(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)
Arizona State Baseball (18-9, 7-5) heads into an inevitably tough series with current Pac-12 Conference leader and No. 20-ranked Stanford (20-6, 6-3) on Friday, with first pitch kicking off a three-game home series for the Sun Devils.
Thus far in 2021, the Sun Devils have used a combination of hot hitters, solid pitching and a steady infield entering the perhaps consequential series with the Cardinal.
ASU redshirt freshman infielder Sean McLain is currently the hottest batter in the Sun Devils’ lineup. McLain has recorded hits in 23 consecutive games and has had multiple hits in 14 of those games. The redshirt freshman’s 23-game hitting streak is the third-longest in ASU history since 1998, and McLain is now tied with former ASU outfielder Andre Ethier’s 23-game hitting streak, which was recorded in 2003.
Furthermore, McLain leads the Sun Devils with a .407 batting average on the year, which earns him third place in the Pac-12 and 31st among all NCAA Division I batters.
Along with hot hitters like McLain, ASU has seen quite the performance the mound despite injuries dashing its rotation. Redshirt sophomore right-hander Tyler Thornton ranks 11th in the Pac-12 with a .227 average against, but his most impressive statistic has been his .095 average against with two outs. The Sun Devils have lost just two games with Thornton starting on the mound this season.
Redshirt junior left-hander Justin Fall has recorded three consecutive first-rate performances on the hill lately, and has earned victories in each outing. Fall has faced two top-25 offenses in runs scored after pitching against Washington State and Arizona, and in those outings, the lengthy lefty threw 12.2 innings while allowing just one run.
Finally, the Sun Devils face Stanford with an exceptional left side of the infield. Junior shortstop Drew Swift and freshman third baseman Hunter Haas have combined for just three errors on 172 chances this season. The three errors mark the lowest on that side of the field in the Pac-12 this season.
The Cardinal are averaging 6.81 runs per game and have hit 39 home runs in 2021. Their 39 homers in 26 games follows a weak 2020 power campaign, in which they hit just two homers in 16 games.
Stanford has won each of its three Pac-12 series this year and won two of three against then-ranked UCLA last weekend. Stanford most recently earned a 2-0 victory over the University of the Pacific on Wednesday.
The Sun Devils’ game against UNLV on Tuesday was cancelled due to a positive COVID-19 test and further contract tracing within the Rebels’ program, according to Sun Devil Athletics. It was the first cancellation the Sun Devils have had in the 2021 season due to COVID-19 protocols.
The game would have been the second of ASU’s home-and-home single-game series with UNLV, as the Rebels earned a 10-9 victory over the Sun Devils on March 16 in Phoenix.
The cancellation comes after a weekend in which ASU won two of three games against Washington on the road, and perhaps gives the Sun Devils extra rest coming into their big matchup at home this weekend.
