PHOENIX - Sun Devil Baseball is heading to Tucson for a midweek road matchup against the Arizona Wildcats Wednesday night in Tucson.
MIDWEEK SUCCESS
The Sun Devils are 7-0 in single game midweeks this season, notable as the team was 4-6 in such games a season ago. ASU's midweek games have seen the Sun Devils excel with a team 3.00 ERA in single-game midweeks with 56 Ks to 16 BBs.
LAST WEEK
Arizona State went 2-1 last week, picking up a comeback victory in its midweek against Grand Canyon and splitting the first two games of the series against Washington before the series finale was postponed.
Against Grand Canyon, ASU fell behind by as many as seven before sending 14 men to the plate in eighth inning and scoring nine runs. It was the second time ASU has scored nine runs in an inning this season. Nick McLain made his collegiate debut and went 3-for-6 with four RBIs - including a two-run insurance missile in the ninth. Luke Hill had five RBI in the eighth inning.
Against the Huskies, ASU faltered on Friday night but got production from McLain (home run in second straight game) and Wyatt Crenshaw, who went 2-4 with a two homer and was the only Sun Devil with multiple hits.
The Sun Devil bullpen was largely successful, holding Washington scoreless in four innings of work and allowing just three hits in the process. Ross Dunn matched his career high with nine strikeouts in just 4.0 innings of work but five walks and five wild pitches would be his undoing in the effort.
In Saturday's win, Sun Devil Baseball relied upon several highlight reel defensive plays, a bizarre inside-the-park home run and withholding a furious ninth inning rally to take an 8-6 victory over Washington on Saturday to even the series and force a rubber match on Sunday.
Isaiah Jackson robbed what would have been a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning and followed that with a two-run inside-the-park homer in the eighth that proved to be the difference in the contest.
Luke Keaschall added two doubles and Jacob Tobias had a two-run homer and led the team with three-RBIs while Crenshaw, Hill and Jackson all had multi-hit days.
IN THE RANKINGS
Arizona State is listed in all of the primary national college baseball ranking systems.
D1 Baseball – 19th
Baseball America – 18th
NCBWA – 19th
Collegiate Baseball News – 8th
LAST TIME AGAINST ARIZONA
ASU swept the series against the Wildcats in Tucson. Nu'u Contrades had a deadly series for the Sun Devils, earning Pac-12 Player of the Week for his efforts. Contrades was 7-14 (.500) in the series with eight RBI, three runs scored, two doubles and two home runs in Sun Devil Baseball's sweep of the foes down south.
Saturday's contest against the Wildcats was Contrades' best performance, going 3-5 with a career-best five RBI and the go-ahead three-run jack in the sixth inning. If that was not enough, he had his second career four hit game with another bomb and three RBI in Sunday's effort.
OUR STATE
ASU is 5-0 against the state of Arizona this season, including three wins against Arizona earlier this season and two midweek wins against Grand Canyon.
HOW TO FOLLOW
The game can be seen Pac-12 Insider and heard on KDUS 1060.
MIDWEEK SUCCESS
The Sun Devils are 7-0 in single game midweeks this season, notable as the team was 4-6 in such games a season ago. ASU's midweek games have seen the Sun Devils excel with a team 3.00 ERA in single-game midweeks with 56 Ks to 16 BBs.
LAST WEEK
Arizona State went 2-1 last week, picking up a comeback victory in its midweek against Grand Canyon and splitting the first two games of the series against Washington before the series finale was postponed.
Against Grand Canyon, ASU fell behind by as many as seven before sending 14 men to the plate in eighth inning and scoring nine runs. It was the second time ASU has scored nine runs in an inning this season. Nick McLain made his collegiate debut and went 3-for-6 with four RBIs - including a two-run insurance missile in the ninth. Luke Hill had five RBI in the eighth inning.
Against the Huskies, ASU faltered on Friday night but got production from McLain (home run in second straight game) and Wyatt Crenshaw, who went 2-4 with a two homer and was the only Sun Devil with multiple hits.
The Sun Devil bullpen was largely successful, holding Washington scoreless in four innings of work and allowing just three hits in the process. Ross Dunn matched his career high with nine strikeouts in just 4.0 innings of work but five walks and five wild pitches would be his undoing in the effort.
In Saturday's win, Sun Devil Baseball relied upon several highlight reel defensive plays, a bizarre inside-the-park home run and withholding a furious ninth inning rally to take an 8-6 victory over Washington on Saturday to even the series and force a rubber match on Sunday.
Isaiah Jackson robbed what would have been a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning and followed that with a two-run inside-the-park homer in the eighth that proved to be the difference in the contest.
Luke Keaschall added two doubles and Jacob Tobias had a two-run homer and led the team with three-RBIs while Crenshaw, Hill and Jackson all had multi-hit days.
IN THE RANKINGS
Arizona State is listed in all of the primary national college baseball ranking systems.
D1 Baseball – 19th
Baseball America – 18th
NCBWA – 19th
Collegiate Baseball News – 8th
LAST TIME AGAINST ARIZONA
ASU swept the series against the Wildcats in Tucson. Nu'u Contrades had a deadly series for the Sun Devils, earning Pac-12 Player of the Week for his efforts. Contrades was 7-14 (.500) in the series with eight RBI, three runs scored, two doubles and two home runs in Sun Devil Baseball's sweep of the foes down south.
Saturday's contest against the Wildcats was Contrades' best performance, going 3-5 with a career-best five RBI and the go-ahead three-run jack in the sixth inning. If that was not enough, he had his second career four hit game with another bomb and three RBI in Sunday's effort.
OUR STATE
ASU is 5-0 against the state of Arizona this season, including three wins against Arizona earlier this season and two midweek wins against Grand Canyon.
HOW TO FOLLOW
The game can be seen Pac-12 Insider and heard on KDUS 1060.