May 10, 2012
Arizona State (29-17) at Gonzaga (29-17)
Live Chat
Click here for an interactive Live Chat during Friday's game with fans and a member of the ASU Media Relations
Click here for an interactive Live Chat during Saturday's game with fans and a member of the ASU Media Relations
Click here for an interactive Live Chat during Sunday's game with fans and a member of the ASU Media Relations
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SPOKANE, Wash. - The 19th-ranked Arizona State baseball team makes its way back to eastern Washington for a three-game non-conference series with Gonzaga on Friday-Sunday. The games on Friday and Saturday night are set for 6 p.m., while the contest on Sunday is slated for 1 p.m.
Can't Make It?:
Get live, up-to-the-minute stats online for all three games with gametracker. Links to gametracker can be found on the baseball weekly release on the thesundevils.com or under the online baseball schedule. You can also join a live chat with a member of the media relations staff during all three games. The link for this can also be found on the weekly release on thesundevils.com.
Date/Time:
Friday - May 11 - 6 p.m.
Saturday - May 12 - 6 p.m.
Sunday - May 13 - 1 p.m.
Stadium:
Patterson Baseball Complex - Spokane, Wash.
Pitching Matchup:
Friday-
ASU - RHP Brady Rodgers
Gonzaga - LHP Tyler Olson
Saturday-
ASU - RHP Trevor Williams
Gonzaga - LHP Marco Gonzales
Sunday-
ASU - RHP Alex Blackford
Gonzaga - TBA
In The Polls:
NCBWA: #23
Baseball America: #19
Collegiate Baseball: #19
Perfect Game: #20
Devils vs. Gonzaga
The Sun Devils are 11-2^ all-time against Gonzaga, with ASU winning the last meeting between the two teams, 9-2, on Feb. 18, 2007, at the Coca-Cola Classic. The Zags won the game in 2006, also at the Coca-Cola Classic, 1-9. The two teams last played a regular-season game (outside of a tournament) in 2004, with ASU winning, 10-7. This is the first-ever three-game series between the two schools and the first time in school history ASU has traveled to Spokane.
^Some wins in 2007 later vacated due to NCAA sanctions. Records do not reflect vacations.
Making A Habit Of Sweeping:
Following their three-game sweep over Utah this past weekend, the Sun Devils have now swept three straight Pac-12 home series' and improved to 12-1 at home this season against conference foes. ASU has recorded at least three series sweeps over conference opponents in each of the past six seasons.
Up Next:
The Sun Devils host their final four home games of the season next week. They face Arizona on May 16 in a State Farm Territorial Cup Series game and the second "Cory Hahn Pass The Bucket Night." The Sun Devils host Washington for a three-game Pac-12 series May 18-20, with the contest on May 19 being televised live by Fox Sports Arizona.
Making Them Earn It:
The Sun Devil pitching staff is first in the Pac-12 in walks allowed with 98 and is the only team in the conference to give up under 100 free passes (Washington is second at 115). They are third in Div. I in walks allowed per nine innings at 2.15, their strikeout-to-walk ratio is tops in the Pac-12 and seventh-best in Div. I at 3.08, and their WHIP is third in the nation at 1.14. Right-handers Trevor Williams and Brady Rodgers have conceded a combined 23 walks and 144 hits in 178.2 innings this season, putting them at 22nd (0.92) and 28th (0.95), respectively, in Div. I in WHIP. They are the only pair of teammates ranked in the top-30 in Div. 1 in WHIP.
Utah Recap:
The Sun Devils swept their three-game conference series at home against Utah, winning 5-3, 17-1 and 4-2. ASU hit a pair of two-run homers and right-hander Brady Rodgers retired the final 16 batters he faced, including tying a season-high with nine strikeouts, on Friday. Right-hander Trevor Williams earned the win on Saturday and did walk a batter for the fourth consecutive game and has not walked a batter in 33 consecutive innings dating back to April 6 against Oregon State. In the series finale, James McDonald fouled off five pitches with two outs as part of a 12-pitch at-bat in the eighth inning before he took a walk with the bases loaded to add the insurance run in ASU's win.
A Formidable One-Two Punch:
As of May 10, Abe Ruiz and Joey DeMichele ranked in the top 10 in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage, RBI and total bases. With a combined 110 hits, 80 RBI, 16 home runs and 196 total bases, the duo accounts for just under a third of the team's RBI and just under half of the team's home runs, and more than a fourth of the team's total bases and just under a fourth of the team's hits.
Welcome To Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood:
Rodgers has three complete games this season and went the distance in back-to-back games after allowing one earned run in a win over Cal on March 23 and giving up one earned run in a loss to Oregon on March 31. He began the season with 23 consecutive scoreless innings, which is sixth-best in the school history, and has allowed 22 earned runs and just 13 walks in 91.2 innings this season. He also went nine innings in an extra-innings contest against UCLA. He has a career ERA of 2.36 in 262.2 total innings and is currently second on the school's career "Best Earned Run Average" list, behind Floyd Bannister (74-76), who had a 1.88 ERA in 396.2 innings pitched.
Separating From The Pac (Individual):
Williams and Rodgers rank third and fourth, respectively, in the conference in ERA, with Williams at 1.87 and Rodgers at 2.16. Rodgers is also second in innings pitched at 91.2, while Williams is the only nine-game winner in the conference and is tied for tops in the Pac-12 in runners picked off at four. Right-hander Jake Barrett is tied for first in games finished at 25 and is third in saves with nine.
He Doesn't See Three Strikes Often:
Andrew Aplin is sixth in Div. 1 in toughest to strikeout with a strikeout every 23.5 at-bats and is the only Pac-12 player ranked in the top-29. He has struck out just eight times in 188 at-bats and has not struck out in 101 consecutive plate appearances in conference play, dating back to March 16 at UCLA. Aplin has struck out just 34 times in his three-year career at ASU.
Golden Spikes Watch List:
Brady Rodgers and Joey DeMichele were selected to USA Baseball's 2012 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List. Three Arizona State student-athletes were named to the preseason watch list, including DeMichele, Rodgers and Deven Marrero. Marrero was named to the watch list in 2011 as well.
A Deep Staff:
Arizona State has used 15 pitchers through 46 games of the season. The Devils only used 11 all season last year. Right-hander Mark Lambson, who appeared in 10 games and threw 23.2 innings in 2011, has not made an appearance yet this season. Eight pitchers have also made at least one start this season and 11 have registered either a win or a loss.