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Baseball Concludes Regular Season Hosting UCLA

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Baseball Concludes Regular Season Hosting UCLABaseball Concludes Regular Season Hosting UCLA

PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball will conclude the regular season at home this weekend, welcoming the UCLA Bruins for a three-game set beginning on Thursday, May 18 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The series will get underway at 7 p.m. AZT on Thursday, followed by a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday and concluding at Noon on Sunday.

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1. Oregon State closer Ryan Brown and Oregon closer Josh Mollerus have allowed just 20 total earned runs this year. ASU has accounted for 8 (four each).

2.  ASU has scored five or more runs in an inning on 12 different occassions this season and has scored 46 runs in the eighth inning of games.

3. ASU is 5-3 in 1-run games this season, a notable tally as ASU went just 1-7 in 1-score games last year. The team is 16-8 in games decided by 3 runs or less.

4. ASU's 78 home runs this season are already the sixth-most since the 1998 season and within two of climing into fourth.

5. Luke Keaschall is one of just 12 players in the nation with 20 doubles and 10 homers this season, and  just the 8th ASU player to do it since 1998.

6. Jacob Tobias has posted a team-leading 57 RBIs this season that are fourth in the Pac-12 conference and notable as he had just 29 for the season last year.

7. The Sun Devils have trailed at some point in 15 of the team's last 20 victories and in 17 of the squad's victories overall.

8. Ryan Campos has reached base safely in 73-of-81 (90.1%) of games with the Sun Devils overall and all but two games this season.

9. Seven Sun Devils have at least 7 homers this season -two more than any ASU team since at least the '98 season and with another within striking distance.

10. The Sun Devils are the only team in the Pac-12 with eight different players with six or more homers this season.

BY THE NUMBERS
73 - Ryan Campos has reached base safely in 73-of-81 (90.1%) of games with the Sun Devils overall and all but two games this season.Campos is currently 15th among active Division I players with a career batting average of .376. It is the highest career average among active catchers in Division I. For the season, Campos is batting .399 - third in the Pac-12 and 35th in the nation according to the NCAA statistical minimums. It is the fifth-best average for a catcher in the country. His. .52 strikeout-to-walk ratio is tops in the Pac-12 and Top-25 in the country.

23 - Luke Keaschall is tops in the nation with 23 doubles this season - three more than any other player in the Pac-12 . He is one of just 12 players in the country with 20 doubles and 10 homers on the year. 19 of his last 23 base hits have gone for extra bases and he now has a slugging percentage of .719 overall - third in the Pac-12. He is also batting .829 in Pac-12 only games - which is good for second in the league while his 40 overall extra-base hits are four more than any other Pac-12 player. His 61 weighted runs created are fifth in the conference.

16 - The Sun Devils have shown an ability to be successful in close games, going 16-8 this season in games decided by three runs or less. A year ago the team was 14-16 in those games. More notably, ASU is 5-3 in one run games this season after going 1-7 in those games last year. ASU has trailed in 15 of its last 20 victories and 18 of its victories overall and  trailed by three or more runs in nine wins this year and by five or more in four of those - including two five-run comebacks over Top-25 opponents in Oregon and Oregon State on Sunday games and two seven-run comebackers earlier this year.

7 - Seven different Sun Devils have reached seven home runs this season - two more than  any ASU team since at least the 1998 season and with  another within striking distance of adding to that tally. ASU's eight players with six homers this year are the most in the Pac-12. The Sun Devils are up to 78 homers for the season, good for third in the Pac-12 and 35th in the nation. The total is already good for the sixth best mark at ASU since the 1998 season and just two shy of moving into the fourth-best tally since that year.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

  • The series will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network throughout the weekend. Daron Sutton will be on the call for all three games.
  • All games will be broadcast live over local airwaves on KDUS 1060 AM with Tim Healey and Max Rossiter providing the highlights.
  • Fans are always encouraged to follow the Sun Devil Baseball team on social media  for any program or schedule updates throughout the week 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.
  • On Friday night, over a dozen players and staff members - including current head coach Willie Bloomquist - from the 1998 Sun Devil Baseball team that advanced the the College World Series final will be on hand and recognized prior to the game.
  • The Sun Devils will recognize all of the current teams seniors and graduates in the annual Senior Day celebration on Saturday prior to the series finale.

LAST TIME OUT: USC

  • The Sun Devil bats went cold despite arguably the team's best pitching weekend of the season as ASU was swept by USC at Dedeaux Field in Los Angeles.
  • ASU got quality starts from both Khristian Curtis and Ross Dunn, with Curtis twirling a career-best 7.0 innings of scoreless baseball and Dunn following with 6.0 innings of two-run ball in the finale.
  • However, the normally potent ASU offense managed just two total runs for the weekend and just ten hits.
  • The two total runs were the fewest for an ASU team over a three-game stretch since scoring only two over the final three games on the 1974 College World Series (Win over Temple 1-0, Losses to USC 1-3 and 0-1).

ON DECK: UCLA

  • ASU leads the all-time series between the teams, 120-84 but it has been all UCLA in recent seasons, winning five-straight series against the Sun Devils and six of the last seven with a 15-6 record in that time. UCLA has swept ASU in each of the last two matchups.
  • UCLA is 26-21-1 overall on the year, with a 15-7 mark in non-conference competition The Bruins are 11-14-1 in Pac-12 play, with series wins against Oregon, Arizona, and Utah
  • The Bruins ranked top-10 nationally in ERA for most of the year, but enter this weekend ranked No. 37 (4.55) UCLA ranks top-10 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.0, eighth) and walks allowed per nine innings (3.2, 10th)
  • The Bruins are 21-2 this year when allowing four runs or fewer (5-19-1 when allowing 5+)
  • Kelly Austin (3.04, fourth) ranks top-five in the Pac-12 in ERA
  • UCLA has sizable advantages in walks drawn vs. issued (252-155) and HBPs drawn vs. issued (68-40). The Bruins have issued more walks than they've drawn in just 11 of 48 games this year.

GOING CAMP-ING

  • Ryan Campos was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List and also tabbed as the Pac-12 Player of the Week following the Washington State series. But the Sun Devils were without Campos' services for the majority of the month of April due to a oblique strain.
  • He has reached base safely in 73-of-81 (90.1%) of games with the Sun Devils overall and all but two games this season.
  • Campos is currently 15th among active Division I players with a career batting average of .376. It is the highest career average among active catchers in Division I.
  • For the season, Campos is batting .399 - third in the Pac-12 and 35th in the nation according to the NCAA statistical minimums. It is the fifth-best average for a catcher in the country.
  • He is second in the Pac-12 with a .506 OBP - aided by his team-leading 29 walks, which are 16th in the league (despite missing 11 games). He sits 15th in the Pac-12 with his .608 slugging percentage as well.
  • Campos' 8.5 percent strikeout rate this season is the fourth-lowest in the Pac-12 while the .52 strikeout-to-walk ratio is tops in the league and 19th in the country.
  • Campos is successful advancing runners at a .575 clip (42-of-73) - the second-highest average on the team.
  • 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 in 2021) - 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.

USE THE FORCE, LUKE

  • Luke Keaschall is currently fifth Pac-12 with 61 weighted runs created this season  while his 24 weighted runs above average are fourth in the league
  • Moved to the cleanup spot in the batting order after leading off for the first month of the season (and batting only .213 through 13 games), Keaschall now sits 12th in the Pac-12 with a .347 average.
  • Keaschall is batting .362 in Pac-12-only games - the fourth-highest average in the league. His .829 slugging percentage in conference-only games is second in the league while his 32 Pac-12 RBIs are third in the conference.
  • His .719 slugging percentage on the season (16 homers, 1 triple, 23 doubles) has him third in the league and 47th nationally. 19 of his last 23 hits have been for extra bases.
  • The 23 doubles lead the league by three over the next closest player and are second in the entire nation. His 52 career doubles are tied for 12th among all active Division I players. He became the third player under Willie Bloomquist to reach 20 doubles and 10 homers in a season and is only of just eight players overall to accomplish that feat for ASU since 1998. He is the only Pac-12 player to accomplish the milestone this season. He is one of just 14 players in Division I baseball to accomplish the feat this season.
  • With four more homers, Keaschall would join Bob Horner as the only other player in Sun Devil history in the 20-20 club with 20 homers and 20 doubles.
  • His 40 overall extra-base hits are four more than any player in the league.
  • He is up to 50 RBIs for the season, including a herculean five-RBI effort in the series opening win over Arizona - sitting 9th in the Pac-12 in the process.
  • Keaschall leads the team with six go-ahead/game-winning RBIs this season.
  • Keaschall also finds himself fifth in the conference with 17 steals this season. He has only been thrown out twice, giving him the highest steal percentage in the Pac-12.
  • Keaschall has been elite in making adjustments against starters, batting .414 in the third inning of games, typically when he is receiving his second AB of the game. 14 of his 50 RBIs have come in the third inning of games this year with five doubles and four homers.
  • Keaschall has also been getting it done in the field, turning 133 defensive assists for the year, good for fifth in the Pac-12
  • In four games against Utah Tech and Utah, the second baseman hit .625 (10-for-16) with 11 RBI, eight runs scored, three doubles, three home runs and a pair of stolen bases en route to Pac-12 Player of the Week honors and recognized by Collegiate Baseball News as one of its National Players of the Week.

JACOB'S LADDER

  • Jacob Tobias got the first RBI of the 2023 season with his RBI single in the first inning of Opening Night and that has been a trend for his season.
  • Tobias leads the team with 57 RBIs this season - good for fourth in the Pac-12. His 16-multi-RBI games pace the team as well.
  • The RBI tally is especially notable as he had just 29 total RBIs in the entirety of last season.
  • Tobias has been deadly the second time through the order, recorded 22 of his RBIs in the fourth or fifth innings of games, typically when he sees a starter for the second or third time in a game. He is batting .407 and .471 in those innings, respectively.
  • Tobias has recorded an RBI in 10 of the last 14 games and 31 games overall (63.2 percent).
  • His success has come largely from coming through in the clutch with a .439 average with runners in scoring position (29-of-66). His 29 hits with runners in scoring position are seven more than any teammate.
  • He is an incredible 7-for-9 this season with the bases loaded and has brought a runner home from third with less than two outs 75 percent of the time (15-of-20)
  • While not looking the part, his four triples this season give him five for his career, marking him the active career leader in the category at ASU in games played for the Sun Devils. The four triples this season are Top-35 nationally and fourth in the Pac-12.
  • 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 last season 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 has not at all looked like a true freshman starting at shortstop in his first season of action, showing savy skills with the bat and with the glove.
  • Hill is sitting with a .326 average that is  Top-40 among all freshmen nationally.
  • Hill leads the team with a .434 average with runners in scoring position (on 23-of-53 hitting).
  • He had the massive go-ahead RBI in the rubber match against Cal with his eighth inning RBI single that was part of a massive nine-run inning to complete the comeback. He would do the exact same less than two weeks later with a two-RBI single against GCU to cap off ASU's nine-run eighth inning with the go-ahead RBIs in that game as well as part of the team's seven-run comeback. He also ended #23 Oregon's no-hitter in the fifth inning Sunday with his two-run blast that was the catalyst to another five-run come-from-behind victory.
  • In fact, of his last 25 RBIs, 16 have come in eight different games when the Sun Devils have trailed by 3+ runs. ASU has come back to win five of those games. His 42 overall RBIs this season are third on the team and 22nd in the Pac-12
  • After a solo shot for his first career homer, all five homers since then have come with at least one man on, including four three-run shots.
  • He is second on the team with four game-winning/go-ahead RBIs this season.
  • His  132 defensive assists are sixth  in the Pac-12 and most of any Pac-12 freshman.

BIG MAC

  • Willie Bloomquist gushed over redshirt freshman Nick McLain during the preseason about his ability at the plate but a hamate injury knocked him out of the lineup for the first 32 games of the season.
  • McLain has shown he is every bit as advertised, recording a hit in his first 11 collegiate games he appeared in. In doing so, he became the first Sun Devil freshman to get a hit in the first 11 games of their career since at least the 1998 season - as far back as readily available recording in the category go.
  • He has a hit in 14 of his first 18 career games
  • McLain is batting .338 with a .690 slugging percentage behind his for doubles and seven homers. 11 of his 24 hits this year have been for extra bases.
  • McLain became the first player since Gage Workman in 2019 to homer from both sides on the plate, doing so against Oregon.
  • The freshman has been elite in the second half of games, recording a .600 average in the fifth, .725 average in the sixth, a .500 average in the eighth and a .403 average in the ninth and slugging over 1.000 in all of those.

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 post-game press conferences this season.
  • Crenshaw is batting .277 on the season, slugging .508 with nine homers, a triple and 16 doubles - the latter good for fourth in the Pac-12.
  • Crenshaw has been at his best late in games, with a .514 batting average/.692 slugging percentage in the seventh innings and a .448 average/.550 slugging in the eighth inning of games this season.

WHO'S THE NU'U GUY

  • It was a quiet start for true freshman Nu'u Contrades but he has swung one of the hottest bats in the conference over the middle part of the season.
  • Contrades has a .305 average on the year after sitting below the Mendoza line after the March 7 loss at Oklahoma State.
  • The .305 average is Top-50 among all freshmen in the country this season and top-25 among freshmen infielders.
  • In league-only games, Contrades has 23 RBIs - 13th-most in the Pac-12. His .313 average in Pac-12 games is 20th in the league and his .522 slugging percentage in Pac-12 games is 25th in the league.
  • Contrades was the Pac-12 Player of the Week after he single-handedly propelled ASU to victory in the series clinching win on Saturday against rival Arizona, going 3-for-5 with a career-best five RBIs - including the go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning. He followed that up with a 4-for-5 outing with another bomb and three RBIs in the series sweeping win on Sunday. He led the team with 10 RBIs (of 31 total for the week for ASU) with a .947 slugging percentage while batting .474 on 9-of-19 hitting.

GRABBING THE BULL-PEN BY THE HORNS

  • ASU stranded 497 opponent baserunners last season - an average of 8.6 per game. That total is 401 this season - good for 8.2 per game. ASU relievers have been fairly efficient getting out of jams, stranding 53-of-123 inherited runners for the season (43.1 percent).
  • ASU's used midweek games as bullpen days and the crew has been absolutely electric, going 7-1 in single-game midweeks this season and 8-4 overall after going 5-7 in them last season.
  • For the season, the bullpen is posting a 5.53 ERA with an 19-7 record in decisions and 10 saves. The squad has 214 strikeouts to 114 walks (over 247.1 innings) and is holding opponents to .271 batting. While not entirely electric, it is a marked improvement from last season where the 2022 Sun Devil bullpen had a 6.71 ERA for the season with a 13-19 record in decisions with 231 strikeouts to 170 walks (over 271.0 innings) and a .299 average against.
  • Matt Tieding has been essential in saving the Sun Devil bullpen after tough outings for starters this year. AS A RELIEVER, the newcomer has  a 4-1 record in 30.2 innings. He is holding opponents to a .248 average out of the bullpen with 16 strikeouts to just six walks.
  • Nolan Lebamoff has been another that has come on strong of late, posting a 3-0 record out of the bullpen with a 3.97 ERA. After giving up three runs in his first two games over 1.1 innings, Lebamoff has not allowed an earned run in 17 of his last 21 appearances. Opponents are managing just a .244 batting average against him this year.
  • Blake Pivaroff has sneakily posted an exceptional month-plus of baseball. Following his outing against Oklahoma State on March 7, Pivaroff sat with a 7.56 ERA over six appearances. Since then, Pivaroff has made a team-leading 18 appearances and posted a 3.12 ERA with a 2-2 record and three saves over 1792 innings of work, holding opponents to a .173 average with 15 strikeouts to just five walks.
  • Timmy Manning and Owen Stevenson have solidified valuable roles out of the pen for ASU with Manning posting one or fewer runs in seven of his last 10 bullpen appearances with 25 strikeouts to eight walks in that span.
  • Stevenson has allowed just 11 earned runs in his last 18 appearances over 30.2 innings, with 38 strikeouts to eight walks in that stretch.
  • Brock Peery has stranded a team-high 18 inherited runners on the year. Peery led the league with 10 saves last season year - good for 26th in the country. He added two in the first four games this season 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 turned 110 double plays over the previous two seasons.
  • ASU has 42 double plays this season, second in the Pac-12 and 35th nationally
  • Luke Keaschall (133) and Luke Hill (132) are fifth and sixth in the Pac-12 in defensive assists this season.
  • For the third straight season, the majority of position players on the diamond are new faces with only Will Rogers (left field) and Ryan Campos (catcher) starting the season reprising their roles from last year. 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.
  • 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.

HEADED TO THE GAP

  • ASU got a slow start in the doubles category this season but has come in the second half of the year. After having just 13 in the first 11 of the season, ASU now sits in the Top-75 nationally with 101 after it was 252nd on March.
  • The team has recorded a double in 41 of 50 games overall with multiple doubles in 24 of those.
  • Luke Keaschall is second in the entire country with 23 doubles with teammate Wyatt Crenshaw is 11th  in the Pac-12 with 16 doubles.
  • 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.

CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL

  • 12 different players have logged a home run for ASU and 10 have multiple home runs
  • ASU has eight different players with at least six homers - more than any other team in the Pac-12.
  • The Sun Devils have seven players with at least seven homers - two more than any other team at ASU has had since at least the 1998 season and with one more within striking distance as well.
  • ASU's 79 homers are third in the Pac-12 and 44th nationally
  • The better news is ASU finally started the get pumps with runners on base. 35 of the last 62 Sun Devil home runs this season have come with runners on base after 14 of the first 17 this season were solo shots. Of the 24 solo shots, 16 were leadoff homers and thus not given the opportunity to happen with runners on base.
  • ASU recorded  seven homers against Washington State, which had entered the series leading the Pac-12 with only 14 allowed through its first 27 games.
  • Oregon State led the Pac-12 with just 18 home runs allowed at the time before getting tagged by seven by the Sun Devils - including two games with three homers - the first time OSU had allowed three or more in back-to-back games since 2010.
  • ASU recorded 13 in three games against Oregon (including six on Saturday, tied for the second-most in school history), the most for a weekend series since at least 1998) -
  • 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 immensely 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 14 solo homers on 17 home runs this season.
  • The Sun Devils had four grand slams last year - the most it had had in a season since 2004 (also four).

COMING IN HOT

  • The Sun Devil bats are sitting near the top of the league in most offensive categories.
  • ASU's .297average as a team is third  in the Pac-12 and 58th nationally while the squad's .502 slugging percentage is fourth in the league and 44th in the country.
  • The team is third in  the league with 515 hits, good for 57th nationally and notable as the team was 115th in the country in the category on March 8.
  • ASU was 92nd in the nation in slugging percentage on March 8, 191st in doubles and 131st in batting average. Those totals now sit at 57th, 74th and 44th, respectively.
  • ASU has reached double digit hits in 21 of its last 37 games and 28 games overall. ASU reached double digits in hits in 28 of the last 34 games of 2022 and 37 times in 58 games.
  • The Sun Devils have thrived in the big innings, 12 times this season recording five or more runs in an inning.
  • The Sun Devils have owned opponent bullpens this season, as other teams have a miserable 7.35 ERA against the ASU offense and a 8-11 record in decisions. ASU is batting .300 off opponent 'pens with 37 homers, 51 doubles and six triples over 220.1 innings. ASU has worked a 106 walks to 187 strikeouts against opponent bullpens.
  • Oregon State closer Ryan Brown (10) and Oregon closer Josh Mollerus (10) have allowed just 20 earned runs this season over 50+ innings combined. Eight of those (four each) have come against the Sun Devils.
  • The team has posted 46 runs in the eighth inning of games this season, just under a run per game. The team is batting .323 in the eighth inning of games with a .542 slugging percentage. The squad has 23 home runs total in innings 7-9 - easily surpassing its total of 17 from a year ago.

HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS

  • ASU has its part to shake off some of that bad mojo from last season  in close games thus far, winning five one-run games (after going just 1-7 in such games last season) and 16-8 in games decided by three runs or less - a category ASU was 14-16 in a year ago.
  • ASU has trailed at one point in 15 of its last 20 victories and in 17 of the team's wins overall this year.
  • ASU has been incredibly efficient at closing games out, going 22-4 when leading after six, 25-1 when leading after seven and 26-0 when leading after eight.
  • In a season and a half under Willie Bloomquist, the Sun Devils have shown that no opponent lead is safe, showing off plenty of grit in erasing multi-run deficits. ASU has nine wins this season when trailing by at least three runs at some point in the game and four of those by at least five.
  • Last season, 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.
  • ASU has doubled down at that this season with the victories over North Dakota State and GCU, overcoming a 7-0 deficit in both (and 9-2 in the entering the eighth against GCU) for victories in both.
  • 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). ASU has surpassed that and won four games this season in which it trailed by five runs.

DO I KNOW YOU?

  • 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.