Devils in Detail
Fansided

ASU Baseball: Devils look to turn season around against No. 2 Stanford

By Koki Riley

OMAHA, NE - JUNE 23: Members of the Arizona State Sun Devils wait on the mound for their manager to arrive during Game 13 of the 59th College World Series against the Florida Gators at Rosenblatt Stadium on June 23, 2005 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Gators defeated the Sun Devils 6-3. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - JUNE 23: Members of the Arizona State Sun Devils wait on the mound for their manager to arrive during Game 13 of the 59th College World Series against the Florida Gators at Rosenblatt Stadium on June 23, 2005 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Gators defeated the Sun Devils 6-3. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

After losing two out of three at home against USC, ASU baseball heads into this weekend’s matchup against No. 2 Stanford with their hands full.

This weekend ASU baseball will have their toughest test of the season as they hit the road to play second-ranked Stanford.

The Cardinal head into this series with a 24-5 record on the season and a 6-3 record in conference play while the Sun Devils come into this weekend’s action having lost seven of their last nine contests.

Stanford this season is lead by their dominant starting rotation of Brendan Beck (1.34 ERA), Kris Bubic (1.94 ERA) and Tristan Beck (3.66 ERA).

Unlike ASU, this Stanford team has one of the nation’s best bullpens headlined by the likes of Jack Little (who has yet to allow a run on the season in 12 appearances), Jacob Palisch (1.93 ERA) and Daniel Bakst (3.14 ERA)

In fact, this season the Cardinal is tied for fourth in the country in team earned run average at 2.72 with UCLA as the two Pac-12 schools that are top-five in the country in that category.

To complement a dominant pitching staff, Stanford owns a rock solid offense led by the production of Tim Tawa (.324 batting average), Andrew Daschbach (team-high eight home runs) and Beau Branton (.459 on base percentage).

In addition to their spectacular pitching staff and rock solid lineup, the Cardinal have had nine less errors than their opponents this season.

Stanford truly is the best and most well-rounded team ASU has played all season.

Outside of Torkelson’s team-high 16 home runs and Canning’s .400 team leading batting average, the Sun Devils have lacked consistency from the rest of their hitters with the only other exception being Lyle Lin who is hitting .324 on the season.

Not only do the Sun Devils lack depth in their lineup, but it will be tough to trust the ASU offense this weekend against one of the five best pitching staffs in the nation.

On the mound, ASU has been inconsistent all season as former Friday starter Sam Romero has been demoted to a midweek role, freshman sensation Boyd Vander Kooi’s health is up in the air and ASU’s bullpen has been a giant question mark all season.

ASU’s pitching staff may not even get the chance to contain Stanford’s offense given how poor the Sun Devils defense has been as of late.

In the field, Arizona State is currently last in the Pac-12 in fielding percentage while also leading the conference in errors with 47 which is 13 more errors than Oregon who are in second place in that category.

Next: ASU Baseball: Pitching woes continue in loss to UNLV

ASU is heading into this weekend’s series after having lost their last three series in Pac-12 play. It’s safe to say that it will take a major turnaround from recent play in order for ASU to win this series let alone even win a game in the series.

Home/ASU Baseball