Devils' 2017 Opening Weekend Showers Northwestern

Mike Stockman
Phoenix Area Sports

Weather didn't stop fans from attending Devils opening weekend.

February 19, 2017 - The Arizona State University Sun Devil Baseball team hosted the Northwestern University Wildcats on a rare, rainy weekend in a three game series to start the 2017 season at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Phoenix, AZ. 

Due to the weather forecast, a double header was played on Friday, February 17, in hopes to beat the showers expected to hit the valley of the sun throughout the weekend.

In game one, the Devils' junior pitcher Eli Lingos from Temecula,CA earned his first win of the season in a 3-1 victory over the Wildcats, throwing six strike outs and only allowing three hits in his 6.2 innings on the mound. 

Game two started with the Wildcats taking an early 3-0 lead and finished on Sebastian Zawada's walk-off RBI single, which gave the Devils' their second win of the season, closing the double header day 2-0.

Saturday's game three went two full innings before being postponed to Sunday due to rain.
In the top of the first inning, Northwestern took the lead 1-0 on a Connor Lind RBI single up the middle, scoring Jack Dunn.

In the bottom of the second inning, Devils' Jeremy McCuin hit a triple to the wall between left and center field. Myles Denson followed with a shot up the middle, allowing McCuin to score, tying the game 1-1.

At the top of the third, the rain picked up making fans scurry for the top of the stands under cover or for their umbrellas as the teams left the field and the tarp pulled promptly.

Due to the ongoing weather delay, the game was moved to Sunday where it was scheduled to start at 12:30 pm.

The Devils tied it up 1-1 before the weather delay.

After a two hour delay, game three commenced, the skies cleared, and fans poured in to watch for free as the Devils' Lyle Lin (Taipei, Taiwan), a  true freshman connected for 3 hits. The last time that occurred on opening week-end was in 2004 by Colin Curtis.

In the bottom of the eighth with the score tied 2-2, McCuin hit a double, scoring 2 RBI. A few batters later, Sam Ferri hit a 2 RBI double to deep right corner, scoring two more for the Devils for a final score of 6-2.

The Wildcats (0-3) travel to Nashville, Tenn. for their next game to take on Middle Tennessee at 3 pm on Friday, February 24.

The Devils (3-0) will host Oklahoma State Cowboys at 1pm on Tuesday, February 21 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The game can be heard on 100.7 KSLX/TUNEIN.