PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball continues the 2019 season this weekend at home at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Phoenix with a Tuesday midweek tilt against Pepperdine followed by a three-game series against Michigan State beginning Friday, March 1. Tuesday, Friday and Saturday's contests will each feature a first pitch at 6:30 p.m. while Sunday's finale will get underway at 12:30 p.m. Every game this week will be streamed live online through the Pac-12 Network Plus.
Follow the Action
- Every game this wee kis scheduled to be streamed live via the Pac-12 Networks and can be viewed at https://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university.
- Fans are encouraged to follow along in-game content throughout the weekend on the Sun Devil Baseball account (@ASU_Baseball).
#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)
1. Dating back to last season, Spencer Torkelson has now reached base in 46 consecutive games, including all 7 this year..
2. Spencer Torkelson now has multiple RBIs in 19 of his 62 career starts (.306) and mutliple hits in 26 of those (.419).
3. ASU has scored 91 runs through 7 games. For perspective, it took ASU 18 games to reach 90 runs last season.
4. Alec Marsh has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 19 of his last 20 appearances dating back to his freshman season.
5. Dating back to last season, Marsh has a posted a quality start in 7 of his last 10 starts since assuming the mantle of Mr. Friday Night.
6. Spencer Torkelson has reached base in 42 consecutive games dating back to last season and is the Pac-12 Player of the Week.
7. Lyle Lin's 16 RBis through the first two weekends is notable as he had just 25 RBIs during the 2018 season, despite starting every game.
8. Trevor Hauver leads the team with a .595 on-base percentage through 7 games this season - a total good for fourth in the Pac-12.
9. Drew Swift's 23 assists on the season lead the Pac-12 and he has yet to commit an error in the process (37 outs on 37 chances).
10. Swift has struck out just once this season on 22 at-bats, making him the toughest player to strike out in the Pac-12 thus far.
Fear the Tork
- Spencer Torkelson had his streak of reaching base in 46 consecutive games ended in the Pepperdine game this week.
- The sophomore now has multiple RBIs in 19 of his 63 career starts (.302) and mutliple hits in 26 of those (.413).
- Torkelson's opened the first two weekends (7 games) batting 17-of-31 (.548) with 15 RBIs, two doubles, a home run and 9 runs scored.
- Torkelson had multiple hits in the first seven ASU games this season and at least one RBI in each of those first 7 games.
- The sophomore is 34th nationally in batting average (.486) and third in the Pac-12. His 17 total hits are seventh in the NCAA and lead the Pac-12 and his 15 RBIs are 10th in the nation and 2nd in the league behind teammate Lyle Lin.
- Torkelson is batting .692 with runners in scoring position on 9-of-13 hitting.
- He has been an extremely tough out to end the inning, currently 8-of-13 with two outs (.615) with a team-best 12 two-out RBI on his 15 total RBIs.
- He easily leads the team in advancing runners, doing so 18 times on 26 opportunities (.692).
- Spencer Torkelson was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the Opening Week of the 2019 season. It was the second time in his career earning the honor.
#TorksUp
- 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.
- Became just the sixth player to reach 25 home runs since the BBCOR batting technology changes took effect in 2011 and the only freshman in the NCAA to reach the milestone in that time.
- Slugged a gaudy .743 on the season (25 homers, 12 doubles), the third-highest total for any freshman in the NCAA in the past two decades and the highest for a freshman in the BBCOR era (since 2011). Only Rickie Weeks (.849 in 2001) and Jeremy Baltz (.771, 2010) posted higher freshman slugging percentages in the past 20 years.
- 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.
- Named a Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist, an award honoring the best player in college baseball.
- National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America named him as a third-team All-America selection; Earned third-team recognition from Perfect Game; Placed on the Perfect Game Freshman All-America First Team; Named by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper as the National Co-Freshman of the Year and the NCBWA as the National Freshman Hitter of the Year.
- Just the seventh Sun Devil in school history to be named an All-American as a freshman, joining Mike Kelly (1989) and Casey Myers (1998) as the only two ASU position players to be named All-Americans as freshman.
- The third Sun Devil to be named Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year, joining Ike Davis (2006) and Jason Kipnis (2008).
Hunting Party
- Hunter Bishop continues to provide Torkelson plenty of protection in the linup, batting .379 (11-of-29) with a team leading leading .724 slugging percentage with two home runs and four doubles.
- Bishop is tied for the team lead with 14 runs scored this season, tied for 8th nationally and second in the Pac-12.
- Bishop is 8th in the Pac-12 with a .724 slugging percentage, tied for third with four doubles, 10th in OBP (.526) and tied for fifth in total bases (21).
- Bishop is third on the team in successfully advancing runners 14 times on 23 chances (.609) and has been incredibly dangerous when leading off an inning, reaching base 5-of-6 times (.833).
- Bishop is one of three Sun Devils to reach base in every game this season (Trevor Hauver and Alika Williams)
Marshing to the Beat
- Alec Marsh has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 19 of his last 20 appearances dating back to his freshman season.
- Dating back to last season, Marsh has a posted a quality start in 7 of his last 10 starts since assuming the mantle of Mr. Friday Night midway through the 2018.
- Marsh has posted consecutive quality starts to open 2019 and is 2-0 on the season.
- His 1.23 ERA is sixth in the Pac-12 while his 15 strikeouts currently sit 4th in the league.
- Marsh leads Pac-12 pitchers with 14.2 innings pitched this season.
- Marsh struck out 10 batters on Opening Night, the first time an ASU player had reached double digits in a game since Seth Martinez in March of 2016. Marsh also became the first Sun Devil in at least 20 years to throw 10 strikeouts on Opening Night. Since at least 1998 (as far back as readily accessible records go), no Sun Devil had struck out more than eight batters on Opening Night until Marsh's performance.
#LINSANITY
- Lyle Lin has embraced his new role as the team's designated hitter this season, currently leading the Pac-12 and sixth in the nation with 17 RBIs.
- Lins 17 RBis through the first two weekends 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 5 of the team's 8 games this season.
- Lin is 6-for-7 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.
- Lin is second on the team in advancing baserunners, doing so 15 times on 24 chances (.625).
- Lin recorded the game-winning RBI (the RBI that put ASU ahead for the remainder of the game) in all three of ASU's games against UC Davis.
- 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 has started in all 117 games at Arizona State.
Put Me In, Coach
- The consummate team player, fans can expect to find Carter Aldrete all over the diamond this season. Aldrete has seen time in right field, second base and third base to open the season, but can fill holes across the infield and even on the mound as the season progresses.
- Aldrete is currently 4th in the Pac-12 with 12 RBIs this season. Of those 12 RBIs, 8 have come with two outs.
- Had a monster game in Game 2 against Notre Dame, posting his first multi-home run game of his career while adding a career-best six RBIs in the process.
Just Like He Drew It Up
- Drew Swift has made a case for one of ASU's most improved players through the early going on the season.
- The sophomore is batting .409 with four doubles and seven RBIs in the early going of the year.
- Batting out of the nine-hole this season, swift has successful turned the order around over 45 percent of the time with his .469 on-base percentage.
- Swift has struck out just once this season on 25 at-bats, making him the toughest player to strike out in the Pac-12 through the first two weeks of the season.
- Swift has been a part of six double plays this season, second in the Pac-12 behind teammate Spencer Torkelson.
- Swift's 24 assists on the season lead the Pac-12 and he has committed just one error in the process (41 outs on 42 chances).
- Became the first Sun Devil since Jake Peevyhouse in 2014 to have three doubles in a game, doing so against San Diego.
A Lot to Alika
- Alika Williams has quietly continued to put up impressive numbers as a sophomore, currently batting .348 with eight hits and seven runs on the season.
- Williams has helped turn four double plays on the season and hasn't committed and error on 21 fielding opportunities.
- Williams is one of three Sun Devils to reach base in all eight games this season.
- Last season, his 13 strikeouts were the lowest among players with at least 22 starts.
- As a freshman, Williams teamed up with fellow freshman infielder Drew Swift to execute 30 double plays.
Putting in the Work
- Workman was the hottest bat in the lineup during Week 2 of the season, batting .600 over four games on 9-of-15 hitting, including his 8th career triple.
- On the year, Workman is second on the team with his .471 average, scoring 9 runs and recording 8 RBIs.
- Workman is third on the team with 6 hits this season with runners in scoring position and second on the team in advancing runners, doing so 12 times on 18 chances (.667).
- Collegiate Baseball News Freshman All-American in 2018
- Collected seven triples as a freshman, tied for the fifth highest total in the country and second on the team behind the national leader in the category, teammate Gage Canning.
- Did not ground into a double play all season, the only ASU regular that can make that claim.
- Posted an OPS of .805, slugging .466 (3rd on team) and reaching base at a .339 clip.
Filling the Boyd
- Boyd Vander Kooi is current 1-0 on the season and second ont he team with 11 strikeouts in 8.2 innings pitched.
- Vander Kooi has six strikeouts looking on the season, good for third in the Pac-12 Conference.
- Made 10 appearances as a freshman last season, including five starts, finishing the campaign with a 3-3 record.
- His 3.00 ERA tied him for the lowest on the team among those with at least 36 innings pitched.
- Stuck out 35 batters, allowing just 12 earned runs in 36.0 innings pitched.
- Made his final five appearances (8.1 innings) out of the bullpen, preventing an earned run from scoring in four of the five outings.
- Did not allow an earned run in six of his ten outings.
Trev Lightly and Carry a Big Stick
- Perhaps no player on the Sun Devil roster has shown as much improvement through two weeks of action as sophomore Trevor Hauver.
- The leadoff man leads the team with a .561 on-base percentage through 8 games this season - a total good for 6th in the Pac-12.
- Hauver has drawn 12 walks on the season - currently second in the Pac-12 - while he has also scored a team-high 14 runs, which has him tied for second in the Pac-12 with teammate Hunter Bishop.
- As a leadoff batter in an inning, Hauver has reached base 7 times this season on 14 chances (.500).
- Hauver has been very productive for his teammates as well, leading the team with the fewest runners stranded on base this season (3) while successfully advancing runners 12 times on 19 chances (.632).
- Hauver is tied for the team lead with two home runs and is one of three players to reach base in each game this season.
Taking Offense
- The Sun Devil offense has put up monster numbers through the early goings of the year and find themselves at the top of numerous NCAA statistical categories.
- ASU is second nationally in averaging 11. runs per game this season.
- The Sun Devils are second nationally with a team .378 batting average and sixth in the country with a team .559 slugging percentage.
- Sun Devils are reaching base at a .461 clip on the year, a total good for fifth nationally.
- ASU has scored 95 runs through 7 games. For perspective, it took ASU 18 games to reach 90 runs last season - not reaching the feat until the first week of Pac-12 action.
- In Sun Devil history, only the 2003 ASU team (96 runs) scored more runs through 8 games than the current batch of Sun Devils.