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Oregon St. (14-3) opens Pac-12 baseball play this weekend with a trip to Tempe to take on Arizona St. (10-5). The series starts with a 6:30 PM AST (6:30 PM PDT) first pitch tonight, and continues tomorrow night a half hour earlier, then concludes Sunday afternoon at 2 PM AST (1 PM PDT).
Arizona St. has moved from the condemned Packard Stadium to Phoenix Municipal Stadium. "The Muni" seats 8,775, and was the spring training home of the Oakland A's prior to the Sun Devils moving in this season. It sets a ways north of, and across the Salt River, from campus.
The Beavers come in on a roll, having won 10 in a row, with a Tuesday night 12-3 pounding of the Portland Pilots to score the 900th win of Coach Pat Casey's career, and a 4 game sweep of Fresno St. last weekend the latest bright spots.
Oregon St. has been impressive enough to be the extended lead in d1baseball.com's national weekend preview this week.
The Sun Devils have won 2 in a row, with a 5-4 win over UNLV on Wednesday in their latest outing, but have won 5 of their last 6. ASU took 2 of 3 from Long Beach St. last weekend, bookending Saturday's 4-2 loss with 6-4 and 9-3 wins.
There will be no tv tonight (the Pac-12 Network will carry the weekend games), but a video stream will be provided.
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Oregon St. will send their usual Friday night starter, RHP junior Andrew Moore (1-0, 1.76 ERA) out first. Moore has had a hard time getting a decision, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been rock solid; its been more a matter of what the offense has done, and when. The well sub-2 ERA is evidence of that, as was last Friday's 10 inning, 112 pitch effort, in which Moore allowed 1 run on 3 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 10, in a game Oregon St. won 2-1 on KJ Harrison's walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th. Moore still earned the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honor even if he didn't get the decision he "earned".
Arizona St. will go with sophomore RHP Seth Martinez (1-0, 2.25). Martinez has made 3 starts so far this season in his 4 appearances, Martinez worked the first 5 innings last Friday in the Sun Devils' win over the Dirt Bags, and allowed 4 runs, all in the 4th inning, on a grand slam home run. Martinez allowed a total of 4 hits (3 in the 4th) and 2 walks (1 in the 4th), while striking out 7.
Despite the one bad inning, Martinez handed a 2 run lead to the Sun Devil bullpen, which shut out Long Beach the rest of the way.
ASU has a solid closer in junior RHP Ryan Burr, who closed out both of the wins last weekend, his 5th & 6th of the year in 9 appearances, which also includes a pair of wins.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com