Sun Devil Baseball Selected To Baton Rouge Regional, Makes 40th Postseason Appearance

PHOENIX – The Sun Devil Baseball program will make its 40th NCAA postseason appearance as Arizona State has been selected as the No. 2 seed in the Baton Rouge Regional. The four-team, double-elimination regional at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field will begin on Friday. 

The Baton Rouge Regional, hosted by LSU, also includes No. 3 seed Southern Miss and No. 4 seed Stony Brook. The two-seeded Sun Devils will take on Southern Miss on Friday at 10 a.m. AZT. The game will be available on ESPN3/WatchESPN, and broadcast by NBC Sports Radio AM 1060.

Friday will mark the first-ever meeting between the Sun Devils and Southern Miss. ASU is 1-6-1 throughout history against LSU and 1-0 against Stony Brook. 

The Sun Devils finished the season with a 37-17 record and are one of five teams selected into the NCAA Tournament field from the Pac-12 (UCLA, Stanford, Oregon State and Cal). The Pac-12's five selections are tied for third among all conferences this season. 

Arizona State led the nation in home runs during the regular season with 92, the most since the 1993 Sun Devils recorded 97 homers. Three Sun Devils have reached double-digit homers this season in Hunter Bishop (22), Spencer Torkelson (21) and Trevor Hauver (13). Carter Aldrete and Lyle Lin each have nine while Gage Workman has eight, putting ASU within reach of six players reaching the milestone in the postseason. ASU is the only school in the country with two players to reach the 20-home run tally.

Bishop and Torkelson both find themselves as semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy, given annually to the top players in college baseball.

The Sun Devils turned 58 double plays this season, a total good for fourth nationally. ASU was 16thin the country in hits (603), 24thin OBP (.394), 13thin runs (441), 10thin scoring (8.2) and third in slugging (.521).

ASU will be playing in its 34th NCAA Regional while its 40 NCAA postseason appearances are the fourth-most among teams in this year's tournament and the fifth-most in NCAA history.

BATON ROUGE REGIONAL SCHEDULE

• Friday, May 31
  • Game #1 (Arizona St. vs. Southern Miss) – 10 a.m. AZT/ESPN3
  • Game #2 (LSU vs. Stony Brook) 3 p.m.AZT/ESPNU
• Saturday, June 1
  • Game #3 (Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2) – 9 a.m. AZT
  • Game #4 (Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2) – 3 p.m. AZT
• Sunday, June 2
  • Game #5 (Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4) – 11 a.m. AZT
  • Game #6 (Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5) – 5 p.m.AZT
• Monday, June 3
  • Game #7 – if Necessary

BATON ROUGE TICKET INFORMATION

• LSU Season Ticket Holder Deadline – Monday, May 27, at 5 p.m. Season ticket holders can order by logging into their online account at www.LSUtix.net or by calling the LSU Ticket Office at 225-578-2184 or toll free at 800-960-8587. The LSU Ticket Office will be open on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• All-session books will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, May 30, at 8 a.m. The sale will be available online at www.LSUtix.net or by calling the ticket office or by visiting the ticket office in person.
• Individual session tickets will go on sale at a time to be announced.

Follow the Action

• The opening game of the regional will be streamd live online through ESPN3. Other games throughout the weekend will be available either online or through one of the ESPN Networks. The Sun Devil Baseball schedule page at www.thesundevils.com will provide updates throughout the weekend. 
• Each game will also be available over the airwaves this weekend on NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM KDUS with Tim Healey alongside analyst Max Rossiter. 
• Fans are encouraged to follow along in-game content throughout the weekend on the Sun Devil Baseball account (@ASU_Baseball).

ASU In The Postseason

• ASU will be playing in its 34th NCAA Regional while its 40 NCAA postseason appearances are the fourth-most among teams in this year's tournament and the fifth-most in Division I history.
• 19 Regional Titles
• 22 CWS appearances, third-most in DI history
• 10 CWS final appearances - third-most in DI history
• 61 CWS wins - third most in D1 history
• 5 National Titles - fourth most in D1 history

Fear the Tork

• In only seven games this season has All-American and First Team All-Pac-12 selection Spencer Torkelson not registered a hit and in only 21 of his 109 career games has that been the case. Torkelson has at least one hit in 80.7 percent of his appearances as a Sun Devil. Torkelson has mutiple hits in 45 of his 109 career starts (.412).
• Torkelson has 21 home runs this season, second in the Pac-12 and 10th in the country. He had at least one home run in 10 of the last 11 weekend series that the Sun Devils have played with the season finale against Stanford being the lone exception.
• Torkelson has 46 long balls in his career at ASU – already tied with Mike Kelly for third in program history and just 10 shy of the Sun Devil school record of 56 held by Bob Horner. He has joined Horner as the only other player in ASU history to have 20 or more home runs in consecutive seasons.
• In Pac-12 history, Torkelson is one of just three players to have 20+ home runs in back-to-back seasons (UCLA's Eric Valent in '97-98 and Bill Scott '99-00).
• Torkelson has also joined former Missouri State First-Round Draft Pick Jake Burger as the only player in the BBCOR era of batting standards to log multiple seasons with 20 or more home runs. 
• Torkelson enters this weekend ranked in the Top-10 in the Pac-12 in nearly every major offensive category, including average (10th/.348), slugging percentage (4th/.687), RBIs (3rd/60), runs (5th/62), total bases (2nd/156), walks (8th/40) and hits (3rd/79) in addition to his spot among the home run leaders. He sits in the Top-50 nationally in home runs, runs, RBIs, slugging and total bases. 
• Torkelson has multiple hits in a team-best 25 of ASU's games this season - four more than any other player - and at least one RBI in 16 games.
• In Pac-12 ONLY games, Torkelson was the league leader with 14 home runs - two more than any other player. His .721 slugging percentage in league games was fourth in the Pac-12.
• The sophomore had a career-long 22-game hitting streak ended against Utah. It was the longest hitting streak by any Sun Devil since Riccio Torrez had a 26-game streak back in 2010 and is among the top-five longest streaks by a player in the NCAA this year.

#TorksUp

• Torkelson leads the team with 25 hits with runners in scoring position, recording 25 hits on 63 chances (.397)
• He has been an extremely tough out to end the inning, extending the inning 25-of-63 times with two outs (.397) with a team-best 33 two-out RBI - 13 more than any other player on the roster.
• Hit or not, Torkelson consistently finds a way to successfully advance baserunners, doing so 66 times on 131 opportunities (.504).
• With his first home run in the series against Cal, Torkelson has now homered in every single Pac-12 ballpark in the league despite being just a sophomore. 
• Torkelson has played 29 weekend series at ASU and homered at least once in 23 of those. He has played 20 Pac-12 series and homered in 18 - the season finales against Cal (2018) and Stanford (2019) being the only exceptions
• Defensively, Torkelson has made huge strides and helped turn 9 more double plays than any other player in the Pac-12 (54), which is still a testament to some of the impressive stretches and picks he has made to make those possible. 
• He has just three errors on the year despite being sixth in Pac-12 in defensive chances (446) and one of those came while he was playing out of position in right field for one inning in a game earlier this season.
• Torkelson joins Brett Wallace as the only other player in Sun Devil history to be a two-time semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award. He will also rejoin the Team USA Collegiate National Team this Summer.
• Torkelson led the country in 2018 with 25 home runs – two more than any other player and just one shy of the NCAA freshman record while becoming first freshman in NCAA history to lead the nation in home runs. 
• Torkelson was a unanimous All-American, as every major baseball media outlet in the nation rewarded the freshman with at least one All-America accolade (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, Baseball America, NCBWA, and Perfect Game)....Honored with Perfect Game's National Freshman of the Year award.

Hunting Party

• Hunter Bishop was named Perfect Game and D1Baseball's Midseason Player of the Year during the first week of April and was also tabbed as the NCBWA National Player of the Month for the Month of March. He was tabbed as a Pac-12 All-Conference First Team selection this week. 
• Bishop has also been named the 2019 Midseason Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist.
• Sophomore Hunter Bishop sits fifth nationally in home runs (22). He is five homers shy of ASU's single season record for home runs (27 by Mitch Jones in 2000).
• The junior is ranked in the top-30 nationally in numerous offensive categories, including homers, slugging (7th/.765), runs (28th/64), RBIs (38th/61) and total bases (6th/163). 
• He has reached base in all but three games this season and had a 44-game reach base streak at one point after reaching in the first 39 games of this season and last five. of 2018. 
• Bishop is ranked in the Pac-12 top-10 in every major offensive category and is Top-Five in average, slugging, on-base percentage, runs, RBIs, hits, homers, triples, total bases and walks. . 
• Bishop has 21 multi-hit games this season and leads the team with three games with four or more hits. His 17 multi-RBI games are more than any other player on ASU's prolific roster and he has 10 games with three or more RBIs.  
• The 61 current RBIs are easily the most for a Sun Devil in the BBCOR era of batting, surpassing the previous best of 53 by Torkelson (2018) and Abe Ruiz (2011). 
• Bishop leads the team in advancing teammates 71 times on 131 chances (.542).

Marshing to the Beat

• Alec Marsh has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 31 of his last 34 appearances dating back to his freshman season and was named an All-Pac-12 First Team selection this week.
• Dating back to last season, Marsh has a posted a quality start (6+ innings pitched with 3 or fewer earned runs allowed) in 16 of his 23 starts since assuming the mantle of Mr. Friday Night midway through the 2018 campaign. 
• Marsh is tied for second in the Pac-12 and 22nd in the nation with nine victories this season, currently posting an 9-3 record.
• His 3.17 ERA is currently 11th in the Pac-12 while his 92 strikeouts sit 5th in the league.
• Marsh leads Pac-12 pitchers and is is among the Top-25 nationally with 96.2 innings pitched this season.
• The junior is not hesistant about pounding the strike zone, throwing a strike on 63.1 percent of his pitches while falling into 2-0 counts just 53 times on 397 batters faced on the year (.134).
• Marsh dominates when getting ahead of the count, holding batters to 3-30 hitting (.100) on 0-2 counts and 11-of-63 hitting (.175) on 1-2 counts with 48 combined strikeouts between the two. 2-2 counts have been especially deadly when facing Marsh this season, with opponents going 4-for-53 (.075) with 30 punchouts and a 69.5 strike percentage. 
• Marsh is responsible for one ASU's two complete game this season, a masterful three-hit effort as he shut down third-ranked Oregon State to the tune of a 4-1 victory. 
• Alec Marsh struck out 10 batters in back-to-back games against Nebraska and Cal and has done so three times this season. He is the first Sun Devil to record back-to-back 10-strikeout outings since Mike Leake did so in three straight games in the 2009 season (May 15, May 22 and May 30). Marsh is also the first Sun Devil to have at least three games in the same season striking out 10 batters in a game since Leake and Josh Spence during that 2009 campaign.
• Alec Marsh was named a Midseason First Team All-American by Perfect Game on April 4 and was also named to USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.
• Marsh was added to the Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame's Watch List for the National Pitcher of the Year on April 17.

Alika Like That

• Alika Williams has quietly continued to put up impressive numbers as a sophomore, embracing his role as a cleanup hitter with All-Pac-12 honorable mention accolades with a .332 batting average with 48 RBIs - easily a career high in the category. He had just 20 total RBIs last season.
• When he does get RBIs, he tends to get a lot of them. He has 14 multi-RBI games this season and is second on the team with eight games with three or more RBIs.
• Williams has homered four times this year and recorded 10 doubles and three triples. He is slugging .470 on the season - nearly 150 points higher than his freshman total of .333. With 17 extra-base hits on the year, he has far surpassed his freshman total of nine. 
• The sophomore been incredible when falling behind in counts this season, posting a .405 average (17-of-42) when facing 1-2 counts. Of his 67 hits on the year, 39 have come when falling behind in the count.  
• He is 35-of-98 (.357) on two-strike hitting on the year - striking out a team-low 26 times while walking 31 times, making him the only player on the team with more walks than strikeouts. 
• 17 of his 48 RBIs (.354) have come when falling behind in counts. 
• The sophomore has been incredible at advancing baserunners this season, leading the team with a .584 average with 66 advancements on 113 opportunities.
• Williams is ASU's most productive hitter with the bases loaded, going 7-for-14 this season (.500) with a team-best 16 RBIs.
• Defensively, Williams is currently second in the Pac-12 with 141 defensive assists this season. He was named a member of the Pac-12 All-Defensive team as a result.
• He has helped turn 34 double plays this season, which is good for fourth overall in the Pac-12 and first among non-first basemen.

Putting in the Work

• Gage Workman has been one of the hottest players in the Sun Devil lineup of late, batting .322 with 39 runs scored, 42 RBIs and eight home runs. He has hits in 17 of his last 23 games and multiple hits in 10 of those. 
• In Pac-12 only games, Workman has a .330 average - the best total on the squad while his 25 Pac-12 RBIs are second on the team. 
• In Pac-12 only games, Workman is tied for 10 in the league with 19 walks.
• His .430 on-base percentage is 12th in Pac-12 games and the second-best among all Sun Devils in the category. His .623 slugging percentage in Pac-12 games is 9th in the league and second on the team.
• Workman has eight home runs on the season, a new career high. His 22 extra-base hits have surpassed his freshman total of 20. 
• The sophomore earned Honorable Mention honors on the All-Pac-12 team. 
• Workman had just three errors in Pac-12 games at third base on 80 changes (.964) and helped turn 17 double plays on the season en route to Pac-12 Defensive Honorable Mention honors.

Trev Lightly and Carry a Big Stick

• Perhaps no player on the Sun Devil roster has shown as much improvement this season as sophomore Trevor Hauver who was named to the Pac-12 Honorable Mention team.
• The leadoff man is batting .333 with a .421 on-base percentage this season and 77 hits - good for 5th in the Pac-12.
• Hauver had a 15-game hitting streak and 21-game reached base streak snapped in the series finale against in the penultimate weekend series.
• Hauver has also showed plenty of pop in the bat, third on the team with 13 home runs this season - good for 10th in the Pac-12.
• He has been the top ASU player in games in several categories, posting a seven-RBI game, a five-hit game, a four-walk game and a two-home run game. 
• Hauver has scored 56 runs this season, 5th in the league and 36th nationally.
• As a leadoff batter in an inning, Hauver has reached base 33 times this season on 93 chances (.355).
• Hauver has been very productive for his teammates as well, successfully advancing runners 64 times on 118 chances (.542). Of ASU's day-to-day starters, Hauver's 28 runners left stranded this season are the fewest on the team.
• Hauver has been light's out with runners in scoring position, leading the team with a .439 average on 25-of-57 hitting while also making it tough for pitchers to get out of innings with a second-best .385 average on 20-of-52 hitting with two outs. 
• Hauver has a case for being ASU's most clutch batter late in games this season. In innings 7-9, Hauver is batting .400 on 22-of-55 hitting with 16 RBIs and 16 runs, easily leading ASU in each of those categories in the late stages of games. Six of his 13 home runs have come in these latter stages of games.

#LINSANITY

• Lyle Lin has embraced his new role as the team's designated hitter this season, just outside the Top-10 in the Pac-12 with 46 RBIs despite not quite being an every-day starter
• Lin's 46 RBIs are an incredible tally considering the junior had just 18 RBIs total during the 2018 season, despite starting every game. He has multiple RBIs in 9 games.
• Lin was named a first team selection on the All-Pac-12 team.
• Prior to the Cal series, Lin had a 10-game streak as good as any by a Sun Devil this season, batting .474 in that span with four doubles and four home runs with 10 RBIs. That .474 average was 140 points higher than any Sun Devil on the roster. 
• Over the final month of the season (15 games), Lin led the team with a .379 average and a .410 on-base percentage. He had five homers and 11 RBIs in that time while slugging .707. 
• Of Lin's 63 hits this season, 45 have come on EITHER the first pitch of an at-bat OR when battling from behind in the count. A contact hitter, Lin is second on the team in fewest strikeouts at 28 but has also walked a team-low 12 times.
• Lin is 14-for-19 this season in bringing runners from third home with less than two outs, a notable area of struggle for the junior was was just 2-for-12 in the category last season despite starting every game in the middle of the lineup. The 14 RBIs in that spot this year are three more than any other Sun Devil.
• Lin has advanced baserunners 68 times on 116 chances (.586) - the highest total on the team by average.
• His knack for getting the ball into play has paid its due, as he's reached base a team-best 10 times on opponent errors this season - five more than any other Sun Devil. He has advanced a runner with an out 24 times - also good for the team lead.
• Lin became the first Sun Devil since 2014 to hit a grand slam with his round-tripper in the second game of the UC Davis series.
• Lin leads the team with nine games this season with three or more hits.

All Day Aldrete

• As he has done throughout his career at ASU, Carter Aldrete has begun to heat up in the final weeks of the season. 
• Aldrete is riding a team-best seven-game hitting streak heading into the postseason and has a home run in four of his last five games.
• Aldrete's .375 average over the last seven games is nearly 100 points higher than his teamates while posting a .917 slugging percentage in the stretch.
• At nine home runs this season, Aldrete has easily set a career best after having just three in each of his first two seasons at ASU.
• The junior has also set career highs in doubles (13), hits (57), runs (35) and RBIs (43) this season.

Filling the Boyd

• While the win loss numbers might not be there, Boyd Vander Kooi has put together a three-game stretch of starts as good as any ASU pitcher this season.
• Over the final three weekends of the year, Vander Kooi had a team low 2.25 ERA, striking out 22 and walking just 4. 
• His 20.0 innings pitched in that time were the most among all players while he allowed just one single extra base hit - also a team low, regardless of starting or relief pitchers. 
• Vander Kooi struck out a career high 11 batters in 7.0 scoreless innings against #3 Stanford in the final game of the regular season. He became the first Sun Devil since 2016 to record 11 strikeouts in a game.

Just Like He Drew It Up

• Despite missing three weeks to injury, Drew Swift returned to the lineup and continued to show he is one of ASU's most improved hitters.
• He has nine doubles this season - already a career-best - and a triple for 10 extra-base hits on the season despite missing several weeks to injury. He had just two extra-base hits on the season.
• Swift has been a part of 33 double plays this season, despite the time missed, good for fifth in the Pac-12 in the category and second among non-first basemen.
• His 121 defensive assists are good for 11th in the Pac-12.
• Despite his .268 batting average, Swift still manages to reach base at a .365 clip this season - a valuable tool at the bottom of the ASU order.
• Became the first Sun Devil since Jake Peevyhouse in 2014 to have three doubles in a game, doing so against San Diego.

Pay the Tolman

• Erik Tolman has been thrust into several crucial spots as a true freshman this season and responded best when the lights were on.
• Tolman is 3-1 with two saves this season and a team-best 2.83 ERA.
• Tolman has struck out 49 batters and in 47.2 innings pitched.
• Opponent's .198 batting average against Tolman this season is easily the lowest on the team. 
• With a handful more innings pitched, Tolman would qualify as the only pitcher in the Pac-12 this season to not allow a home run. 
• Tolman is dominant when he has two strikes to his credit, holding opponents to 4-35 (.114) in 1-2 counts and 4-of-29 (.138) in 2-2 counts with 33 of his 48 strikeouts. 
• With runners on the basepath, opponents are batting just 17-of-86 (.198) against Tolman on the season and he has been shutdown with two outs, limiting the opposition to 6-of-51 (.118) while stranding 51 baserunners. 
• With runners in scoring position, opponents are just 9-of-54 (.166) with just 12 RBIs. 

The Brady Bunch

• Brady Corrigan has quickly asserted himself as one of ASU's go-to players out of the pen, appearing in 28 of ASU's 54 games this season.
• Corrigan has inherited a team-high 36 runners this season, allowing just seven of them to score (.194).
• Corrigan has 65 strikeouts in 50.0 innings pitched - easily the best strikeout-to-inning ratio on the team. 
• The sophomore was selected as an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection.

OBURZELLOUS

• From April 18-May 19, Blake Burzell allowed just one earned run in his last nine appearances (18.1 IP) with 14 strikeouts. 
• Burzell has earned the win in three of those games (now 5-0 on the season) while lowering his ERA over three points in the process to drop it back under 4.00.
• Burzell throws a strike 63.0 percent of the time, the highest total on the team. He doesn't hesitate on 1-2 and 2-2 counts, throwing strikes 71.6 and 78.4 percent of the time and punching out 25 in the process. 
• Opponents are just 3-for-26 (0.115) against Burzell on 1-2 counts this season. 
• During that nine-game hot stretch, Burzell has held opposition to 2-for-22 hitting (.091) with two outs and 4-for-32 (.125) with runners on the base path. 

Chicks Dig The Long Ball

• ASU's power numbers this season have been at another level with ASU posting 92 home runs  - a total that led the nation in the regular season.
• The Devils have three players with over 10 home runs in Hunter Bishop (22), Spencer Torkelson (21) and Trevor Hauver (13). It is the first time a Sun Devil roster has laid that claim since 2009 (Carlos Ramirez/19, Jason Kipnis/16, Kole Calhoun/12).
• With Hunter Bishop eclipsing 20 home runs this season after Spencer Torkelson his 25 last year, it is the first time ASU has had a player hit 20 or more home runs in consecutive seasons since 1987 (Tony Mattia/21) and 1988 (Tim Spehr/20).
• Bishop and Torkelson make ASU just the 5th team in Pac-12 history to have players reach 20+ home runs in multiple consecutive seasons, joining ASU '84-85 (Bonds/McDowell), WSU '87-88 (Hooper/Olerud), STAN '90-91 (Griffin/McCarty) and UCLA '97-01 (5 players combined)
• They are first ASU duo to have 20+ HRs in same year. Since the BBCOR batting standards were introduced in '11, ASU is the first Power 5 team to achieve this and just 2nd team overall.
• ASU is just the 5th Pac-12 team in history to have at least two players reach 20+ homers in same season, joining Arizona '93 (Arias/Thompson), UCLA '97 (Glaus/Heinrichs/Valent), UCLA '00 (Johnson/Utley/Scott) and Stanford '08 (Ratliff/Muth)
• ASU's 92 home runs are the most since the 1993 team recorded 97 homers.
• ASU's 92 home runs have easily set the Pac-12 record during the BBCOR era of bats (since 2011), surpassing Oregon State's 2018 mark of 67.
• ASU is hitting 1.70 home runs per game this season, a mark that would be the third-best of any team in the past nine years since the BBCOR batting standards were introduced. 
• Ten different Sun Devils have gone yard this season, with eight of those doing so 3 or more times.
• ASU's 92 home runs were 12 more than any other team in the Pac-12 (Cal was second with 80).

Pitching For Contact

• The Sun Devil pitching staff has done its part to put trust in the defense behind it, a trait of pitching to contact that has led to 58 double plays being turned on the season - a total that leads the Pac-12 and is fifth nationally.
• ASU's defense as done it's part with a solid .975 fielding percentage that is fourth in the league and 58th nationally after consecutive seasons ranked 184th or worst in the cateogry.
• That trusting relationship has played a huge role in ASU escaping numerous jams this season. In total, ASU has stranded 474 opponents on the basepath this year  - just a tick under nine stranded runners per game at 8.8 per game.