ASU Baseball: Sun Devils Anticipate Big Weekend Series With No. 11 Oregon

The 21st-ranked Arizona State University baseball team will face No. 11 Oregon this weekend in a big Pac-12 Conference series at Packard Stadium in Tempe. The Sun Devils, coming off a two-game mid-week tilt at Wichita State, must stop a surging Ducks squad that shut out Washington in a three-games home stand last weekend.

Oregon is 8-1 in league play and sits atop the Pac-12 standings. They defeated the Huskies in dramatic fashion in the opening game of their series. Junior infielder Ryon Healy hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning, giving the Ducks a 5-3 victory. In the second game, Oregon prevailed 1-0 on the strong pitching of Tommy Thorpe.

The final meeting of the Oregon-Washington series featured a complete game shutout by Ducks freshman Cole Irvin, who was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week. He allowed just four hits, while striking out a season-high 11 batters and registering one walk. Irvin, who owns a 3.00 season ERA, improved to 5-1 with the win. In 48.0 innings of action, he has collected 27 strikeouts and has allowed just one home run.

Arizona State, meanwhile, took care of business against Wichita State on Tuesday night at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kan. Freshman RJ Ybarra knocked a two-out RBI single through the middle in the top of the ninth inning to help the Sun Devils secure a 4-3 win. ASU wraps up its visit to Wichita tonight.

The first game of the Arizona State-Oregon matchup will be on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The two teams meet again on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., and then close out the series on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.