(Photo: Dominic Cotroneo/WCSN)
Riding a four game winning streak, No. 6 Arizona State (19-7, 7-2) will make its second road trip of the season, this time to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Utes (9-17, 3-6).
ASU is coming off a weekend sweep against Stanford and a midweek win against New Mexico State. Before that it had back-to-back series wins against Oregon State and Oregon.
After a bit of a dry spell against Oregon, the offense has returned to normal form. R.J. Ybarra, Colby Woodmansee and Brian Serven, specifically, have caught fire in the past four games. Serven was a catalyst for the offense on Sunday, as he helped ensure the series sweep by going 5-for-5 with two home runs in what he described as “the best game I’ve ever had.”
Brett Lilek had a nice rebound performance and Ryan Kellogg was his usual self over the weekend. The only cause for concern on the pitching staff was Seth Martinez’s rough Friday outing, but it appears to just be an outlier performance.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Utah is the lone Pac-12 team that has struggled throughout the season. In addition to its 3-6 Pac-12 record, it boasts just a 6-11 non-conference record. Its schedule has not been particularly tough either, with a one game series against Oklahoma State being the only challenging game they have played thus far outside of the Pac-12.
Despite its struggles, they do have series wins against Arizona and Kansas.
Nolan Stouder, Dalton Carroll and Jayson Rose are the probable pitchers for the series for the Utes. All three have struggled, with Rose having the best year of the three. His ERA stands at a serviceable, though not great, 4.00.
As a whole, it has been a rough season so far for their pitching staff. The Utes have allowed at least 10 runs in five of their six conference losses, and Rose’s ERA is the highest among all of their pitchers. The struggles of their pitching staff should give ASU ample opportunity to continue its hot ways offensively.
Utah’s offense has not been great, but it is a step up from the pitching staff. Juniors Wyler Smith and Kody Davis have started all 26 games and are hitting .362 and .326 respectively. The big power threat on the team is shortstop Cody Scaggari, who has a team-leading three long balls.
For the first time this season for the Sun Devils, the series will begin on Thursday, rather than Friday, and go to Saturday, in honor of Easter Sunday. Martinez will be pitching game one for ASU.
