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The hottest hitter in all of baseball is receiving the recognition he deserves, as Arizona State’s Ethan Long was deemed a unanimous Player of the Week by Perfect Game, the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association, Collegiate Baseball News, and the Pac-12.
The Pac-12 Player of the Week honor is the third time this year that the Phoenix product has received the accolade, but it was Long’s first time being honored by Perfect Game and the NCBWA.
The awards aren’t surprising, either. It’s for good reason. The Sun Devil freshman had a casual four home runs in four games last week, including hitting three home runs on five pitches at one point last weekend against Oregon State.
Long’s most thrilling big fly was his walk-off, three-run bomb to defeat OSU on Friday night. The celebration was sealed with a possible bat flip of the season as icing on the cake.
You want a bat flip?
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) May 17, 2021
THIS is a bat flip.
Arizona State freshman Ethan Long had the walk-off celebration to end all walk-off celebrations on Friday night.
@ASU_Baseballpic.twitter.com/httbtuzgbz
Long has 15 homers in his last 16 games and he now leads the conference in slugging percentage (.838) and home runs (16), while he is fourth in batting average (.385) and RBI (52).
What stands out even more is the efficiency in which Long has produced his offense. After hitting just one home run in the early portion of the year, the first-year slugger is now up to 52 RBI in just 130 at-bats.
Long and the rest of the Sun Devils are back in action for a three-game series beginning this Friday in Los Angeles against USC. First pitch of game one is scheduled for Friday, May 21 at 6 p.m. local time.