STARKVILLE -- Sun Devil Baseball heads on the road for the first time this season to square of with the 2021 College World Series Champion for a three-game set at Mississippi State in Starkville beginning Friday, Feb. 24. The opener will get underway at 3 p.m. AZT/4 p.m. Local with Saturday set for 4 p.m./5 p.m. and closing things out Sunday at 12 p.m./1 p.m.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
- All three games will be available through the SEC+ Network with live stream links available on the Baseball schedule page at www.thesundevils.com. Bart Gregory and Charlie Winfield will be on the call.
- All three games will be available over the airwaves in the Valley with Friday's opener set to be broadcast at KAZG 1440 AM and Saturday and Sunday's sets on KDUS 1060 AM
- Fans are encouraged to follow along pre-game and in-game content and any schedule updates throughout the weekend on the Sun Devil Baseball Twitter account: @ASU_Baseball.
HONORING THE PAST
- The Sun Devils will wear black SB and MG tribute patches on batting helmets throughout the 2023 season to honor the loss of two great alumni this past offseason in Sal Bando and Mike Gallagher.
#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)
1. ASU has stranded 38 opponent baserunners, including limiting teams to just 4 runs on 11 opportunies with a runner on third and less than two outs. m
2. Wyatt Crenshaw is the Pac-12 leader with four doubles this season and fifth in the league with a gaudy 1.071 slugging percentage.
3. The Sun Devils won two one-run games on Opening Weekend, notable as it was 1-7 in the category last season.
4. Luke Hill's .636 batting average is tops in the Pac-12 after the first week of action while he is second in the league with 14 defensive assists (and no errors).
5. Ryan Campos was one of just 19 freshmen to crack the Top-250 in the NCAA in batting average last year and the only freshman Power Five catcher to do so.
6. ASU consistently got out of jams in the first four games, allowing just 5-of-15 inherited runners to score and allowing just 8-of-43 hitting with RISP.
7. The Sun Devil starting pitchers have been electric with runners on the basepath, holding opponents to 1-of-21 hitting with runners on (.048).
8. ASU is 9-for-23 (.391) on first pitch balls in play this season with three home runs and eight of the team's 18 RBIs this season.
9. Christian Bodlovich has allowed just 17-of-64 inherited runners score in his career (26.6vpercent), including a 1-for-5 tally this year
10. Brock Peery led the Pac-12 in '22 with 10 saves - tied for 7th-most at ASU since 1998 and first in double digits since 2016. He had two in four games last week.
BY THE NUMBERS
28 - The Sun Devils welcome an incredible 28 new faces to the roster in 2023. ASU went hard in the Transfer Portal during the offseason, recording the No. 2 transfer portal class in the nation according to several outlets. The new batch was highlighted by a total overhaul of the pitching staff, which will feature three transfer starters this weekend in LHP Ross Dunn (Florida State), RHP Khristian Curtis (Texas A&M) and LHP Timmy Manning (Florida). Preseason All-American Luke Keaschall (San Francisco) highlights the incoming position players).catcher to do so.
6 - Last year, true freshman Ryan Campos led the Sun Devils with a .357 average on the year – the sixth best freshman average in program history and just ahead of head coach Willie Bloomquist's .356 average. It was the seventh-highest average in the Pac-12 prior to the NCAA tournament. It was the 11th-highest batting average for a catcher in the NCAA prior to the tournament and the fourth-highest for a Power Five catcher. It was the 10th-highest batting average for a freshman in the NCAA prior to the tourney and the best freshman catcher average in the country.
5 - As a whole the Sun Devils have allowed just five inherited runners to score this season out of 15 (33.3). Through the first four games the Sun Devil pitching staff was exceptional with runners on base, holding opponents to 8-of-43 (.186) hitting with runners in scoring position and a very effective 4-for-11 clip (.364) in allowing opponents to score a run with a runner on third with less than two outs - including in each of the final three innings in the team's shutut over UNLV. Opponents are batting just .174 this season (12-of-69) with runners on base. stranding 38 total runners in four games.
1 - The Sun Devil starting pitchers have been absolutely electric when it had runners on the base path, holding opponents to 1-for-21 hitting with runners on (.048). The group of Ross Dunn, Khristian Curtis, Timmy Manning and Josh Hansell did not allow a run in the first four games of the season, combining for 16.1 innings pitched with 17 strikeouts to no walks. Opponents bat just .123 against that quad in the first for games with no home runs. ASU got 5.2 and 5.0 shutout innings, respectively, from Manning and Curtis - both logging six strikeouts.
LAST TIME OUT: SDSU/UNLV
- The Sun Devils opened the season with a three-game sweep over San Diego State and a midweek win over UNLV to start 4-0 for the first time since 2019 and just the fifth time since 2010. ASU was one of just four Pac-12 squads with an unblemished opening week.
- The Sun Devils posted an attendance figure over 3,000 for each of the first three games of Opening Weekend, the first time that has occurred since 2008.
- The sweet over SDSU was the first time the Aztecs were swept on opening weekend since 2016 (vs. No. 14 Oregon) and the first time against an unranked team since at least 1999. ASU also swept SDSU in 2003.
- ASU held UNLV to a season-low three runs after the Rebels entered the game averaging over 17 runs per game following their opening weekend.
- The Devils held UNLV to seven scoreless frames, more than the Rebels' entire opening weekend combined (6).
ON DECK: MISSISSIPPI STATE
- The Sun Devils are matching up with the Bulldogs for just the second time in program history, with the only other contest coming in the 1981 College World Series, where ASU earned a 4-3 victory en route to its last NCAA Championship.
- The series marks the first time the Sun Devils have gone on the road to face an SEC program for a weekend series since taking on Tennesse in 2013 in Knoxville during the second weekend of the season.
- ASU also traveled to Auburn in 2011 (Week 4) and 2007 (Week 5) and to Baton Rouge to square off with LSU in 2000 (Week 5) - the latter being the first time ASU came to take on and SEC program in a regular season weekend series on the road.
WE WANT EZ
- Ethan Long was tabbed as the No. 37 overall collegiate prospect in the 2022 MLB Draft class by Baseball America last season and was selected with the very final pick of the 2022 MLB Draft though he will look to prove he is, in fact, Mr. Relevant for the Sun Devils this season. He was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team for the 2023 season.
- Long shook off a rusty opening weekend with a 2-2 effort with a homer against UNLV with two walks to match a career-best with reaching base four times.
- He's drawn a team-best five walks in four games, good for sixth in the Pac-12 through the opening week.
- Due to a left wrist injury last year, Long was unable to bat over the last month of the season, though he contributed on the mound. The big bat was a little slow getting going last year, but Long settled into a nice pace and he was fourth on the team with seven homers on the year despite missing the last month-plus of the year. Four of his seven home runs last season came in the sixth inning or later.
- He used 18 walks and 3 HBPs to post a .384 OBP over his .300 average.
- He was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career following his efforts in the Washington series.
- Long became the 129th Sun Devil to be named an All-American following his freshman campaign in 2021, becoming a consensus selection after being named to teams by Collegiate Baseball News, NCBWA, and Baseball America. He also earned two freshman All-America nods (CBN/NCBWA) and was a First Team All-Pac-12 pick as well as an ACBA All-West Region second team selection and Pac-12 All-Conference first team pick
- Long finished the 2021 regular season 22nd nationally and second in the Pac-12 with 16 home runs while finishing 13th nationally and leading the league with a .725 slugging percentage on .340 hitting. He was sixth in the league with 53 RBI. His .340 average was the ninth-highest freshman average in Sun Devil history.
- That season, Finished with a team-best 54 RBI, tied with Barry Bonds for fourth in ASU freshman history while his 16 homers on the year surpassed Bonds for second in ASU freshman history behind only Spencer Torkelson (25) and good for Top-Five in the league.
- Behind Long's bat, ASU won five straight weekend series in the last half of the year. In a 19-game stretch, Long bat .444 with 40 RBI, 15 home runs, eight doubles, a 1.181 slugging percentage, a .500 OBP and an absurd 1.681 OPS. Of his 32 hits in that span, 23 were for extra bases.
GOING CAMP-ING
- Ryan Campos knocked his first homer of the season on Tuesday and added a pickoff and a caught stealing in the first four games.
- Campos led the Sun Devils with a .357 average last year as a true freshman – the sixth-best freshman average in program history and just ahead of head coach Willie Bloomquist's .356 average.
- It was the seventh-highest average in the Pac-12 prior to the NCAA tournament and the 11th-highest batting average for a catcher in the NCAA prior to the tournament and the fourth-highest for a Power Five catcher.
- It was the 10th-highest batting average for a freshman in the NCAA prior to the tourney and the best freshman catcher average in the country.
- He was one of just 19 freshmen to crack the Top-250 in the NCAA in average and the only freshman Power Five catcher to do so.
- It marked the second straight season a true freshman led the team in average (Ethan Long last year) - something that has never happened in consecutive years in program history and just the fourth time in program history overall that it had happened.
- His .363 average in league-only games was the fifth-highest in the conference.
- His .438 OBP in league games was also tops on the team and ninth in the Pac-12 and tops among league catchers
- Campos had the best average on the team with runners in scoring position at 21-for-59 (.356).
- He had 20 multi-hit games last year – good for third on the team despite starting 13-15 fewer games than the majority of the other starters on the team.
- He threw out seven baserunners on the year despite catching in 10+ less games than the other league catchers.
ROGERS THAT
- Will Rogers got the Sun Devils off to a huge start on Opening Night, going 3-for-5 and a stolen base with a home run and a the game-winning walk-off single.
- Rogers had nine homers last season, tied for fourth in ASU freshman school history.
- From April 1 on, Rogers had the second-highest average on the team at .373. respectively. He led the team with a .746 slugging percentage in that time with nine doubles, a triple and five homers.
- His 27 extra-base hits on the season were the third-most of any Pac-12 freshman and 19th in the league overall.
JACOB'S LADDER
- Jacob Tobias got the first RBI of the 2023 season with his RBI single in the first inning of Opening Night.
- Tobias was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 team after being a first team selection as designated hitter last season.
- His 12 bases (two homers, two doubles) against Utah in the series finale were tied for the most by a Pac-12 player in a game last year.
- His seven homers last year were tied for eighth in ASU freshman history.
- His 23 RBIs in Pac-12 games were the second-most on the team, 20th in the Pac-12 and third among Pac-12 freshmen.
RUNNING UP THAT HILL
- Luke Hill did not at all look like a true freshman starting at shortstop over the first week of action, showing savvy skills with the bat and with the glove.
- Hill leads the Pac-12 with a .636 average on 7-of-11 hitting and is third in the league with three doubles.
- He has played errorless ball at short with a perfect 24-for-24 fielding percentage and his 14 defensive assists are tied for second in the league.
NOT SO QUIET WYATT
- Transfer Wyatt Crenshaw posted video game numbers last season at Colorado College and has quickly shown that was no fluke, speaking plenty loud with his bat despite saying approximately 18 total words in two post-game press conferences thus far thus season.
- Crenshaw is batting .571 on the season on 8-of-14 hitting, leading the Pac-12 with four doubles and fifth in the league with a gaudy 1.071 slugging percentage (four doubles, one home run).
- He has also played a nice right field for ASU, recording all nine put outs on balls flown his way thus far.
STARTING ON THE RIGHT FOOT
- No Sun Devil starter gave up a run during the Opening Week of Action
- The group of Ross Dunn, Khristian Curtis, Timmy Manning and Josh Hansell combined for 16.1 innings pitched with 17 strikeouts to no walks.
- Opponents bat just .123 against that quad in the first for games with no home runs.
- ASU got 5.2 and 5.0 shutout innings, respectively, from Manning and Curtis - both logging six strikeouts.
- The group was absolutely electric when it had runners on the base path, holding opponents to 1-for-21 hitting with runners on (.048).
- The ASU pitching staff as a whole has a 21-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in its last two games.
- In the last three games, ASU has allowed opponents to score in only three of the 27 innings (six total runs).
WELCOME TO THE JAM
- Christian Bodlovich has inherited 64 runners in his career at ASU, with only 17 scoring (26.5 percent), including an 11-for-37 tally last season and a 1-for-5 start this year.
- As a whole the Sun Devils have allowed just five inherited runners to score this season out of 15 (33.3).
- Through the first four games the Sun Devil pitching staff was exceptional with runners on base, holding opponents to 8-of-43 (.186) hitting with runners in scoring position and a very effective 4-for-11 clip (.364) in allowing opponents to score a run with a runner on third with less than two outs - including in each of the final three innings in the team's shutut over UNLV.
- Opponents are batting just .174 this season (12-of-69) with runners on base.
- ASU stranded 497 opponent baserunners last season - an average of 8.6 per game.
- Brock Peery finished 10th in the nation with 34 appearances last season, a tally good for second in the Pac-12. He has appeared in three of ASU's first four games.
- Peery led the league with 10 saveslast season year - good for 26 in the country. He added two in the first four games and tacked on a win for good measure.
- The 10 saves last season were tied for seventh-most at ASU since the 1998 season and marked the first time a closer reached double digits in the category at ASU since 2016.
PLAYING THE FIELD
- ASU turned 50 double plays last year - a tally good for 21st in Division I and fourth in the Pac-12. The squad has turned 110 double plays over the previous two seasons. ASU has three through the first four games.
- After a shaky first game that saw three fielding errors, ASU has cleaned it up with just one in its last three games to bring its season fielding percentage up to .973.
- ASU had four fielders in the Top-30 in fielding percentage in the Pac-12 last year (min. 100 chances) in Joe Lampe, Kai Murphy, Ryan Campos and Conor Davis. That was tied with USC and Oregon State for the most in the Pac-12.
- Sean McLain had the second-most defensive of assists of any player in the Pac-12 (179) - the second straight season an ASU player accomplished that feat following Drew Swift (171) in 2021.
- For the third straight season, the majority of position players on the diamond will be new faces with only Will Rogers (left field) and Ryan Campos (catcher) expected to reprise their roles from last season. ASU had just two players start last season in the same position they finished in 2021 (Joe Lampe in CF, Nate Baez at C and Sean McLain at 2B, though McLain was playing shortstop by the second weekend while Baez moved around the field by Week Two as well). ASU's only veteran starter in 2021 was Drew Swift - who shifted over to shortstop after spending the majority of his career at second base. All other positions on the diamond that season replaced by newcomers.
HEADED TO THE GAP
- ASU logged nine doubles in the first four games and multiple doubles ion three of the four games. Wyatt Crenshaw leads the Pac-12 with four doubles while Luke Hill is tied for second with three.
- ASU's .574 slugging percentage through four games in third in the Pac-12.
- The Sun Devils recorded 134 doubles last year, good for 19th in the nation and third in the Pac-12. The 127 doubles during the regular season were the most for a Sun Devil team in the REGULAR SEASON in the BBCOR era (since 2011) and tied for the fifth-most in a regular season since 1998.
- ASU had at least one double in all but six games last season and multiple doubles in 36 of 58 games.
- There were 45 Pac-12 players with double-digit doubles in the regular season, of which ASU had seven (Baez, Lampe, Rogers, McLain, Long, Davis, Murphy). No other team had more than six.
- ASU reached double digits in hits in 28 of the last 34 games of 2022 and 37 times in 58 games. They are 2-for-4 in that category this season.
CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL
- Six different players recorded a home run for the Sun Devils during the Opening Week of action. The six homers are tied four fourth in the Pac-12 this season.
- Of the nine position players with at least 30 starts last season, all nine had multiple home runs. ASU had ten total players with multiple homers.
- ASU had five players with at least seven homers last year, tied for the second-most at ASU since 1998.
- The timing of the home runs improved immesely over the second half of the last season. On 24 of the final 37 homers on the year, ASU had at least one runner on base. That was notable as ASU had runners on base just eight times on the teams first 27 homers. ASU will hope for some deja vu in that area with all six homers this season being of the solo variety.
- The Sun Devils had four grand slams last year - the most it had had in a season since 2004 (also four).
HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS
- ASU did its part to shake off some of that bad mojo from last season in close games in the first week of 2023, winning two one-run games and going 4-0 in games decided by three runs or less - a cateogry ASU was 14-16 in last season
- The Sun Devils played no shortage of tight games last season - for better or worse - with 26 of the teams 58 games being decided by one or two runs - the most since it also played in 26 in 2017.
- Unfortunately, ASU was 1-7 in one-run losses and 15 of the teams 32 losses came by way of 1-2 runs.
- That said, the Sun Devils have shown that no opponent lead is safe, showing off plenty of grit in erasing multi-run deficits. On 11 occasions last season, ASU erased a lead of at least three runs.
- The seven-run deficit overcome by the Sun Devils to defeat and take the series from Cal was the most since March 3, 2000 against Arizona.
- Three times last season ASU rallied from a deficit of five or more runs to tie or win the game - the first time that had happened since 2010 (also 3).
WHO'S THE NEW GUY?
- The Sun Devils welcome an incredible 28 new faces to the roster in 2023. ASU went hard in the Transfer Portal during the offseason, recording the No. 2 transfer portal class in the nation according to several outlets.
- The new batch was highlighted by a total overhaul of the pitching staff, which will feature three transfer starters this weekend in LHP Ross Dunn (Florida State), RHP Khristian Curtis (Texas A&M) and LHP Timmy Manning (Florida). Owen Stevenson (San Francisco) also figures to find a spot in the rotation over the course of the season.
- Dunn competed for Team USA on the Collegiate National Team this past summer.
- Preseason All-American Luke Keaschall (San Francisco) highlights the incoming position players).
- Among the newcomers, freshman Isaiah Jackson ('22, Astros, 18th Round), Dunn ('19, Yankees, 11th Round) and Drake Varnado ('21, Diamondbacks, 17th Round) have all been drafted at some point in their careers.
- The Sun Devils didn't have a single freshman arm in the clubhouse last season but welcomes four this season (Ryan Hanks, Brandon Compton, Austin Humphres and Stephen Hernandez).
- After the departure of Sean McLain to the MLB Draft following last season, the Sun Devils will welcome his brother Nick McLain to the clubhouse this season with the youngster expected to be the Opening Day center fielder.
- ASU will feature an entirely new infield this season, highlighted by standout freshmen Nu'u Contrades, Luke Hill and Reese Beheler with a deep group of veteran transfers in Keaschall, Vernado, Jonny Weaver, Willie Cano and Wyatt Crenshaw.