(Photo: Karli Matthias/WCSN)
A 5 hour 10 minute victory over the Arizona Wildcats on Sunday afternoon that head coach Tracy Smith referred to as an “ugly win” clinched Arizona State’s first Territorial Cup series sweep since 2009. After such a barnburner of a ballgame in the series finale, the Devils (25-1, 8-1 Pac-12) only have one day of rest before they return to Phoenix Municipal Stadium for a Tuesday night matchup versus the Long Beach State Dirtbags.
For the third time in four weeks, Hunter Bishop was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after hitting .400 (4-for-10) with two homers and a double while also scoring eight runs in the Arizona series.
The nation’s home run and runs leader will look to continue his amazing success at the plate against a Dirtbags team that has really struggled in 2019. The 3-23 Dirtbags have lost nine in a row and were just swept by California in Berkeley this past weekend.
The Dirtbags have not won a game on the road so far this season, and it has been their pitching that has been the main issue. The pitching staff has given up a collective 5.47 ERA and opponents are hitting .284 against Dirtbags’ arms.
Entering the weekend series against California, the Dirtbags pitching staff gave up only seven homers the entire year but would proceed to allow nine homers to the Golden Bears in the series. LBSU’s probable starter against ASU, right hander Matt Fields, currently holds a 6.75 ERA in three starts while throwing for 9.1 innings, nine hits, seven earned runs, eight walks, and eight strikeouts.
Although the Dirtbags record is not pretty, the team has been playing stiff competition all season long. They have played 11 games against ranked opponents, including Florida, Michigan, Ole Miss, TCU and UCLA. They have also played USC and Cal State Fullerton, two notable programs from southern California.
After ASU plays LBSU, the Devils will hit the road for the next four games for a weekend series with USC then midweek at UNLV starting on Friday night. First pitch against the Dirtbags on Tuesday night is slated for 6:30 p.m.
