ASU begins conference play up north against No. 7 Washington

(Photo via Marina Williams/WCSN)

The Sun Devils head into the final Pac-12 Conference regular season this weekend against the seventh-ranked Washington Huskies in Seattle. ASU finished its final tournament of the regular season at Farrington Stadium last week, chalking up three wins to just one loss in the ASU Invitational.

The Huskies (16-2) head into this matchup losing to just two teams all year: then-No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 7 Oklahoma State. They are currently on a seven-game winning streak after the loss to the Cowboys on Feb. 22nd.

Already on the year, the Huskies have totaled 19 home runs and 107 RBIs, while giving up just six long shots themselves. They are led by graduate infielder Jillian Celis, who boats an impressive .403 batting average with four home runs and 24 RBIs just 18 games into the season.

Washington is also impressive when it comes to baserunning, with 39 stolen bases on 45 attempts on the year. It is led in this stat by sophomore outfielder Brooklyn Carter, going 12-for-12 on the bags this year. Those 12 stolen bases can also credit some of her 17 runs scored on the season, a team-best.

The Devils will need to keep the Huskies off the bases if they want to keep this weekend’s games close, which they have been able to do all year. They have held opposing runners to just nine stolen bases on 12 attempts, with all three catchers for ASU each throwing out a runner this year.

In the circle, the Huskies are just as strong as they are on offense, posting a 1.66 team ERA. Senior pitcher Brooke Nelson has a 0.37 ERA on the year, eighth in the NCAA up to this point. However, Nelson has only pitched 19 innings on the year compared to teammate sophomore Ruby Meylan’s 42 innings.

Meylan has a 0.50 ERA – good for 13th in the country – in 42.1 innings pitched with 55 strikeouts. She doesn’t give up many bases, holding opposing hitters to a .140 batting average, and giving up only 16 walks. ASU collectively has drawn 62 walks on the year, so it will need to use its abilities to get on base and steal bases every chance it gets.

The Devils have a tough task opening conference play on the road against a top-10 team in the country, and they will have to battle in every at-bat to keep the games close. This could be a golden opportunity for the Devils to pull off an upset this weekend and hit the ground running in Pac-12 play.