TEMPE, Ariz. -- More than one month into the season, the Arizona State Sun Devils (15-0) are one of two undefeated teams left in Division I baseball.
Last Monday, the Sun Devils made their season debut in the NCAA top-25 where they joined Pac-12 powerhouses UCLA, Oregon State and Stanford. With conference play kicking off this weekend in Tempe against Washington State, the Sun Devils will look to continue their unprecedented start to the season as competition begins to stiffen up.
"The biggest thing in sports and in life is you've got to keep that confidence that we have right now," junior infielder and team captain Carter Aldrete said. "That chip on our shoulder, we can't lose it. And if we do lose it, we're heading in a direction we don't want to. I think if we keep that chip on our shoulder and play like we know we're capable of, it's going to be really hard to beat us."
At this point last season, the Sun Devils were playing inconsistent baseball and found themselves with an 8-8 record going into conference play. In 55 games during the 2018 campaign, ASU produced double-digit runs in just eight games. Sunday's 11-6 victory over Xavier at Phoenix Municipal Stadium notched their ninth double-digit performance of the season with 40 games left in the regular season.
"We're just a more complete team to be honest," junior outfielder Hunter Bishop said. "I think every side of the ball, whether it's defense, pitching, hitting, we're all together as one unit and there's not really one weakness we have. Last year, depending on the game, we struggled on every single side. We're putting the games together more fully and obviously I think our unit is more talented."
The Sun Devils have scored over 90 runs in their first seven games of the season, with Aldrete and Bishop both surpassing their season highs for home runs less than a third of the way through the season.
So, what has led to the outbreak in runs?
"Just taking it one pitch at a time," Bishop said, who's cranked eight already this season. "Not trying to get too ahead of myself and hitting a home run. It's not really what I'm thinking up there, it's just happening. Just taking it one pitch at a time."
For Aldrete, it's disciplinary.
"Being more mature at the plate, not swinging at bad pitches, and knowing what to look for in certain counts," he said. "And then at the end of the day, just competing. That's what comes with getting older."
In addition to their increased production on the field, it was also important for leadership to find its way to the forefront of the Sun Devil clubhouse. With the current upperclassmen and revitalized family-like atmosphere, it's bred success this season.
"To put it in perspective, my freshman and sophomore year, there were guys that I would never see outside of the baseball field," junior and 0.94 ERA-wielding pitcher Alec Marsh said. "With these guys and this team, it's like everything we're doing is as a unit. We're doing it on and off the field. Outside the field we're doing everything together. It just builds relationships. I know it might sound weird but we all really love each other."
Then who is the unquestioned leader of the clubhouse?
"We'd never really had a distinguished leader in my first two years but now we have Aldrete who has really led the charge," Bishop said. "I just think leadership makes a huge difference in what we're trying to accomplish. Skip is a great leader, but at the end of the day if you want to win a lot, it's got to come from the team. Carter does a good job."
On the field, Aldrete makes his presence known in clutch moments and beyond his plate appearances with his defensive prowess. After recording 31 RBI in each of the last two seasons, which paced the team his freshman year, the junior has already driven in 20 runs this season.
"When you're always at the field, when you always do things right, you're always around, you're always encouraging other people, that kind of takes on the role of leadership," Aldrete said. "I've tried to be like that for three years now. I'm not going to sit here and say being the leader is easy. I have a lot of good members on my team. Bishop is a great leader himself. Alec Marsh is a great leader himself. We all pitch in when it comes to certain things.
"With us three leading it, I think that's what this program has been missing for a while."
After a rough patch the past two seasons, it appears the veterans on this team are paving the road for future ASU players to follow. For now, this year's undefeated squad is living in the present and taking it one pitch at a time, one game at a time.
"We could think about Omaha, we could think about Super Regionals, but at the end of the day, we've got to win the next one. " Bishop said.
Last Monday, the Sun Devils made their season debut in the NCAA top-25 where they joined Pac-12 powerhouses UCLA, Oregon State and Stanford. With conference play kicking off this weekend in Tempe against Washington State, the Sun Devils will look to continue their unprecedented start to the season as competition begins to stiffen up.
"The biggest thing in sports and in life is you've got to keep that confidence that we have right now," junior infielder and team captain Carter Aldrete said. "That chip on our shoulder, we can't lose it. And if we do lose it, we're heading in a direction we don't want to. I think if we keep that chip on our shoulder and play like we know we're capable of, it's going to be really hard to beat us."
At this point last season, the Sun Devils were playing inconsistent baseball and found themselves with an 8-8 record going into conference play. In 55 games during the 2018 campaign, ASU produced double-digit runs in just eight games. Sunday's 11-6 victory over Xavier at Phoenix Municipal Stadium notched their ninth double-digit performance of the season with 40 games left in the regular season.
"We're just a more complete team to be honest," junior outfielder Hunter Bishop said. "I think every side of the ball, whether it's defense, pitching, hitting, we're all together as one unit and there's not really one weakness we have. Last year, depending on the game, we struggled on every single side. We're putting the games together more fully and obviously I think our unit is more talented."
The Sun Devils have scored over 90 runs in their first seven games of the season, with Aldrete and Bishop both surpassing their season highs for home runs less than a third of the way through the season.
So, what has led to the outbreak in runs?
"Just taking it one pitch at a time," Bishop said, who's cranked eight already this season. "Not trying to get too ahead of myself and hitting a home run. It's not really what I'm thinking up there, it's just happening. Just taking it one pitch at a time."
For Aldrete, it's disciplinary.
"Being more mature at the plate, not swinging at bad pitches, and knowing what to look for in certain counts," he said. "And then at the end of the day, just competing. That's what comes with getting older."
In addition to their increased production on the field, it was also important for leadership to find its way to the forefront of the Sun Devil clubhouse. With the current upperclassmen and revitalized family-like atmosphere, it's bred success this season.
"To put it in perspective, my freshman and sophomore year, there were guys that I would never see outside of the baseball field," junior and 0.94 ERA-wielding pitcher Alec Marsh said. "With these guys and this team, it's like everything we're doing is as a unit. We're doing it on and off the field. Outside the field we're doing everything together. It just builds relationships. I know it might sound weird but we all really love each other."
Then who is the unquestioned leader of the clubhouse?
"We'd never really had a distinguished leader in my first two years but now we have Aldrete who has really led the charge," Bishop said. "I just think leadership makes a huge difference in what we're trying to accomplish. Skip is a great leader, but at the end of the day if you want to win a lot, it's got to come from the team. Carter does a good job."
On the field, Aldrete makes his presence known in clutch moments and beyond his plate appearances with his defensive prowess. After recording 31 RBI in each of the last two seasons, which paced the team his freshman year, the junior has already driven in 20 runs this season.
"When you're always at the field, when you always do things right, you're always around, you're always encouraging other people, that kind of takes on the role of leadership," Aldrete said. "I've tried to be like that for three years now. I'm not going to sit here and say being the leader is easy. I have a lot of good members on my team. Bishop is a great leader himself. Alec Marsh is a great leader himself. We all pitch in when it comes to certain things.
"With us three leading it, I think that's what this program has been missing for a while."
After a rough patch the past two seasons, it appears the veterans on this team are paving the road for future ASU players to follow. For now, this year's undefeated squad is living in the present and taking it one pitch at a time, one game at a time.
"We could think about Omaha, we could think about Super Regionals, but at the end of the day, we've got to win the next one. " Bishop said.