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First Place in Pac-12 on the Line for Baseball vs. #7 Stanford

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First Place in Pac-12 on the Line for Baseball vs. #7 StanfordFirst Place in Pac-12 on the Line for Baseball vs. #7 Stanford

PHOENIX -- No. 20/18 Sun Devil Baseball returns to the friendly confines of Phoenix Municipal Stadium this weekend for a massive Pac-12 series with first place in the league on the line against No. 7/8 Stanford, beginning Friday in Phoenix. The winner of the series will come out of the weekend in first place in the Pac-12 and control its own destiny for the league title over the final two weekends. Friday and Saturday's tilts are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. AZT first pitches with the finale getting underway at 12:30 p.m . on Sunday

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1. Oregon State closer Ryan Brown and Oregon closer Josh Mollerus have allowed just 16 total earned runs this year. ASU has accounted for 8 (four each).

2.  ASU has scored five or more runs in an inning on 11 different occasions this season and has scored 46 runs in the eighth inning of games.

3. ASU is 5-2 in 1-run games this season, a notable tally as ASU went just 1-7 in 1-score games last year. The team is 16-4 in games decided by 3 runs or less.

4. ASU's 13 home runs last weekend against Oregon were the most in a weekend series since at least 1998 and two more than any series in that span.

5. Luke Keaschall is one of just four 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 53 RBIs this season that are second 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. In his last 16 appearances, Blake Pivaroff has a 1.65 ERA with a 2-0 record and three saves after having a  7.56 ERA through his first six appearances.

9. Six Sun Devils have at least 7 homers this season - the most at ASU since at least the 1998 season and with two more in striking distance of adding to that.

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

BY THE NUMBERS
59 - Luke Keaschall leads the Pac-12 with 59 weighted runs created this season - four more than any other player in the league and 22nd among all Division I players. His 26 weighted runs above average tally is three more than any of his fellow Pac-12 players and good for 21st nationally. His .530 weighted on base average also paces the Pac-12. Keaschall is batting .424 in Pac-12-only games - the highest average in the league - and .375 overall for the season (sixth in the conference). These tallies are notable as he sat at .213 through the first 13 games of the season.

23 - Luke Keaschall is tops in the nation with 23 doubles this season - seven more than any other player in the Pac-12 . He is one of just four players in the country with 20 doubles and 10 homers on the year. 17 of his last 21 base hits have gone for extra bases and he now has a slugging percentage of .756 overall that paces the Pac-12. The truly incredible tally, however, is his .929 slugging percentage in Pac-12-only games - which is an absurd .227 points higher than any other player in the league in conference only games this season.

16 - The Sun Devils have shown an ability to be successful in close games, going 16-4 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 5-2 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 the last two Sundays and two seven-run comebackers earlier this year.

6 - Six different Sun Devils have reached seven home runs this season - the most at ASU since at least the 1998 season and with two more easily within striking distance of adding to that tally. ASU's eight players with five homers this year are the most in the Pac-12. The Sun Devils recorded 13 homers in three games against Oregon, including tying for the second most in single game history with six in the Saturday game. The 13 homers were the most for a Sun Devil club for a weekend series since at least the 1998 season and two more than any other series in that span.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

  • All three game will be available via the Arizona State Live Stream at: https://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university
  • 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.

LAST TIME OUT: #23 OREGON

  • The Sun Devil bats continued their blistering pace but the series didn't go ASU's way, dropping two out of three for the first Pac-12 series loss of the season.
  • ASU rallied from five down in the series finale to salvage the weekend with a 9-6 victory - its fourth win this season when trailing by five or more runs.
  • The Sun Devils recorded an incredible 13 home runs on the weekend, easily the most for a weekend series this year and two more than ASU had recorded in ANY weekend series since at least the 1998 season. ASU's six homers in the Saturday game were tied for the second most in single-game program history.
  • ASU tagged Oregon closer Josh Mollerus for four runs in the finale on Sunday. Mollerus had allowed just four runs, period, in 17 appearances on the season entering the game.

ON DECK: STANFORD

  • The weekend features the Top-Two teams in the Pac-12 with the Sun Devils coming in just half a game behind Stanford for first in the league. The winner of the series will control its own destiny for the regular season Pac-12 title over the final two weekends of the season.
  • Stanford owns a slim 106-104 lead in the all-time series between the two powerhouse programs, flip-flopping things behind a three-game sweep at the Sunken Diamond last season.
  • Stanford has won four of the last five, five of seven and six of nine overall ... enters the week ranked No. 4 in the nation according to College Baseball Foundation, No. 7by Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball, NCBWA and USA Today Coaches Poll, No. 8 according to Baseball America, and No. 9 according to Perfect Game
  • The Cardinal are 13-3 in games decided by two runs or less this year and 28-6 when scoring three runs in a game (0-7 when scoring two or fewer).
  • Stanford is hitting .301 as a team and is scoring 7.83 runs per game to rank second in the Pac-12 ... ranks third in the conference in home runs (64) and third in on-base percentage (.392) ... leads the Pac-12 (13th in the nation) in strikeouts per game (10.75).

BUILDING A RESUME

  • The Sun Devils' series loss against #23 Oregon last weekend ended  their streak of not having lost a Pac-12 series this season. Arizona State was one of five Power 5 teams that had not lost a conference series entering that contest (No. 2 Wake Forest, Indiana, Maryland, No. 1 LSU).
  • ASU dropped to No. 20  in D1Baseball's poll this week but finds itself ranked across most major polls despite the tough series loss. The team is as high as 12th in Collegiate Baseball News' poll, 17th in Baseball America, 21st by the NCBWA, and 22nd in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
  • Entering the series, ASU is No. 32 in the country and the RPI rankings and will be playing its third-straight Top-25 opponent as it looks to improve its No. 43 strength of schedule.
  • ASU is No. 23 in WarrenNolan's ELO rankings and No. 20 in Boyd's World's ISR rankings.
  • The Sun Devils sit half a game behind Stanford for first in the Pac-12 and maintain a 1.5-game advantage over Oregon despite last weekend's loss. Oregon State is 2.5 games back with ASU having the head-to-head advantage with Washington coming in at 3.5 games back.

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 last 11 games and will happily welcome him back to the lineup this weekend after missing the last several weeks with an oblique straing.
  • Campos leads the team and is third in the Pac-12 with an active 31-game reached base streak. He has reached base safely in 68-of-75 (90.6%) of games with the Sun Devils overall.
  • Campos is currently eighth among active Division I players with a career batting average of .380. It is the highest career average among active catchers in Division I.
  • For the season, Campos is batting .413 - tops in the Pac-12 and 16th in the nation according to the NCAA statistical minimums. It is the third-best average for a catcher in the country behind Virginia's Kyle Teel (.423) and South Dakota State's Ryan McDonald (417).
  • He also leads the Pac-12 with a .523 OBP - aided by his team-leading 26 walks, which are 15th in the league (despite missing 11 games). He sits 6th in the Pac-12 with his .661 slugging percentage as well.
  • Campos' 7.9 percent strikeout rate this season is the third-lowest in the Pac-12 while the .46 strikeout-to-walk ratio is tops in the league.
  • The sophomore is also 17th in the Pac-12 with 40 runs - despite missing the last 11 games for ASU.
  • Campos is successful advancing runners at a .603 clip (38-of-63) - the highest average on the team. He has also been ASU's most efficient hitter when it comes to extending innings, leading the team with a .361 average with two outs (13-of-36).
  • 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

  • There are few players in the nation playing as well as Luke Keaschall is this season.
  • Keaschall currently leads the Pac-12 with 59 weighted runs created this season - four more than any other player and 23rd in all of college baseball - while his 26 weighted runs above average are three more than any other Pac-12 player and 21st in the nation.
  • 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 sixth in the Pac-12 with a .375 average.
  • Keaschall is batting .424 in Pac-12-only games - the highest average in the league. His .929 slugging percentage in conference-only games is an incredible .227 points higher than any other player in the league while his 30 Pac-12 RBIs are second and just two off the league lead.
  • His .756 slugging percentage on the season (14 homers, 1 triple, 23 doubles) has him tops in the league and 29th nationally. 17 of his last 21 hits have been for extra bases.
  • The 23 doubles lead the league by seven over the next closest player and lead 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 four players in Division I baseball to accomplish the feat this season.
  • His 38 overall extra-base hits are eight more than any player in the league.
  • He is up to 48 RBIs for the season, including a herculean five-RBI effort in the series opening win over Arizona - sitting 3rd 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 16 steals this season. He has only been thrown out once, giving him the highest steal percentage in the Pac-12.
  • Keaschall has been elite in making adjustments against starters, batting .429 in the third inning of games, typically when he is receiving his second AB of the game. 13 of his 48 RBIs have come in the third inning of games this year with five doubles and three homers.
  • Keaschall has also been getting it done in the field, turning 116 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 53 RBIs this season - good for second in the Pac-12. His 15-multi-RBI games pace the team as well. The 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 21 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 .400 and .471 in those innings, respectively.
  • Tobias has recorded an RBI in eight straight games and 29 games overall (65.9 percent).
  • His success has come largely from coming through in the clutch with a .435 average with runners in scoring position (27-of-62). His 27 hits with runners in scoring position are five more than any teammate.
  • Tobias has a homer in four consecutive games, including each game of the Oregon Series. His 10 homers have him tied for 10th in the Pac-12 and his .613 slugging percentage is 12th.
  • 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 .344 average that is 13th in the Pac-12 and 24th among all freshmen nationally and 11th among Power Five freshmen and the highest among all freshmen in the Pac-12
  • Hill leads the team with a .438 average with runners in scoring position (on 21-of-48 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 20 RBIs, 15 have come in seven different games when the Sun Devils have trailed by 3+ runs. ASU has come back to win five of those games. His 37 overall RBIs this season are third on the team.
  • After a solo shot for his first career homer, all four homers since then have come with at least one man on, including three three-run shots.
  • He is second on the team with four game-winning/go-ahead RBIs this season.
  • His  117 defensive assists are fourth  in the Pac-12.

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.
  • McLain is batting .380 with a .800 slugging percentage behind his three doubles and six homers. Nine of his 19 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 an .800 average in the sixth, a .500 average in the eighth and a .600 average in the ninth and slugging over 1.000 in all of those (he has not registered a 7th inning AB yet).

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 .299 on the season, slugging .537 with eight homers, a triple and 16 doubles - the latter good for second in the Pac-12.
  • His .583 slugging percentage in Pac-12 games is 12th in the leagyue.
  • He has also played a nice right field for ASU, recording all 51 putouts on balls flown his way thus far with no errors.
  • Crenshaw has been at his best late in games, with a .529 batting average/.706 slugging percentage in the seventh innings and a .468 average/.579 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 is up to a .322 average on the year after sitting below the Mendoza line after the March 7 loss at Oklahoma State.
  • The .322 average is Top-30 among all freshmen in the country this season and top-15 among freshmen infielders.
  • In league-only games, Contrades has 21 RBIs - sixth-most in the Pac-12. His .348 average in Pac-12 games is 12th in the league and his .576 slugging percentage in Pac-12 games is 13th 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.

SHOP AT ROSS

  • Ross Dunn has quietly put up some impressive numbers as the team's Friday night starter, and ASU is 7-3 in Friday night games when Dunn starts.
  • That said, Dunn showed some versatility last week, starting in two games (Wednesday and Sunday) and allowing just three earned runs over seven total innings of work.
  • Dunn has a team-leading 69 strikeouts over 45.0 innings pitched and is holding opponents to a .234 batting average against.
  • The 69 strikeouts are good for third in the Pac-12 this season. He has posted six or more strikeouts in seven of his last nine starts, with seven or more in six of those. He had 8 or 9 strikeouts in four straight weekend starts prior to this last Sunday, despite struggling with his command failing to reach 5.0 innings in three of those.
  • He is striking out 27.9 percent of the batters he has faced this year - fourth in the league.
  • He also has avoided giving up many extra bases, with opponents slugging just .359 against him - the sixth-lowest tally in the conference as he has given up just 14 total extra-base hits.

GRABBING THE BULL-PEN BY THE HORNS

  • ASU stranded 497 opponent baserunners last season - an average of 8.6 per game. That total is 353 this season - good for 8.0. ASU relievers have been fairly efficient getting out of jams, stranding 46-of-112 inherited runners for the season (41.1 percent).
  • ASU's has 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 5.38 ERA with an 19-4 record in decisions and 10 saves. The squad has 199 strikeouts to 105 walks (over 226.0 innings) and is holding opponents to .267 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 a team-bullpen-high 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 3.92 ERA. After giving up three runs in his first two games over 1.1 innings, Lebamoff has not allowed an earned run in 16 of his last 19 appearances. Opponents are managing just a .234 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 16 appearances and posted a 1.65 ERA with a 2-0 record and three saves over 16.1 innings of work, holding opponents to a .145 average with 12 strikeouts to just four 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 five earned runs in his last 15 appearances over 26.0 innings, with 33 strikeouts to seven 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 37 double plays this season, tops in the Pac-12 and 32nd nationally
  • Luke Keaschall (116) and Luke Hill (117) are third and fourth 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 on hot of late. The team has 81 in its last 33 games after posted just 13 in the first 11 of the season.
  • That has brought ASU back to 47th  in the NCAA in doubles and forth in the league (94). On March 5, ASU was 252nd in the nation in the category.
  • The team has recorded a double in 36 of 44 games overall with multiple doubles in 23 of those.
  • Luke Keaschall the entire country with 23 doubles with teammate Wyatt Crenshaw is tied for second 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 five homers - good for the most in the Pac-12.
  • ASU has six players with at least seven homers - the most at ASU since at least the 1998 season and with at least two others within striking distance as well.
  • ASU's 73 homers are second in the Pac-12 and 33rd nationally
  • The better news is ASU has finally started the get pumps with runners on base. 33 of the last 56 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 23 other homers in the last 33, 13 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 .309 average as a team is second  in the Pac-12 and 21st nationally while the squad's .522 slugging percentage is third in the league and 27th in the country.
  • The team is second in  the league with 477 hits, good for 17th 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 27th, 47th and 17th, respectively.
  • ASU has reached double digit hits in 20 of its last 31 games and 25 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, 11 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 7.64 ERA against the ASU offense and a 6-11 record in decisions. ASU is batting .310 off opponent 'pens with 34 homers, 50 doubles and six triples over 202.2 innings. ASU has worked a 101 walks to 172 strikeouts against opponent bullpens.
  • Oregon State closer Ryan Brown and Oregon closer Josh Mollerus have allowed just 16 earned runs this season (8 each) 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, over a run per game. The team is batting .341 in the eighth inning of games with a .568 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, going 5-2 in one-run games (after going just 1-7 in such games last season) and 16-4 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 22-3 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. On 11 occasions last season, ASU erased a lead of at least three runs. 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.