Devils in Detail
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ASU Baseball Eyes Fourth Win of the Young Season Versus Oklahoma State

By Joseph Caulo

Mar 3, 2015; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach/manager Tracy Smith (right) greets Arizona Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale prior to a spring training baseball game at Salt River Fields. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2015; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach/manager Tracy Smith (right) greets Arizona Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale prior to a spring training baseball game at Salt River Fields. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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The ASU baseball team readies itself for a midweek bout with the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

ASU baseball weathered a cloudy and rainy weekend at Phoenix Municipal Stadium to sweep Northwestern. Oklahoma State on the other hand, didn’t fare as well in the stormy Phoenix weather. The Cowboys dropped two out of three games versus Grand Canyon.

Now that the clouds have cleared and given way to sunny skies, both teams are eager to continue their young seasons Tuesday at Phoenix Municipal.

Oklahoma State (1-2) is now ranked No. 22 after beginning the season ranked No. 11 nationally. The Cowboys, just a year removed from making the College World Series, struggled to get on a roll offensively against GCU. The offense only mustered one run in the season opener, and was shutout in the series finale at Brazell Stadium. In the shutout, Oklahoma State had seven hits, but struggled to get that timely hit that could put them over the top.

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Head coach Josh Holliday, an ASU assistant from 2007-2009, will need more contributions from third baseman Garret Benge moving forward. Benge, a junior returning starter with 10 career multi-RBI games, will be looked to by Holliday to help spark the Oklahoma State offense against ASU’s starting pitcher Zach Dixon. Andrew Rosa, a junior who has reached base seven times in 12 at bats this season, will be a though out that Dixon will try to keep off base.

The Sun Devils will need a strong start by the sophomore lefty in order to improve to 4-0. Eight true freshman made their debut in an ASU jersey last week, six of whom made their first career starts. Lyle Lin, a freshman catcher from Taiwan, shined in the opening series. Lin became the first true freshman for the Sun Devils to have three hits in an opening weekend game since Colin Curtis in 2004.

This young Sun Devil team did not shy away from the high pressure situations of that came with the first weekend. ASU scored the game-winning run in the 8th inning or later in two separate games. Late game heroics was a part of the winning recipe for this team last season. Under Tracey Smith’s coaching, the Sun Devils scored the game winning run in the last two innings of 10 games last seasons.

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Getting clutch hits late in games often is the deciding factor between who gets to go to Omaha at season’s end and who gets to watch the College World Series on TV. A win over a College World Series caliber team like Oklahoma State would certainly point the Sun Devils in the right direction.

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