PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball returns home this weekend hoping to bounce back from a tough Pac-12 opening series loss on the road at #16 Oregon last weekend as the team hosts Washington State beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. AZT at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Saturday's tilt is scheduled for 2 p.m. before concluding the series on Sunday at 12 p.m.
In The Rankings
The Sun Devils remain ranked in the Top-25 in Collegiate Baseball's weekly poll at No. 16 and are receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll and the NCWBA Poll.
Follow the Action
All three games this weekend will be streamed live online on the main ASU live stream at https://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university.
Each game will also be broadcast over the airwaves on 1060 AM KDUS.
Fans are encouraged to follow along pre-game and in-game content throughout the weekend on the Sun Devil Baseball Twitter account: @ASU_Baseball, especially for key weather updates and time changes.
#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)
1. Dating back to last year, ASU has held opponents to five runs or fewer in 30 of the 34 games since Jason Kelly's arrival.
2. In its last three weekend series, ASU opponents are 12-for-75 (.160) with runners in scoring position.
3. Sean McLain has hits in his last 15 games and leads the team with eight multi-hit games in the process.
4. Drew Swift and Hunter Haas have been flawless on the left side of the ASU infield, committing no errors on 105 total chances.
5. ASU's magic number this season has been four runs, going 10-1 when it scores four to just 2-4 when it scores three or less.
6. ASU has lost just one game in which Tyler Thornton has started, going 8-1 in those games going back to last year.
7. The bullpen has recorded a 2.73 ERA this season with eight saves and a 83:43 strikeout to walk ratio.
8. Hunter Haas has recorded the go-ahead RBI in five of ASU's 12 wins this season. No other player has more than two.
9. Brady Corrigan has retired the first batter he has faced in each of his seven appearances this season.
10. Cam Dennie has stranded all nine batters he has inherited over this season.
BY THE NUMBERS
30 - ASU has held its opponents to 5 runs or fewer in 30 of the 34 games since Jason Kelly has come on as the pitching coach. For perspective, ASU gave up six or more runs in 25 of its 57 games in 2019. ASU is 27th in the nation and third in the Pac-12 with a 3.28 ERA.ASU is 22nd in the country and third in the Pac-12 with a 1.19 WHIP this year. The team is 14th in the nation and second in the Pac-12 in hits allowed per nine innings (6.91).In ASU's last three weekend series, it has held opponents to 12-for-75 (.160) with runners in scoring position.
15 - Sean McLain has become the hottest batter in the Sun Devil lineup, with hits in his last 15 games and has multiple hits in eight of those - the most-multi hit games on the team. He leads the team with a .390 average on the year, good for fourth in the Pac-12 and 106th among all batters in Division I. He is slugging .729 on the year, the third-highest total in the league and 54th in the nation. Of his 23 hits this season, 11 have been for extra bases. He is advancing baserunners at a team-high .586 clip (17-of-29).
8 - ASU has lost just one game in which Tyler Thornton has started since arriving in Phoenix, going 8-1 in those games. Thornton has given ASU at least 5.0 innings in eight of his nine outings at ASU. In fact, including his 13 starts at Saint Mary's, Thornton has failed to reach the five-inning mark just three times in his 22 collegiate starts. Thornton has 6 or more strikeouts in six of his first eight appearances for the Sun Devils dating back to last year. His 32 strikeouts this season are currently tied for seventh in the Pac-12 while tied for the league lead with five starts.
0 - The left side of the Sun Devil infield has been flawless this season as Drew Swift and Hunteer having no errors on field errors on 105 total chances this season. In the Pac-12, only Oregon's SS/3B duo of Josh Kasevich and Sam Novitske have a similarly flawless resume this year on 98 chances. ASU's 105 chances on the left side of the infield are third-most for a primary dui in the Pac-12. Kasevich (65) and Swift (64) are the only two shortstops with at least 60 chances without an error.
On The Cougars
- WSU owns a 12-5 overall record and 1-2 in Pac-12 Conference play, matching their best start since 2010 after splitting a two-game series at UNLV this week.
- ASU leads the all-time series 60-19 and swept the last series in Tempe in 2019. ASU is 39-7 all-time against the Cougars in games at ASU.
- WSU is led by senior outfielder Collin Montez' .373 batting average, sixth among Pac-12 hitters, while preseason All-American junior first baseman Kyle Manzardo paces the club with 27 hits, is third in the Pac-12 with six home runs and second in the league with 24 RBI.
Just Like He Drew It Up
- Drew Swift has recorded hits in 15 of 17 games this season and enters the weekend with a .348 average - tied for 10th in the Pac-12. His slugging percentage sits at .515, 145th in the Pac-12 and a notable evolution for a player who had just two extra-base hits in 55 games as a freshman and slugged just .333 as a sophomore.
- Swift is second on the team in having reached base in nine straight games.
- He has reached base on 14 out of 27 leadoff opportunities this season and has seven games this season with multiple hits - second on the team. He has multiple hits in 15 of his last 28 games, dating back to last season.
- Perhaps more impressive has been his defensive play at shortstop where he is a perfect 64-for-64 on his chances with a team-high 44 assists and seven double plays turned. He is one of just three shortstops in the league without an error and he and Oregon's Josh Kasevich are the only ones without an error on 50+ chances.
- Swift led the team in batting average last year, sitting at .365 overall on the season with a team-best 23 hits - three more than any of his teammates. He was easily been ASU's best hitter with runners in scoring position, going 11-for-24 (.524) with three more hits than any teammate. Swift had a team-best 8 multi-hit games - two more than any of his teammates - and was the only player on the squad to record a 4-hit game - doing so twice.
- Swift was named to the Pac-12 honorable mention All-Defensive team as a sophomore. He was a part of 36 double plays, despite missing time with injury, good for fourth in the Pac-12 in the category and second among non-first basemen. His 135 defensive assists were good for 7th in the Pac-12.
Big Sean
- Sean McLain has become the hottest batter in the Sun Devil lineup, with hits in each of his last 15 games and has multiple hits in eight of those - the most-multi hit games on the team.
- McLain has homered four times this season, good for sixth in the Pac-12
- He leads the team with a .390 average on the year, good for fourth in the Pac-12 and 106 among all NCAA Division I batters.
- McLain has six doubles on the year, good for seventh in the Pac-12.
- Eleven of his 23 hits this year have been for extra bases, posting a .729 slugging percentage that is third in the Pac-12 and 54th in the nation.
- McLain has successfully advanced runners a team-best 58.6 percent of the time (17-of-29 chances).
- He has just two errors on 62 chances this year, though one of those errors came while playing in the outfield after spending the majority of his time at second base.
Welcome to Our Haas
- Hunter Haas continues to get it done both on the plate and at the hot corner, entering the weekend with a .313 average and leading the team with 12 RBIs and also with 14 runs scored.
- Haas has posted the go-ahead RBI five times this season in ASU's 12 wins - including each of the three games against Fullerton. No other Sun Devil has more than two.
- Haas has struck out just five times this season, marking him the toughest player to strike out in the Pac-12 - doing so just once every 13.4 at-bats this year - and 45th in the nation.
- His seven hits with runners in scoring position are most on the team (and come on just 17 chances for a .412 average).
- His four-RBI effort against Nevada is tied for the most for a Sun Devil this season and tied for the team with three multi-RBI games.
- The frosh isn't afraid to shoot his shot with the majority of his action coming early in counts, rarely seeing more than two pitches. 15 of his 21 hits this year have come on 0-0, 1-0 or 0-1 counts.
- Haas has easily been ASU's best hitter with two outs, recording 10 hits on 17 chances - two more hits than any other player on the roster.
- Haas has successfully advanced runners a team-high 20 times on 39 opportunities this season for a .513 average.
- Haas has been perfect over at the hot corner, with no errors on 41 total chances. He is one of just three third basemen in the league with no errors, though he has done so on more chances than the other two.
I Love Lamp
- Joe Lampe showed why he might quickly become a fan favorite for the Sun Devil faithful, hustling out doubles on routine singles, scoring sacrifce flies from second base, coming home from second on infield singles and generally providing some oomph into the bottom of the Sun Devil order.
- His .340 average is 13th in the Pac-12 while his .560 slugging percentage is 13th as well.
- He is the only Sun Devil with multiple three-hit games this year.
- Lampe has stranded just seven runners on the base path this year and successfully advanced runners 16 times on 33 chances (.485).
- He has been absurd at productive outs, recording 11 runners advanced with an out this year - four more than any other player on the roster.
- Lampe is third in the nation with four sacrifice flies this season.
Jump Around
- Hunter Jump got off to a bit of a slow start but has come on strong in his last couple games with hits in 12 of his last 13 games.
- Jump has drawn a team-high 10 walks on the season - two more than any other player on the team.
- He is tied for first on the team with three multi-RBI games.
- Jump was among the hottest hitters in the Sun Devil lineup in the last couple weeks of the 2020 season and finished the year on an eight-game hitting streak.
- In the last two weeks of the 2020 season, Jump went 14-of-31 with a .452 average and was second on the team with 12 RBIs in the final 8 games. He slugged .742 in that time with a team-best six doubles.
- He led the Pac-12 and was 27th nationally with 7 total doubles on the season.
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
- Tyler Thornton has continued to do Tyler Thornton things in 2021 and will look to take those talents as the stabalizer in the weekend rotation after the unfortunate season-ending injuries to Cooper Benson, Boyd Vander Kooi and Erik Tolman.
- Thornton leads the Devils with 25.1 innings pitched this year, striking out a team-best 32 and to 11 walks. The 32 strikeouts are tied for 7th in the Pac-12.
- Thornton has 6 or more strikeouts in six of his first nine appearances for the Sun Devils dating back to last year.
- Thornton has given ASU at least 5.0 innings in eight of his nine outings at ASU. In fact, including his 13 starts at Saint Mary's, Thornton has failed to reach the five-inning mark just three times in his 22 collegiate starts.
- ASU has lost just one game in which he had started, going 8-1 in those games.
- Thornton, a transfer from Saint Mary's, played heavily into the Sun Devil pitching rotation last season and posted a quality start in three of his first four starts, the only Sun Devil to post such a feat.
- Thornton was 2-0 with a 3.48 ERA with 25 strikeouts and seven walks in 24.0 innings pitched - tied for 6th in the Pac-12. His 25 strikeouts were 11th in the Pac-12.
- Thornton was tabbed the National Freshman of the Year (Collegiate Baseball) and National Freshman Pitcher of the Year (NCWBA) and Freshman of the Year of the West Coast Conference. He finished the year with a 10-2 record and a 2.71 earned run average in 13 starts. His 5.54 hits allowed per nine innings were ranked 11th in the country and first in the West Coast Conference and his 10 wins were also ranked 11th in the nation.
The Brady Bunch
- Brady Corrigan has been electric out of the bullpen for ASU this season, posting a 1.12 ERA in seven appearances and 8.0 innings pitched.
- Corrigan has the lowest batting average against on the team at .074 and struck out 14 batters to just four walks.
- He has retired the first batter he has faced a perfect 7-of-7 times.
The JK Effect
- Pitching coach Jason Kelly has made an immediate impression in Phoenix in just his short time with the program and his early returns last season have continued into 2021.
- ASU has held its opponents to 5 runs or fewer in 30 of the 34 games since Kelly has come on as the pitching coach. For perspective ASU gave up six or more runs in 25 of its 57 games in the 2019 season.
- ASU is 27th in the nation and third in the Pac-12 with a 3.28 ERA.
- ASU is 22nd in the country and third in the Pac-12 with a 1.19 WHIP this year. The team is 14th in the nation and second in the Pac-12 in hits allowed per nine innings (6.91).
- In ASU's last three weekend series, it has held opponents to 12-for-75 (.160) with runners in scoring position.
- The series-clinching effort against Sac State was ASU's first one-hitter since May 20, 2007 when Brian Flores went the distance in an 8-1 victory over Oregon State. ASU has had two no-hitters since then (Ryan Kellogg in 2013 and Ryan Hingst in 2016).
- ASU had eight pitchers combine for a shutout in the team's series sweeping win over Utah - the first time in program history eight pitchers combined to shut out another team.
Playing the Field
- The Sun Devils are likely one of the few teams in the country that are not returning a single position player to their 2020 positions in 2021. ASU's only two veteran starters are Drew Swift - who shifted over to shortstop this season after spending the majority of his career at second base - and catcher Sam Ferri, who was knocked out during opening weekend last season with injury. All other positions on the diamond have been replaced by newcomers.
- Despite that, ASU finds itself fielding at a very respectable .977 average early in the season - good for fourth in the Pac-12 and 43rd in the nation.
- The left side of ASU's infield of Drew Swift and Hunter Haas have been perfect from the field on 105 chances. ASU and Oregon are the only Pac-12 teams with a shortstop and third baseman to lay such a claim.
Grab the Bullpen By the Horns
- ASU will depend heavily on its pen this season with the loss of Cooper Benson Boyd Vander Kooi and Erik Tolman's. But thus far, the group has been up to task.
- The bullpen has recorded a 2.73 ERA this season with eight saves and a 83:43 strikeout to walk ratio.
- Freshman Ethan Long is third on the team with six appearances and has yet to allow a run, recording a team-best four saves in the process.
- Eleven players who have come off the bench has still recorded a sub-3.00 ERA on the season
- The bullpen is combining to allow just a .199 opponent batter's average against.
- Cam Dennie has inherited nine runners this season and not allowed any of them to score.
Feeling the Draft
- Despite the draft being shortened to five rounds from 40 due to the fallout from COVID-19, the Sun Devils made history as ASU's five draft selections through the first four rounds marked a program record. Previously the record was four, which had occurred six times in history and most recently in 2012 (Deven Marrero, Brady Rodgers, Joey DeMichele, Jake Barrett).
- The five selections in the 2020 MLB Draft were the most of any program. ASU has had at least five MLB Draft selections if 49 of the 56 all-time draft years since Sun Devil alumnus Rick Monday was selected with the No. 1 overall pick of the 1965 MLB Draft. It was ASU's third consecutive season with five draft picks and the fourth season in the last five years with the total.
- The haul brings ASU's all-time MLB Draft selections to an NCAA-leading 447, including secondary phase and January drafts throughout history. ASU's 156 draft selections since 1999 are also the most of any team in the nation.
- Sun Devil Baseball bookended the opening round of the 2020 MLB Draft as Spencer Torkelson was selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the Detroit Tigers while Alika Williams was chosen 37th overall by the Tampa Bay Rays in the Competitive Balance Round A with the final selection of the first round.
- Torkelson became the fourth Arizona State baseball player to go No. 1 overall in program history, easily an NCAA-high – two more than any other program. He joins Rick Monday (1965), Floyd Bannister (1976) and Bob Horner (1978) to earn the prestigious designation out of ASU.
- It was the seventh time in ASU history that the program recorded two first round selections (including supplementary rounds) - tied with Stanford for the most multi-pick years in NCAA history. The last time it occurred was 1997 when Ryan Bradley and Dan McKinley were selected 40th and 49th overall in the supplemental rounds. It is the first time with at least one of the players going in the non-compensatory first round since 1994 (Antone Williamson (4th) and Jacob Cruz (32nd)).
- With Torkelson becoming Sun Devil Baseball's fourth No. 1 overall pick, Arizona State now ranks tied for fourth among all NCAA programs for most No. 1 overall draft picks from a single program among the major sports (MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL). Notre Dame, Oklahoma and USC football have all had five No. 1 picks in the NFL draft. Sun Devil Baseball is the only NCAA baseball program in the Top-10.
- Torkelson was the 22nd first round selection for the Sun Devils in program history (June draft only, no supplemental rounds) – good for the second-highest tally in NCAA history (Stanford's 23). With supplemental rounds included, Torkelson and Williams mark 30 first-round selections - one behind Stanford for the most in the NCAA. The duo marks the 51st and 52nd first round selections in program history with the supplementary, January and June Secondary phase drafts included as well.
- Torkelson's selection marks the second consecutive season that a Sun Devil has gone in the first 10 picks of the MLB Draft, joining Hunter Bishop's 10th overall selection by the San Francisco Giants last season. Torkelson is the 14th Top-10 pick in Sun Devil program history - the most of any program in the NCAA.