the team hitting .377, slugging .689 and recording a .519 on-base percentages. Toglia has four home runs this season, including two at Cal State Fullerton from both sides of the plate, has driven in 15 runs and has also stole two bases. 
• Under head coach John Savage, the UCLA baseball team has been known for its starting pitching and this year is no different. Through the first 17 games of the season, Bruin starting pitchers have thrown 99.0 innings and have allowed 21 earned runs for a 1.91 ERA. The four starters have also totaled 81 strikeouts compared to just 23 walks, good or a 3.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio and are 9-1 this season.
• As a team, UCLA is tops in the Pac-12 in doubles and walks, while top-3 in on-base percentage, sacrifice flies, stolen bases, ERA, opposing batting average, runs allowed, hits allowed, walks allowed and fielding percentage.
• ASU is 118-74 against UCLA all-time but the Bruins won two out of three games last season in Phoenix. UCLA and ASU have been even over the last few seasons as both teams are 6-6 since 2014, but the Sun Devils have taken four out of six at Jackie Robinson Stadium over that time.

Eli's Coming

• Eli Lingos leads the team this year with three quality starts in his five starts to date. Of note on that, however, is that he went 5.2 innings in his two other starts in while allowing fewer than 3 runs, meaning his is just 2 outs away from starting the season with five 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.
• Lingos leads the team and is seventh in the Pac-12 with 29 strikeouts this season. 
• Picking up where he left off last year, Lingos has picked off a Pac-12-leading four runners thus far this season.
• Lingos is fifth in the league with 32.0 innings pitched this season. 
• Lingos has showed a veteran presence when he gets ahead in counts, striking out 19 batters on 0-2 or 1-2 counts with opponents batting just 2-of-36 in the process (.055).

12-Gage

• Gage Canning has put together an All-American type campaign this season, currently fourth nationally and leading the Pac-12 with a .494 average this season - tops among all players in Power Five conferences.
• Canning has reached base in all 21 games this season and has a hit in 20 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 13 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 (43) 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 enters this weekend batting .375 on the season, good for 8th in the Pac-12 while his 32 total hits are second in the league.
• Lin has matched Canning with multiple hits in 11 of the 21 games played by ASU this season.
• The sophomore leads the team with 13 hits this season with two outs - three more than any other player on the team - and is batting .448 (13-of-29) in the process.
• Behind the plate, Lin is third 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, batting .242 average but posting a .378 on-base percentage thanks to his team-leading 13 walks. 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 23 times on 46 attempts thus far this season (.500).
• Swift is second in the Pac-12 with 61 defensive assists this season.
• The frosh has helped to turn 11 double plays this season, helping the Sun Devils to sit third in the Pac-12 with 16 double plays this season.
• Swift has just four errors at shortstop this season in 83 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 10 home runs in 21 games this season, a total that is tied for fourth in the nation.
• The Sun Devil freshman record is 11 home runs by Barry Bonds in 1983. 
• Torkelson is already tied with Mike Kelly in ASU freshman history.
• 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 .296 average, with 16 of his 24 hits this season going for extra bases as he has slugged .741 on the year - good for 24th nationally.
• Torkelson is fourth in the Pac-12 with 22 RBI. He has advanced baserunners a team-best 24 times on 53 chances (.453) and has provided plenty of productive outs as well - leading the way with 13, eight more than any other Sun Devil.
• Torkelson's 10 two-out RBI also pace the squad and are five more than any other player on the roster. 

Not Playing Kooi

• Boyd Vander Kooi has been as impressive a freshman as any in the country thus far this season, logging a 3-1 record in his first career starts with a paltry 1.07 ERA.
• That ERA is good for 25th nationally and third in the Pac-12. It is the third-best ERA for any freshman pitcher in the country with the minimum number of innings reached. 
• Vander Kooi is ranked sixth among all Power Five conference pitchers in ERA.
• The freshman leads ASU with an average of 6.2 innings pitched per start this season and his presence on the mound has also helped spark the offense, which has backed him up with 6.7 runs per outs thus far this season.
• The freshman has been at his best when he gets ahead in the count, clocking 19 of his 25 strikeouts this season on 0-2 or 1-2 counts while allowing opponents to bat only .111 in the process (3-for-27). 

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 17-for-45 (.377) in his last 12 games.
• Aldrete has an RBI in four consecutive games and is second on the team behind Gage Canning with a 13-game active reached base streak. 

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 10 appearances to date, tied for fourth in the Pac-12.
• Montoya has an impressive 1.29 ERA in those appearances, striking out 19 in the process.
• Montoya is striking out 1.4 batters per inning pitched this season.
• The sophomore has allowed just 2 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 3-0 on Friday nights since Romero took over the mantle.
• On the season, Romero is 1-0 with a 3.91 ERA in 23.0 innings pitched with 23 strikeouts and two quality starts.
• Romero has been absolutely lockdown when runners reach base against him, allowing the opposition to bat just .133 (4-for-30) with a runner on base this season with 7 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 four batters this season have seen a 3-0 or 3-1 count against Romero and the junior has only let the count run full on 15 of 100 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 hit in 22.0 innings pitched.