PHOENIX – Sun Devil Baseball junior outfielder Hunter Bishop continued to add to his midseason trophy case, as he has been named the National Player of the Month by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America in addition to being named D1Baseball.com's Midseason Player of the Year.
D1Baseball also recognized Sun Devil head coach Tracy Smith as its Midseason National Co-Coach of the Year in its annual Midseason Report. Early this week, Perfect Game recognized Bishop as its Midseason Player of the Year while tabbing he and teammate Alec Marsh as Midseason First Team All-Americans. The Sun Devils were also selected by the outlet as the Midseason National Team of the Year.
Bishop leads the nation with 16 home runs this season - seven more than any other player in the Pac-12. He is the national leader in slugging percentage (1.010) and total bases (104) as well. The 104 total bases are 31 more than any other player in the Pac-12 (teammate Trevor Hauver has 73).
Bishop's 41 RBIs this season lead the Pac-12 and are sixth nationally while his .417 average is third in the league and 17th nationally. The 41 RBIs are nine more than any other player in the Pac-12. Bishop has scored 45 runs this season – six more than any other player in the Pac-12 and also good for the national lead as well.
He is also a 10-for-13 on stolen base attempts - second in the Pac-12. Bishop's .552 on-base percentage is second in the league and 6th in the country. He has drawn a team-best 26 walks - third in the Pac-12 and 20th nationally.
Bishop is second on second on the team in advancing teammates 44 times on 72 chances (.611). He is the only player that has reached base in each of ASU's 27 games this season and posted the longest hitting streak at 13 games. He leads the team with 11 multi-RBI games (two more than any other player) and is second on the squad with 14 multi-hit games.
His 41 RBIs already eclipse his previous career best of 26 while his 45 runs scored are 18 more than his previous career best of 27. All of this comes just 27 games into the 2019 season.
The junior was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week three times in the month of March. Bishop's 16 homers are eye-popping considering he had just 10 in his career prior to this season and never more than five in a season. Bishop has nine doubles this season after having a previous career best of just nine and only 10 career doubles in his first two seasons.
Head Coach Tracy Smith has helped guide the Sun Devils to one of the hottest starts in program history, earning the Midseason Co-National Coach of the Year nod from D1Baseball.
The Sun Devils were the last undefeated team in the country, starting out the season 21-0 and matching the second-best start in program history (1961). Only the 2010 team that started 24-0 had a better start to the year. ASU's 25-2 start through 27 games is the second-best start in program history.
ASU's .551 team slugging percentage is second in the NCAA. The Sun Devils are third nationally in runs (268), scoring (9.9), batting average (.336) and on-base percentage (.429). ASU has hit 45 home runs this season – good for fourth in the league and already nearing its total for the entire 2018 season. The Sun Devils have scored double digit runs in 12 of the team's 27 games this season. For perspective, ASU scored double digit runs just 8 times in 55 games last season.
After consecutive seasons ranked 184th or worse in fielding percentage, ASU has posted a respectable .973 fielding percentage this season that is 70th in the country. ASU has also made huge strides on the mound after consecutive seasons with 4.70+ team ERAs. The Sun Devils are 29th nationally with a team 3.35 ERA on the season.
The Sun Devils were tabbed by Perfect Game as the Midseason Team of the Year on April 3.
Sun Devil Baseball hits the road for a three-game Pac-12 Series in Los Angeles against the USC Trojans this weekend, beginning Friday, April 5 at Dedeaux Field. The series opener is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. PT on Friday, followed by a pair of afternoon games at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Each game this weekend will be streamed live by USC and available online at https://pac-12.com/live/usc. Each game will also be available over the airwaves on NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM KDUS with the Voice of the Sun Devils, Tim Healey, alongside analyst Max Rossiter. Fans are encouraged to follow along in-game content throughout the weekend on the Sun Devil Baseball account (@ASU_Baseball).
D1Baseball also recognized Sun Devil head coach Tracy Smith as its Midseason National Co-Coach of the Year in its annual Midseason Report. Early this week, Perfect Game recognized Bishop as its Midseason Player of the Year while tabbing he and teammate Alec Marsh as Midseason First Team All-Americans. The Sun Devils were also selected by the outlet as the Midseason National Team of the Year.
Bishop leads the nation with 16 home runs this season - seven more than any other player in the Pac-12. He is the national leader in slugging percentage (1.010) and total bases (104) as well. The 104 total bases are 31 more than any other player in the Pac-12 (teammate Trevor Hauver has 73).
Bishop's 41 RBIs this season lead the Pac-12 and are sixth nationally while his .417 average is third in the league and 17th nationally. The 41 RBIs are nine more than any other player in the Pac-12. Bishop has scored 45 runs this season – six more than any other player in the Pac-12 and also good for the national lead as well.
He is also a 10-for-13 on stolen base attempts - second in the Pac-12. Bishop's .552 on-base percentage is second in the league and 6th in the country. He has drawn a team-best 26 walks - third in the Pac-12 and 20th nationally.
Bishop is second on second on the team in advancing teammates 44 times on 72 chances (.611). He is the only player that has reached base in each of ASU's 27 games this season and posted the longest hitting streak at 13 games. He leads the team with 11 multi-RBI games (two more than any other player) and is second on the squad with 14 multi-hit games.
His 41 RBIs already eclipse his previous career best of 26 while his 45 runs scored are 18 more than his previous career best of 27. All of this comes just 27 games into the 2019 season.
The junior was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week three times in the month of March. Bishop's 16 homers are eye-popping considering he had just 10 in his career prior to this season and never more than five in a season. Bishop has nine doubles this season after having a previous career best of just nine and only 10 career doubles in his first two seasons.
Head Coach Tracy Smith has helped guide the Sun Devils to one of the hottest starts in program history, earning the Midseason Co-National Coach of the Year nod from D1Baseball.
The Sun Devils were the last undefeated team in the country, starting out the season 21-0 and matching the second-best start in program history (1961). Only the 2010 team that started 24-0 had a better start to the year. ASU's 25-2 start through 27 games is the second-best start in program history.
ASU's .551 team slugging percentage is second in the NCAA. The Sun Devils are third nationally in runs (268), scoring (9.9), batting average (.336) and on-base percentage (.429). ASU has hit 45 home runs this season – good for fourth in the league and already nearing its total for the entire 2018 season. The Sun Devils have scored double digit runs in 12 of the team's 27 games this season. For perspective, ASU scored double digit runs just 8 times in 55 games last season.
After consecutive seasons ranked 184th or worse in fielding percentage, ASU has posted a respectable .973 fielding percentage this season that is 70th in the country. ASU has also made huge strides on the mound after consecutive seasons with 4.70+ team ERAs. The Sun Devils are 29th nationally with a team 3.35 ERA on the season.
The Sun Devils were tabbed by Perfect Game as the Midseason Team of the Year on April 3.
Sun Devil Baseball hits the road for a three-game Pac-12 Series in Los Angeles against the USC Trojans this weekend, beginning Friday, April 5 at Dedeaux Field. The series opener is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. PT on Friday, followed by a pair of afternoon games at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Each game this weekend will be streamed live by USC and available online at https://pac-12.com/live/usc. Each game will also be available over the airwaves on NBC Sports Radio 1060 AM KDUS with the Voice of the Sun Devils, Tim Healey, alongside analyst Max Rossiter. Fans are encouraged to follow along in-game content throughout the weekend on the Sun Devil Baseball account (@ASU_Baseball).