The Washington State baseball team (27-23, 9-15 Pac-12) begins its final Pac-12 road trip when it travels to Phoenix to face No. 12 Arizona State in a three-game series starting Thursday, May 14...gametimes are set for 7 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively...Washington State is 312-300 under the helm of Donnie Marbut, who is in his 11th season as head coach of the Cougar program and has the third most wins behind Buck Bailey and Bobo Brayton.
PROBABLE STARTERS
ASU WSU
LHP Ryan Kellogg (7-1, 3.79 ERA) RHP Sean Hartnett (3-4, 4.43 ERA)
LHP Brett Lilek (4-2, 3.43 ERA) LHP Joe Pistorese (7-4, 2.58 ERA)
RHP Seth Martinez (2-1, 3.66 ERA) TBA
SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE
Arizona State enters the series with a 30-18 overall record, 15-9 in Pac-12 play...the Sun Devils are ranked in all the national polls: NCBWA (20), D1Baseball.com (17), USA Today (18), Baseball America (16) and Collegiate Baseball (12)...ASU has dropped each of its last two series to UCLA (2-1) and Cal (2-1) after winning each of its first six Pac-12 series...over the last 10 games the Sun Devils are 3-7…infielder David Greer leads the team with a .351 batting average, one of six ASU regulars hitting over .300...on the mound junior Ryan Burr leads the Pac-12 in saves with 13.
ALL-TIME AGAINST THE SUN DEVILS
The Sun Devils hold a 49-15 all-time record against the Cougars...when playing in Arizona, ASU ‘s advantage is 31-6, although WSU did take the series 2-1 in 2013, the last time it was played in Arizona.
QUICK HITS
- Ian Sagdal stolen three bases in Tuesday’s game against Portland, the first Cougar to do so since Travis Coulter had three at Gonzaga, May 16, 2006.
- Outfielder Derek Chapman has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games, raising his average from .254 to a current .282 in that stretch.
- Sam Triece has allowed just one earned run in his last 24 1/3 innings, a 0.37 ERA. The 24 1/3 innings stretches over his past 12 appearances.
- Freshman Jack Strunc is hitting .409 (9-22) in seven games during the month of May.
RECAP: WASHINGTON STATE VS. PORTLAND
The Cougars scored in five of the first six innings and never trailed en route to the 7-3 win over Portland at the Cougar Diamond Classic in Pasco, Wash...Ian Sagdal led the way as he went 1-for-1 with a triple, run scored, three RBI and three stolen bases...Sam Triece, one of six Cougar pitchers on the night, started and picked up the win to move to 5-0 on the season.
RECAP: WASHINGTON STATE VS. OREGON
Washington State dropped the series against the Ducks, winning Game 2 of the three-game series...Oregon won the opened 8-3 in 10 innings before rebounding in Game 2 for the 3-1 victory...in the rubber match, the Ducks scored two first-inning runs and never looked back in the 7-2 win...Jack Strunc and Cameron Frost led WSU by hitting .444 (4-for-9) for the series...the series loss was WSU’s second-straight after winning its previous four series.
WALKER NAMED PAC-12 PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Freshman Ryan Walker was named the Pac-12 Conference Pitcher of the Week for April 27-May 3. In two starts, Walker worked a combined 11 2/3 innings, scattering four hits with three walks while striking out 12...opponents hit only .105 against him and managed two extra base hits, with only one runner advancing past second...vs. Washington, Walker went four 2/3 shutout innings, allowing two hits while striking out five...then vs. Arizona, Walker went a career-high seven innings, scattering two hits with a walk while striking out a career-high seven.
HAMILTON CAPTURES WSU SAVES RECORD
Sophomore Ian Hamilton recorded his 25th career save in a Cougar uniform in WSU’s 3-0 win at Washington in a nonconference game, giving him sole possession of first on the WSU all-time career saves list, passing Reed Rainey (1983-85)...Hamilton captured the record in little over a season and a half, with 15 saves as a freshman and 12 more this season, with seven games still remaining.
PITCHING STAFF IN GOOD GROOVE
Since the start of the Cal series April 2, the Cougar pitching staff has been working at a high level...the team is 15-8 in that span with a 2.57 ERA...starter Joe Pistorese has a 1.96 ERA in his six starts and relievers Layne Bruner (0.00 ERA in 10 appearances), Sam Triece (1.35/14) and Ryan Walker (1.47/9) have been keys to the success.
SAGDAL REMAINS HOT
Since April 1, senior Ian Sagdal has hit safely in 16 of his 21 games, eight of which were multi-hit games…over the 21-game span, the lefty has posted a .329 batting average (28-of-85), a .600 slugging percentage, five doubles, three triples, 12 RBI and four home runs...on the season, Sagdal leads the young Cougar squad offensively in batting average (.318), slugging (.514), runs (33), hits (57), doubles (12), home runs (5), RBI (29) and total bases (92).
TRIECE DOMINATING IN LATE SEASON
While Joe Pistorese and Ryan Walker have earned Pitcher of the Week honors this season, pitcher Sam Triece has quietly put together a strong senior campaign...over his last 12 appearances dating back to April 7, Triece has gone 5-0 in 24 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits, all singles, one run, seven walks, 25 strikeouts and a .658 WHIP...in that span opponents are hitting .110 against him...for the season he is 5-0 with a 2.91 ERA.
ROSTER FULL OF YOUTH
The WSU roster has 24 members in their freshman or sophomore year of eligibility…13 of those players have seen starts this season…in 50 games, the 13 have combined for 310 position starts and make up 65 percent of runs (144-of-222), 69 percent of hits (276-of-398), 66 percent of doubles (48-of-73), 69 percent of triples (11-of-16) and 64 percent of RBI (125-of-197)…freshman Shane Matheny is the only player to start all 50 games.
CHAPMAN FINDING HIS RANGE
Since being inserted into the starting lineup on a regular basis, freshman outfielder Derek Chapman has given Donnie Marbut no reason to regret that decision...since April 1, Chapman has started 22 of 23 games and has 31 hits, including nine multi-hit games, a .352 batting average (31-of-88) and a .432 slugging percentage.
