Devils baseball team set for home finale vs. Oregon
Arizona State baseball (24-25, 12-12 in Pac-12) only has six games remaining before the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament in Scottsdale, but maintaining a good position in the tournament will be important.
The Sun Devils will host Oregon for their final home series at Phoenix Municipal this weekend as ASU currently sits sixth in the conference with only the top eight teams advancing to the postseason tournament that begins May 25.
Oregon is fifth in the Pac-12 and had one more conference win than ASU with its 13-11 record. The Ducks were swept last weekend by No. 2 Oregon State.
Saturday’s game at 6 p.m. will feature a reunion of the 1981 College World Series Champion team, the last ASU team to win the title. The reunion was postponed a year due to COVID-19. Friday will be a 7 p.m. start, while Sunday’s home finale will be at 12 p.m.
ASU is on a recent hot streak after sweeping Utah last weekend and taking down No. 25 Grand Canyon on Tuesday. Seven players had a hit and six pitchers were on the mound for the 6-4 win.
Fresh off being named Pac-12 Player of the Week, Nate Baez hit his sixth home run in six games on Tuesday. Baez shares the lead with Joe Lampe in home runs with 10.
Baez has had a stellar season and is the first ASU player with 20 doubles and 10 homers in a season since Riccio Torrez in 2010. Lampe needs a double to join him. Since 1998, ASU has not had two players do that in the same season.
Lampe is currently riding an 18-game hit streak and needs hits in the next two games to become the fourth Sun Devil since 2010 to record a 20-game hit streak in a season. Current Sun Devil Sean McLain was the last to accomplish the feat when he had a 23-game hit streak last season.
Around campus
● ASU women’s golf will be heading to the NCAA Championship for the 37th time in program history after the Sun
Devils placed second at the NCAA Regional in Stillwater, Oklahoma on Wednesday. ASU will participate in its host NCAA Tournament at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale from May 20-25. Alexandra Forsterling, Ashley Menne, and Grace Summerhays all finished in the Top-10.
Lindsay Lopez earned Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors after pitching two complete games and winning both against No. 4 UCLA last weekend. No. 8 ASU softball (37-8, 18-3 in Pac-12) earned its first series win over UCLA since 2015 and will have three more games to keep first place in the conference. ASU will travel to Washington to finish the regular season beginning with Friday's game at 7 p.m. Saturday will be at 5 p.m., while Sunday is set for 1 p.m. All games can be seen on Pac-12 Network this weekend.
Freshman Cydney Sanders was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year on Wednesday, while Trisha Ford was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Additionally, Yanni Acuna, Alynah Torres, Lopez, and Sanders were named to the All-Pac-12 Team.
ASU lacrosse had four individuals named to the Pac-12 All-Conference First Team, including attackers Emily Glagolev and Carley Adams, midfielder Taylor Pinzone, and defender Bella Gaspar. The number set a new program record after ASU went to the Pac-12 Championship game and finished as a top-20 team.
ASU men's golf will begin its qualifying run for the NCAA Championship with the NCAA Regionals in Stockton, Calif., Monday through Wednesday. ASU is the top seed.