(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
After dropping a back-and-forth contest to the New Mexico State Aggies Wednesday night in Phoenix, the Arizona State baseball team (17-23, 9-9 Pac-12) resumes its conference schedule this weekend as they hit the road for a three-game series against the Oregon State Beavers (30-6, 10-5 Pac-12) in Corvallis.
Head coach Tracy Smith and his squad bring a three-game conference winning streak to Goss Stadium at Coleman Field after sweeping the Utah Utes last weekend.
The Sun Devil offense, averaging 10.5 runs per game over the last four, might stand a better chance of sustaining that success against this Beaver pitching staff compared to the 2017 version that swept the Sun Devils aside in Phoenix. To this point in 2018 the Beaver’s team ERA stands at 3.56, after finishing at 1.98 one year ago.
The projected starters for the weekend are Alec Marsh (3-2, 3.32 ERA) against Luke Heimlich (9-1, 3.18 ERA) on Friday, Sam Romero (1-1, 5.91 ERA) taking on Bryce Fehmel (5-1, 3.34 ERA) on Saturday, with Eli Lingos (6-3, 2.89 ERA) and Grant Gambrell (5-1, 2.98 ERA) set to close out the series on Sunday.
Continuing to pace the offense for Arizona State is freshman Spencer Torkelson. While his NCAA-leading home run total of 20 is double that of any other freshman, he also brings a 24-game streak of reaching base along with a team-leading 26 walks.
While Torkelson and Gage Canning continue to set the table at the top of the lineup, a player that perhaps has flown under the radar for ASU is senior Taylor Lane. Settling in nicely as Smith’s everyday DH in recent weeks, the Chesapeake, VA native boasts a .385 batting average in conference play this season.
As for Oregon State, head coach Pat Casey has recently welcomed back one of the best players in college baseball to his lineup in shortstop Nick Madrigal. Despite playing in only 10 games this season due to a broken wrist, Madrigal holds a .512 batting average while scoring 14 runs. The junior made his return last Friday against rival Oregon, going 5-11 with three runs and an RBI over three games, all won by Oregon State.
Madrigal only adds more talent to the vaunted Beaver offense, which includes Trevor Larnach (.343, 12 HR, 46 RBI), Steven Kwan (.319, 26 RBI, 12-15 stolen bases) and Cadyn Grenier (.319, 26 RBI, 42 runs). Grenier brings a 12-game hitting streak into the series, with five doubles and 12 RBI over that span.
The Sun Devils’ 9-9 conference record has them in sixth place, four games back in the loss column of the Beavers, whose 10-5 mark is good for third behind Stanford and UCLA respectively. Including this weekend’s games, the Sun Devils have 12 conference games remaining to try and improve their case to return to the NCAA tournament after missing last season. The Beavers have won six straight in this series going back to 2016.
First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 5:35 p.m., with Saturday’s game set to begin at 3:05 p.m. and Sunday’s finale slated for a 1:05 p.m. start.
