For the third straight weekend, the No. 22 ASU baseball team will face an conference opponent ranked in the top 15.
This time, it’s a home series against No. 11 Oregon, who is currently atop the Pac-12 standings.
Redshirt sophomore outfielder Trever Allen was the hero on Wednesday’s 4-2 win over Wichita State and said the tough Pac-12 schedule doesn’t faze the Sun Devils (17-8-1, 4-5 Pac-`12).
“I think we all knew going into the season that there wasn’t going to be too much rest,” Allen said.
The Ducks (22-6, 8-1 Pac-12) are making the case they are the best team in the Pac-12 right now. They swept their last two conference series, including one against defending national champion UA.
Allen said the Sun Devils will be ready for the challenge and is grateful to host the Ducks at Packard.
“This is another good challenge we have in front of us,” Allen said. “Good thing we have them at home and are playing pretty solid baseball right now, so hopefully we just take it to them.”
The Ducks are led offensively Ryon Healy, who is hitting .345 with five home runs and 26 RBIs on the season.
However, Oregon as a team struggles offensively, hitting only .249 as a squad.
The Ducks' strength is their pitching staff with 2.59 team ERA and, more specifically, their starters.
The Ducks boast four starters with at least three wins and are headed up by freshman Cole Irvin, who is 5-1 with a 3.00 ERA on the season.
Allen knows the Sun Devil hitters are going to have to grind out runs and play loose, like they did against the Shockers, if they want to beat the Ducks and move right back into the Pac-12 title race.
“The two games in Wichita were huge confidence boosters for us,” Allen said. “It definitely helps out against teams like Oregon.”
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
