Baseball Set For First Big 12 Tournament

ARLINGTON-- Sun Devil Baseball kicks off postseason action this week as it heads back to the Heart of Texas to take part in the program's first Big 12 Championship beginning Wednesday, May 21 at Globe Life Stadium in Arlington. The Sun Devils are the No. 5 seed and will kick off the entire tournament on Wednesday morning against the No. 12 seed BYU beginning at 7 a.m. AZT (9 a.m. local). With a win, ASU would advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament and take on rival and fourth-seeded Arizona on Thursday morning at the same time.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

• All games this weekend will be available to be streamed online on ESPN+ with select games on ESPNU and ESPN2. Fans can check with their local cable or internet providers to see if they are on an ESPN+ plan or visit https://plus.espn.com/to sign up
• All contests will be available over the local airwaves with Tim Healey and Max Rossiter providing the highlights throughout the week. All games are scheduled to be broadcast on KDUS 1060 AM. All the radio calls from games can also be streamed online at: kdus1060.com/sundevils
• As always, fans are encouraged to follow the Sun Devil Baseball team on social media for any programming or schedule updates throughout the week on the Sun Devil Baseball Twitter account: @ASU_Baseball

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1.  ASU has outscored opponents 698-431 over its last 74 regular season games - going 50-24 in the process.
2. ASU is batting an exceptional .399 (115-for-288) this season when the team has put the first ball of an at-bat into play.
3. ASU had 4 series wins this year when losing the series opener - most since '14 and notable as it had just one such series (Ore. St.  '23) in 3 previous seasons.
4. ASU has had a player reach 20 doubles five times under Willie Bloomquist and at least once in each season. ASU had just 2 players do so from 2011-21.
5. Jacob Tobias needs three RBIs to become the first Sun Devil to record 50+ RBIs in three-straight seasons since Casey Myers did it in four straight ('98-01)
6. ASU is the only D1 team to not lose a game by over 5 runs this year (once, at UNLV). Only two ASU teams in history have achieved that feat ('69 and '73).
7. Landon Hairston ranks 3rd among Power Four freshmen with his .368 average and 3rd with his .484 OBP.
8. The Sun Devils now ranks second in program history (aluminum bat era) with their 609 strikeouts this season. The school record is 675 (1975).
9. ASU is one of just 8 D1 teams to play a full 56-game schedule in EACH of the last two seasons and one of just three P4 teams to do so (Maryland, Tennessee)
10. Isaiah Jackson leads the team with his 65 RBIs this season - notable as he hasn't played a single game higher than fifth in the batting order (once).

BY THE NUMBERS
39 - ASU is third in the nation with its 141 doubles this year and has recorded multiple doubles in 39 games (5th in country at 2.52 per game). The team is just 7 back from D1 leader New Mexico (148) ASU has had a player reach 20 doubles five times under Willie Bloomquist and at least one player do so in each season (2022-p). ASU had just two players, total,  reach 20 doubles from 2011-21.  11 players have recorded at least four doubles this season and eight have already reached double digits in the category.Jacob Tobias ranks 26th in the country and first in the Big 12 with his 20 doubles. Kyle Walker is 50th nationally and fourth in the Big 12 with 19 doubles. Brandon Compton is 7th in the league (18) and Matt King is 12 (17). King is 12th among active players with 54 career doubles and Tobias is 15th (53).

20 - ASU has had two players record 20 steals in a season (Kyle Walker, 22 and Kien Vu, 21) for the first time since the 2011 season (Zach MacPhee, 26/Johnny Ruettiger, 23). The duo are are the first to hit the 20-bag mark, period, since Johnny Sewald had 21 in 2015. The Sun Devils are 37th in the nation with 113 stolen bases - an especially notable tally since the team hasn't ranked in the Top-120 in the category since it was 18th in the country with 99 in 2011. ASU's .807 average on stolen bases (113-140) is the best for the program since at least the 1998 season. ASU needs 8 more stolen bases to climb into sixth in ASU history in the category and 18 to reach the Top-Five. Five different players have recorded double digit stolen bases and 14 players have multiple stolen bases on the season.

16 - Isaiah Jackson remains on quite the tear over the last couple weeks, having posted 10 homers in the last 13 games to bring his total to a career-best 16 for the year. Jackson has steadily put up hits in all but 13 of Arizona State's 56 games this season and recorded new career highs in just about every offensive category. Jackson has recorded an RBI in 34 of the teams' 56 games and has 10 homers in the last 13 games.He has 65 overall RBIs this season,  11 more than any other player on the team and easily surpassing his previous career high of 31. In fact, he had just 59 TOTAL RBIs in his career entering the year.  Jackson leads the Big 12 with his 39 RBIs in conference-only games this season, three more than second place. His 65 total RBIs are tied for 2nd in the league and 42nd in the nation - and ninth among P4 conferences

10 - The Sun Devils won 10 weekend series this season and posted a series record of 10-4 in those (7-3 Big 12). The Sun Devils' resilience has shown in winning four weekend series this season where they lost the series opener - the most since the 2014 season and notable as ASU had managed it just ONCE in the three most recent seasons (vs. Oregon State, 2023). ASU continues its upward trend in the conference win category, going from 16 in 2023 to 17 in 2024 to at least 18 this season. ASU is one of just 16 Power Four schools with 50+ conference wins in the last three seasons (51) and one of only 30 total among the Top-12 RPI conferences this season. The team is one of just seven Power Four programs with 16+ conference wins in EACH of the last three seasons.

BUILDING THE RESUME

• The Sun Devls went 7-3 in Big 12 series and 10-4 in all weekend series combined. It was just the second time recording double-digit weekend wins since the 2017 season (11, 2021).
• ASU was the 15th fastest Power Four/prospective multi-bid league program to post double-digit weekend series wins following the Houston series.
• While weather is always unpredictable, credit should be given for actually playing and scheduling a full season and the Sun Devils are one of just eight Division I teams to play a full 56-game schedule in EACH of the last two seasons. They are one of just three Power Four schools with such a claim (Tennessee/Maryland). ASU and Kansas were the only two Big 12 teams to play all 56 games this season. UCF played 55 and no other team played more than 54 - including an Oklahoma State team that only played 49 games this year.
• While the sometimes headscratching metrics of the RPI system ranks ASU No. 46 this season, it should be noted that the more advanced barometers view the Sun Devils in a more positive light, coming in at No. 26 in Boyd's World ISR and No. 32 in the KPI.
• ASU's 18 conference wins are the program's most since going 18-12 in the Pac-12 in 2015.
• The Sun Devils have proven themselves as one of the most competitive teams in the nation as ASU is the only team in the nation that has not lost a game by more than 5 runs this season (6-11 @UNLV).
• Of ASU's 21 losses this season, the team has brought the game-tying or winning run to the plate in the ninth inning or later in 12 games, while getting walked off on the road despite having a ninth inning lead in two others.
• The Sun Devils' resilience has shown in winning four weekend series this season where they lost the series opener - the most since the 2014 season and notable as ASU had managed it just ONCE in the three most recent seasons (vs. Oregon State, 2023).
• ASU continues its upward trend in the conference win category, going from 16 in 2023 to 17 in 2024 to at least 18 this season. ASU is one of just 16 Power Four schools with 50+ conference wins in the last three seasons (51) and one of only 30 total among the Top-12 RPI conferences this season. The team is one of just seven Power Four programs with 16+ conference wins in EACH of the last three seasons.

LAST TIME OUT: OKLAHOMA STATE/ GCU

• The Sun Devils will have to have a short-term memory after the team was swept for the first time this season this last weekend, dropping all three games to preseason Big 12 favorite Oklahoma State in Stillwater. The Sun Devils battled and had the tying run at the plate or on deck in the ninth inning of all three losses but were unable to complete any of the comebacks.
• Despite the losses, ASU remains the only team in the country to not lose a game by more than five runs this season (6-11 @ UNLV)
• Isaiah Jackson homered in the second game  and now has 10 homers in his last 13 games.
• Matt King recorded multiple hits in all three games in Stillwater.
• ASU posted a 17-7 run rule victory over crosstown rival Grand Canyon in its final midweek game last Tuesday that was tied aat 7-7 after the top of the seventh and over about 20 minutes later after a 10-run onslaught in the bottom of the seventh to force the mercy rule.
• Twelve of ASU's 17 hits on the night went for extra bases (6 doubles, 6 homers).
• The win was ASU's fifth run-rule victory in its last seven home victories of the season at Muni. ASU scored 167 runs in its final 14 home games of the season (11.9 per game) and went 12-2 in those games down the stretch.
• The game marked the fifth time this season recording five or more homers. The six homers are tied for the third-most in a single game in program history.

ON DECK: BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

• In its first season in the Big 12, the Sun Devils collected the No. 5 seed in the Big 12 Tournament after finishing tied for fourth in the final Big 12 standings.
• ASU will open up the entire tournament as it squares off against the No. 12 seed BYU on Wednesday at 7 a.m. AZT. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals to take on fourth-seeded Arizona at 7 a.m. AZT on Thursday.
• The Sun Devils lead the all-time series against former WAC foe BYU, 49-13, sweeping the Cougars at home a month ago to end BYU's six-game winning streak in the series.
• BYU head coach Trent Pratt played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Arizona State (1999-2000). As a freshman, Pratt started 30 of 49 games played, hitting .307 with 28 runs scored and 24 RBI.. Pratt was teammates at ASU in 1999 with current Sun Devil head coach Willie Bloomquist with Mitch Jones, father of current BYU third baseman Easton Jones. The senior Jones played one season with the Sun Devils after transferring from Utah Valley Community College. Jones started 39 games in 1999, hitting .333 with 46 runs scored and 39 RBI prior to selection by the New York Yankees in the seventh round of the 2000 MLB Draft. Pratt, Bloomquist and Jones dealt three defeats to BYU during a three-game series February 18-20, 1999.
• ASU outscored the Cougars, 36-13, over the course of the series earlier this year and rode the long ball to the convincing results.
• ASU recorded eight home runs in Saturday's run-rule finale to complete the weekend sweep, recording a new school record in the process as it bested its previous single-game best of seven set against Arizona back in 2000. ASU recorded 15 homers overall in the series, also a school record for a three-game series against an opponent.
• The six homers in the second inning of Saturday's finale came one shy of matching the NCAA Division I record of seven in one frame, which has been achieved twice in history.
• The Sun Devil pitchers struck out 12 BYU batters to bring their weekend total to 42 strikeouts - the second time this season the staff recorded 40+ strikeouts (45 vs. Arizona).
• The Sun Devils dropped three of its four games against Arizona this season, including two of three in its Big 12 series at home earlier this year.
• The two losses in the conference series came down to a game of inches, with a two-out walk and HBP in the fifth inning on Friday spiraling into a four-run frame after leading 4-1 in the 8-5 loss. ASU had the winning run at the plate on Saturday but couldn't get the big knock in the 5-3 decision.
• Sun Devil pitchers recorded 45 strikeouts over the weekend (15.0/game), the most in a weekend series since 2001, where ASU recorded 46 across the first three-games against Southern Utah. It hasn't happened against a power five conference since at least 1998.
• Of those 45 strikeouts, starting pitchers, Ben Jacobs, Jack Martinez and Jaden Alba teamed up for 27 of them, compared to 11 strikeouts by the Wildcat starting pitchers.
• Pitcher Cole Carlon headlined Sunday's win, going 4.1 innings out of the bullpen and striking out 10 of his 13 batters faced. At one point, Carlon retired seven straight batters on strikeouts, which is tied for the fourth-most consecutive strikeouts by a Sun Devil in program history.

SHORT KING

• While shortstop Matt King was a new face to Sun Devil fans early this year, he quickly established himself as a staple of the program's offense and one of the best hitters in the nation this year en route to being named the Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Year and to the All-Big 12 first team. He was also named a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award for the nation's best shortstop.
• King is second in the Big 12 and ranks 20th in the nation with his .401 batting average - fourth among players in a Power Four conference.
• King's .424 in Big-12 only games is tops in the league, and his 34 Big 12 only RBIs are fifth. His 54 overall RBIs are 8th in the Big 12.
• He ranks 12th in the Big 12  with his 17 doubles this season. His 54 career doubles are 12th among active D1 players.
• King has shown his clutch hitting ability in bringing a runner home from third with less than two outs a team-best 21-of-23 times (.913). His 35 hits with runners in scoring position are five more than any of his teammates. He is 26-for-65 with two outs - a .400 average that also leads the team.
• King has posted an absurd .530 average with runners in scoring percentage (35-of-66) - five more hits and nearly .100 batting average points more than any other player.
• The surge has elevated King to 86th nationally in offensive runs above replacement (41.18) and oWAR (3.08). His 3.59 overall war is 105th in the country.
• When King does get a hit this season, he gets them in droves. He has hits in 35 games and has recorded multiple hits in 27 of those - four more than any of his teammates. He has 14 games with 3 or more hits this season. The next closest Sun Devil has seven.
• King had a hit in eight-straight at-bats over three games ended with a suspect called strike three in the ninth inning against CSUN. The eight-straight hits were tied for the third-most in school history and just one off the school record of 9, which hadn't been reached since 1982.
• King was the Big 12 Player AND Newcomer of the Week following the BYU series. He was also named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week following the UNLV/Utah week as well as the College Baseball Hall of Fame's Brooks Wallace National Shortstop of the Week following the CSUN/Cincinnati weekend.
• King has struck out once ever 11.2 at-bats this season, the best tally in the Big 12 and 45th nationally.
• He has been equally efficient on the defensive side as well with just three errors and a .979 fielding percentage on 144 chances. Among 38 Big 12 players with at least 50  defensive assists, his three errors  are tied for the third-fewest. Among the 26 middle infielders with 85 or more chances, his .979 fielding percentage is fourth.
• King's 215 career games are 22nd among active D1 players that have played their entire careers at the D1 level and his 174 total runs scored are 28th. His 261 hits are 9th, his 181 RBIs are 22nd, 44 HBPs are 34th and 21 sac flies are first.
• King, a transfer from UTSA, was a three-year starter at short for the Roadrunners.
• He posted a career-best .336 average at UTSA as a junior in 2024 with 41 RBIs to finish his Roadrunner career with a .304 average with a .449 OBP and 127 RBIs over 163 games played
• King recorded 94 defensive assists as a junior and turned 15 double plays and finished the season with a 20+ game reached base streak en route to All-AAC First Team honors
• He played in all 57 games in 2023, earning a start in 56 of them – all at shortstop… held a .318 batting average with 69 hits, 45 runs and 58 RBI… recorded 23 extra-base hits, including 11 doubles, six triples and six home runs… picked 22 multi-hit games and 14 multi-RBI games

JACOB'S LADDER 

• Jacob Tobias was named an Honorable Mention selection to the All-Big 12 team. He was an NCBWA Preseason All-American (2nd Team First Baseman) and D1Baseball's #6 First Baseman in the country.
• Tobias is eighth in ASU history with his 42 home runs and ranks 40th among all active D1 players with that tally. He needs just three more to move into a tie for fifth all-time in ASU history with Barry Bonds and Brett Wallace.\
• Among active career D1 players, Tobias is 12th in games played (221), 15th in ABs (824), 17th in hits (252), 15th in total bases (441) and 11th in RBIs (193).
• He is fourth on the team with 47 RBIs this season and is reaching base at a .382 clip with a .302 average.
• With three more RBIs, Tobias will become the first Sun Devils to record at least 50 RBIs in three-straight seasons since Casey Myers did it in four-straight years from 1998-2001.
• He is third on the team with 29 hits with with runners in scoring position this season. Ten times this season, Tobias has been responsible for the first RBI of the game. Seven times this season, he has recorded the game-winning RBI - two more than any other player.
• His 20 doubles are first in the Big 12 and 26th in the nation and crush his previous season best of 14 from a year ago. His 53 career doubles rank 15th among active D1 players. He is the fifth Sun Devil to reach the 20 double mark under head coach Willie Bloomquist.\
• His 17 two-out RBIs are fourth on the team. He has also been ASU's most productive out, advancing runners with an out 29 times - six more than any other Sun Devil.
• Tobias bat .322 with a team-leading 58 RBIs last year, with 14 doubles and a team-leading 18 homers, the latter of which was good for second in the Pac-12 during the regular season. His .635 slugging percentage was sixth in the league in the regular season.
• He slugged .626 in Pac-12 games, the ninth-best tally in the conference and earned Pac-12 First Team All-Conference recognition at first base
• His 14 doubles gave him 33 for his ASU career while the 18 homers bumped his career tally to 35. The 35 homers are the seventh-most for a player in the career at ASU since the 1998 season
• Tobias needs three homers to move into ASU's top-10 in homers all-time and 22 home runs would set the ASU school record
• Tobias' 146 career RBIs are the 10th-most for an ASU player since the 1998 season and he needs 54 RBIs to reach 200 for his career and enter the Top-8 in ASU history and the first since Ike Davis (2006-08) to do so. His .553 career slugging percentage is also 19th at ASU in that time since 1998
• The junior posted his first career five-hit game in the finale against Arizona and added a four-hit game against Utah. He added another five-hit game in just seven innings against Texas Tech
• Tobias recorded 22 RBIs in his final six games of the season last year (six, eight, four, one, two, one).
• He joined Spencer Torkelson as the only other Sun Devil in the last decade to record over 50 RBIs and over 10 homers in back-to-back seasons. His 58 RBIs last season were sixth in the Pac-12.

ENJOYING THE VU

• Kien Vu has started looking like the Kien Vu that earned All-America honors last season in recent weeks and earned All-Big 12 Honorable mention honors in the process.
• Vu missed the majority of March and early April with an ankle injury, but maintains a .367 average on the season - second on the team - with 10 homers and 11 doubles and a team best .627 slugging percentage.
• He has also done a ton of damage on the basepaths, where he is second on the team with 21 stolen bases (on 25 attempts). He broke ASU's single game school record with six stolen bases against Long Beach State on 4/30.
• He became the first Sun Devil with 20 stolen bases in a season since Johnny Sewald (21) in 2015.
• He ranks fourth in the Big 12 with his .46 stolen bases per game.
• Vu is reaching base at a a .462 clip on the year and and is second on the team in advancing runners at a .607 clip (51-of-84).
• Vu had  arguably his best week of the season against UNLV and Gonzaga, where he posted a .500 average  (7-of-14) with four home runs, three doubles, four walks and nine RBIs all in the leadoff spot for the Sun Devils.
• Last season, Vu became the 133rd All-American in Sun Devil Baseball history after posting a .413 average over 47 games and 35 starts – the highest average in the Pac-12 and sixth in the country. He was second in the country in batting average on balls in play at .511
• Vu was selected as a NCBWA Preseason All-American (2nd Team Outfielder), D1Baseball's #14 Outfielder, D1Baseball's #21 Big 12 2025 MLB Draft Prospect and an All-Big 12 Preseason Team (Outfielder).
• In the month of Apri last year, Vu posted a .439 average to lead the Sun Devils, boasting a gaudy .848 slugging percentage that was 100 points higher than any of his teammates. He had seven homers, four doubles and a triple while driving in 26 runs - 12 more than any other Sun Devil for the month. His efforts garnered him finalist consideration for the NCBWA Hitter of the Month
• His .793 slugging percentage (14 homers, 11 doubles, two triples) was easily tops on the team while he also led the squad with 12 stolen bases on 13 chances. He reached base at a .497 clip on the year
• The .793 slugging percentage was 18th nationally and second in the Pac-12 and his .497 OBP was second in the league and 29th in the country... The .793 slugging percentage was the highest at ASU since the 1998 season
• His 56 RBIs were second on the squad and eighth in the Pac-12 despite having over 20 fewer at-bats than the team's eight AB leaders and nearly 64 fewer AB's than the next closest player in front of him in the conference
• He led the Pac-12 in league-only games with a .418 average and .916 slugging percentage and his 31 RBIs in Pac-12 games were fifth in the league

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

• Brandon Compton ranks 9th in the Big 12 with 38 walks this season, which has contributed to his .385 OBP over his .279 average
• He has five extra base hits in the last six games - 3 homers and 2 doubles - and was named to the All-Big 12 honorable mention team this week.
• Compton has 9 homers, 18 doubles and 51 RBIs on the season - ranking 7th in the Big 12 in doubles and third on the team in RBIs.
• Compton has posted a sneaky 10-for-11 tally on stolen bases this year.
• Compton was named the Big 12 Player of the Week after an opening weekend in which he bat .461 on 6-of-13 hitting with nine RBIs (second in the league) and eight runs scored (first). He drew five walks while striking out just twice and had the go-ahead walk-off two-RBI double in ASU's Saturday win over Ohio State and the two-RBI go-ahead single in the fifth inning against Austin Peay.
• Compton became the 37th Freshman All-American in program history after becoming the fourth Sun Devil to be named Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year last year.
• He went on to be named an All-Star in the Cape Cod League for Cotuit, where he bat .331 with six homers and 30 RBIs.
• Compton was n amed an NCBWA Preseason All-American (1st Team Designated Hitter), 2025 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List member, D1Baseball's #13 Outfielder and D1Baseball #29 2025 MLB Draft Prospect/#5 Big 12 entering the year.
• He was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year after he led Pac-12 freshmen in homers (14), doubles (16), average (.354), slugging (.661), OBP (.427) and RBIs (51). He was 11th overall in doubles, 10th in homers, seventh in average, fifth in slugging, 11th in OBP and 14th in RBI.
• He was 35th among all players nationally in batting average on balls in play (.438)
• His .354 batting average was 10th among all D1 freshmen and third among Power Five Freshmen and his 14 homers were eighth among all freshmen nationally
• The youngster was third on the team with his .354 average last season. His .375 mark (24-of-64) with runners in scoring position was second on the team.
• 27 of his 51 RBIs came with two outs, leading the team in the category and having five more than any other player.
• Compton recorded three grand slams on the season, tied for the second most in program history and just one shy of the ASU single season record.
• His 1.089 OPS was third on the squad and fourth in the Pac-12 while his .307 ISO Slugging (Slugging Minus Average) was fifth the Pac-12.
• Compton was easily ASU's best hitter with two outs this season, recording a .438 average on 28-of-64 chances, leading the team in average and hits in the scenario.
• He was responsible for the go-ahead grand slam in the series finale against Ohio State that proved to be the difference in the 10-8 ballgame. He also had a huge game-tying RBI single in the eighth inning of ASU's eventual walk-off win over Oregon. He had the go-ahead two-run homer against Utah Valley as well.

ACTION JACKSON 

• Isaiah Jackson earned All-Big 12 first team honors this season - the first conference first team accolades of his career.
• Jackson has steadily put up hits in all but 13 of Arizona State's 56 games this season and recorded new career highs in just about every offensive category.
• Jackson has recorded an RBI in 34 of the teams' 56 games and has 10 homers in the last 13 games.
• He currently has a career-high .314 average with 29 extra-base hits (11 doubles, 2 triples, 16 homers).
• The 16 homers are tied for 4th in the Big 12 and 80th nationally and have doubled his previous season high of 8 . His 11 doubles are also a career high, as are his two triples.
• He has 65 overall RBIs this season,  11 more than any other player on the team and easily surpassing his previous career high of 31. In fact, he had just 59 TOTAL RBIs in his career entering the year.
• His 31 two-out RBIs are nine more than any other player on the roster.
• Jackson leads the Big 12 with his 39 RBIs in conference-only games this season, three more than second place. His 65 total RBIs are tied for second in the league and 42nd in the nation - and ninth among Power Four conference players.
• Jackson has been among ASU's best hitters with a runner in scoring position, posting a 30-for-76 (.395) mark in the category.
• Jackson has reached on 21 of his 45 leadoff opportunities (.467) on the season, good for first on the team.
• Jackson has no errors on 127 opportunities in the field this season - one of only two eligible Big 12 players with no errors on the season. He ranks 32nd among all D1 centerfielders with his 7.42 defensive runs saved this year.
• Jackson continued showing exceptional defensive skills a year ago, being named the the Pac-12 All-Defensive team for the second straight year while adding a career best 31 RBIs and eight homers.  Jackson bat .263 on the year but reached base at a .345 clip thanks to 18 walks and five HBPs.
• A year ago, Jackson was exceptional in the last 13 games of the regular season, batting .375 on 15-of-40 hitting.
• Jackson was third on the team in productive outs, advancing runners with an out 17 times.
• The sophomore recorded SportsCenter's No. 1 play against UCLA with his incredible leaping grab over the wall in right center field to rob a three-run homer from the Bruins, becoming a viral sensation overnight with several million views of the catch over multiple platforms.
• Jackson's eight putouts in center field in the USC finale were tied with Hunter Bishop (2019) for the second-most for an ASU outfielder since 1998 behind Joe Lampe's nine in 2021. Coincidentally, all three of those games have taken place against USC.
• Jackson homered in the first two games of the season, as did teammate Jacob Tobias, joining a small list of Sun Devils to do so since 1998, including Spencer Torkelson (2020), Riccio Torrez (2011) and Jason Kipnis (2008).

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS 

• Ben Jacobs earned All-Big 12 second team honors this week.
• Jacobs sits 2nd in the Big 12 and 8th nationally with his 13.08 K/9 percentage while his 108 total strikeouts are 1st in the league and 10th in the country. His career 13.35 K/9 is 6th among active D1 pitchers.
• His 108 strikeouts are tied with Seth Blair for the most since the 2010 season.
• Jacobs recorded double digit strikeouts in three straight starts (13, 11, 10) from April 17 to May 2 - the first Sun Devil to accomplish that feat since Mike Leake in 2009. He has 8 or more strikeouts in five straight games.
• Jacobs has five games this season with double digit strikeouts, including a new career-best 13 with 0 walks in his 6.0 inning victory over Texas Tech.
• While he has a 5.09 ERA overall, his 2.66 SIERA - which accounts for factors outside the pitcher's control - is the third-best tally in the Big 12 and the 36th best total in the country.
• Jacobs has stranded 72.9 percent of his baserunners this season - the 13th-best total in the Big 12. His 4.70 xFIP tally in 6th in the Big 12.
• Jacobs has thrown his fast ball for a strike 69.5 percent of the time - the 21st best total in the country.
• Jacobs won Big 12 Pitcher of the Week after he threw a perfect game thorugh 17 batters in his Friday night victory against Gonzaga, striking out six with no walks and just one hit allowed in his 6.0 innings - ASU's first quality start of the year
• He cleaned up on the Preseason honors as he was named a  D1Baseball Preseason All-American (3rd Team Starting Pitcher), Perfect Game Preseason All-American (2nd Team Starting Pitcher), NCBWA Preseason All-American (2nd Team Starting Pitcher), 2025 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List member,  D1Baseball's #13 Starting Pitcher, D1Baseball's #28 2025 MLB Draft Prospect/#4 Big 12, All-Big 12 Preseason Team (Starting Pitcher) and Prospects Live No. 2 left-handed pitching prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft.
• He was named the the U.S. Collegiate National Team in the summer, becoming the 43rd Sun Devil to accomplish the feat. He Recorded action on the mound in the International Friendship Series…Completed the series with a 2.08 ERA and seven strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work … Finished with a 1-0 overall record…Yielded just two hits in a weather-shortened 3-2 win over Chinese Taipei in Cary, N.C., on June 30.
• Jacobs evolved into ASU's ace as last season progressed, earning Pac-12 Honorable Mention honors.
• He also tossed 5.0 scoreless innings for Cotuit in the Cape Cod League with eight strikeouts over 5.0 innings
• Jacobs finished his debut seasson with the Devils with a 4.75 ERA and a team-best seven wins on the season, striking out 102 over 66.1 innings with a sub-.250 average against.
• The 102 strikeouts were 43rd nationally overall and 33rd following the end of the conference tournament season
• His 13.84 K/9 was 11th nationally and tops in the Pac-12 and his seven wins were third in the league
• Jacobs struck out a career-best 11 hitters in his Friday night win over USC, earning a quality start with a career-best 6.1 innings of work while allowing just a single run. He added a second quality start in 6.0 scoreless innings against Stanford with nine strikeouts.

WALK THIS WAY

• Kyle Walker has assumed duties at second base this season after a very productive undergraduate campaign at Grambling.
• The veteran ranks 28th among all D1 players with his 3.88 overall WAR this season.
• His 43.27 offensive runs produced is the 23rd best tally in the nation while his 8.55 defensive runs saved is 44th among D1 second basemen.
• He had his team-best 19-game hitting streak snapped in the finale against Arizona, which remains the longest for a Sun Devil this season.. He had multiple hits in 11 games during that streak.
• Walker remains fourth on the team in average at .360 - a notable achievement as he was batting .083 on Feb. 28 and still below the Mendoza line as of March 7.
• Since moving into the leadoff spot in the second game against TCU on March 15 (where he has played every game since), Walker is batting .388 on 61-of-157 hitting with a .492 OBP and team-leading 55 runs scored.
• Since moving to the leadoff spot on March 15th against TCU, Kyle Walker has recorded a hit to start the game in 15 games. To take that a step further, there have been eight times he has recorded a hit on the very FIRST PITCH of the game.
• Walker's .489 career OBP is 7th among active D1 players that have played their whole careers at the D1 level and his .372 career average is 19th among those active players.  He also ranks 9th among active D1 players in runs scored (191).
• Walker 69 runs scored this season are first in the Big and 19th nationally - 4th among Power Four players.
• Walker leads the team with 109 defensive assists this year while fielding an exceptional .981. The 109 assists are good for 16th in the Big 12.
• Among 38 Big 12 players with at least 50 defensive assists this season, Walker's .981 fielding percentage ranks fourth.
• He has successfully advanced runners at a .600 clip (60-of-100).
• Walker participated in the 2024 MLB Draft Combine and represented the U.S. Collegiate National Team during the summer, competing in the International Friendship Series against Chinese Taipei in Cary, N.C.
• As a redshirt sophomore in 2024, led Grambling State with a career-best .381 batting average, 11 home runs, 77 hits, and 71 runs scored.He recorded 114 defensive assists and turned 26 double plays in 2024
• Walker concluded his two-year career at Grambling State with a .376 batting average, .500 on-base percentage, 13 home runs, 135 hits, 70 RBIs, and 121 runs scored
• Walker began his Grambling State career in 2023 after redshirting his freshman year at Louisiana Tech, starting at second base and batted .372 with 2 home runs, 58 hits, and 50 runs scored in his debut season at Grambling.

YOU DON'T KNOW JACK

• Senior Jack Martinez has giving ASU much-needed longevity in his three starts this season, tossing a team-best 75.2 innings.
• While Martinez has a 4.44 ERA, his 2.44 SIERA - which accounts for runs not in the pitcher's control -  is third-second-lowest in the Big 12 and 19th-lowest in the nation. His 4.65 xFIP 5th-best in the Big 12
• Among D1 pitchers with 250+ changeups thrown this year, His 47.1 whiff percentage is 20th in the country and his 70.9 strike percentage on the pitch is 6th.
• He is leading the Big 12 with 108 strikeouts - good for 10th in the nation - and his 112.85 K/9 is 3rd in the league and 10th in the country. Five times this season has Martinez recorded double-digit strikeouts, including three of his last five starts.
• His 108 strikeouts are tied with Seth Blair for the most since the 2010 season.
• His 3.48 strikeout to walk ratio is 8th in the Big 12 his 1.22 WHIP is 9th in the league.
• He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after the Gonzaga series where he posted a no-hitter through 6.2 innings en route to a 10 strikeout, two walk, one hit performance with no runs allowed.
• Martinez posted a 4.40 ERA for Louisiana in 2024 as helped the Ragin' Cajuns to the Sun Belt Conference regular season title and a spot in the NCAA Baseball Tournament where it advanced to the Regional Final against eventual College World Series runner-up Texas A&M
• He went a combined 10-1 on the mound in 38 career appearances at Division III Trinity University (Texas) and was named first-team All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, first-team D3baseball.com All-Region and second-team ABCA Second Team All-Region
• He led a stellar pitching staff with a 2.12 earned run average in 2023, finishing the year with a 6-0 record and six saves as he recorded a team-best 81 strikeouts in 51.0 innings of work, holding opponents to a .163 batting average. He finished third among DIII players in strikeouts per nine innings (14.29).

NO LUMP OF COLE

• Cole Carlon has been ASU's most reliable option out of its bullpen this season and put together one of the top reliever resume's in the country in thge process. He was named to the Big-12 All-First team as a relief pitcher for his efforts this year.
• Among D1 pitchers with at least 500+ pitches this season, Carlon's 41.9 whiff percentage is 2nd in the nation. His 55.3 whiff percentage on his slider is 5th among pitchers that have throw it at least 150 times.
• Carlon has allowed just 16 hits in his last 32.0 innings of work and 63 of those 97 outs come via strikeout to just 11 walks.
• Carlon has a 2.92 ERA this season with a 3-1 record and three saves and only a paltry .151 batting average against  over 49.1 innings.
• He has 78 strikeouts on the season, third on the Sun Devils, eighth in the Big 12 and 105th in the nation.
• Of the 130 players in D1 baseball to record 75 strikeouts this season, Carlon has accomplished the feat in the second fewest innings of work (Vanderbilt's Connor Fennell, 80 in 47.1 innings).
• Carlon had a streak of consecutive batters retired ended at 28 after his two-out walk in the sixth in the Saturday game against Cincinnati. UC's leadoff double in the ninth ended Carlon's streak of 13.0 straight innings with no hits dating back to March 21 vs. #22 Kansas over six appearances.
• He recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts over 4.1 innings of work in the Sunday victory over Arizona. That number marked the second most for a Sun Devil reliever since 2021 (Tie: Tyler Thornton- 11 vs. Rhode Island 4/30/21; Hunter Omlid- 11 vs. Utah Valley 3/19/24). At one point, Carlon retired seven straight batters on strikeouts, which is tied for the fourth-most consecutive strikeouts by a Sun Devil in program history.

GRABBING THE BULL-PEN BY THE HORNS

• The Sun Devil bullpen has made a habit of escaping jams under Willie Bloomquist, stranding 1,821 baserunners over 226 games, an average of 8.1 stranded opponent runners per game. ASU stranded 453 in 55 games last season and 407 in 56 games this season.
• ASU has three players with a bullpen ERA of 3.00 or less with 10.0+ innings pitched (Cole Carlon, Easton Barrett, Jaden Alba) - a feat that hasn't been achieved through 56 games at ASU since the 2013 team (Ryan Burr, Matt Dunbar, Josh McAlister).
• This season is the first time ASU has posted two midweek shutouts since 2012, when the team beat Utah Valley (9-0) and Cal State Fullerton (1-0) on March 13 and March 27. It is the first time the team had back-to-back midweek shutouts since March 26-27, 1996 vs. Portland State (10-0, 12-0). It is the first time a team has back-to-back midweek shutouts over two separate teams since Feb. 5 and Feb. 20, 1990 vs. Chapman and Lubbock Christian (4-0, 4-0). These totals are all notable as ASU used five pitchers in each of those victories (2-0 at UCLA, 7-0 vs. UNLV).
• Freshmen Easton Barrett and Max Arlich have quietly put up a 1.69 ERA and 1.80 ERA coming out of the bullpen this year over 15.2 combined innings with 17 strikeouts.
• Jonah Giblin has allowed just two hits with no runs and 8 strikeouts over his last 7.0 innings over three appearances.
• Derek Schaefer has been ASU's fireman when its needed it this season, allowing just three of his 15 inherited runners on the season to score.

PITCH AND CATCH

• While there is still a ton of season ahead, early returns on new Sun Devil pitching coach Jeremy Accardo have paid immediate dividends while the defenders behind him have done their part to reward the staff for throwing strikes and taking care of balls in play.
• ASU has six pitchers with 10.0+ innings pitched and a sub-4.55 ERA. Last year at this time, the team had just a single player that met that criteria.
• ASU's overall team WHIP sits 71st nationally at 1.46. While not eye popping, It is notable as the team has not finished in the Top-100 in the category since 2012 (6th, 1.17). In fact, ASU has been outside the Top-200 five different times since then and outside the Top-150 eight times.
• ASU has five games this season where it has walked just a single batter, compared to having just three such games total a season ago.
• The team's strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.50 ranks 33rd in the nation as well. The Sun Devils have not ranked in the Top-100 in that category in a non-COVID season since the 2015 campaign where ASU checked in at 79th in the nation with a ratio of 2.20.
• ASU is first in the Big 12 with a 11.3 K/9 average this season, good for 6th nationally. The Sun Devils have struck out double digit batters in 35 of 56 games on the season.
• ASU is one of just two schools in the nation with three different pitchers with 75+ strikeouts (Vanderbilt)
• ASU has struck out 609 batters this season, the fourth-most in the country and the only school in the Top 8 in  the nation NOT in the SEC. At the team's current clip. The tally is the second-most in school history in the aluminum bat era and the school record 675 set by the 1975 team remains in sight with a postseason run.
• ASU has given up the 67th most home runs this season (64) which, while not outstanding, is still a marked improvement from last year's squad, which ranked 23rd with 88 allowed.
• The Sun Devils have posted 30 games this season without an error and have quietly put up a .980 fielding percentage on the year - good for first in the Big 12 and 14th in the country. ASU ranked outside the Top-100 in each of the last three seasons in the category.
• The 30 games without an error easily surpass ASU's total for the season a year ago of 21.
• ASU had a seven-game streak without an error at one point this year - which was  its longest since a nine-game stretch in the 2015 season.
• The Sun Devil pitchers have been amongst the most improved in the area, with just four errors credited against them this season (10.2 percent) - notable as ASU pitchers were responsible for 12 of ASU's 60 errors last season (20.0 percent).

WHAT'S THE CATCH 

• The Sun Devils looked hard-pressed to replace one of the program's most prolific offensive players in history as All-American catcher Ryan Campos is now departed as an early round draft pick to the Cardinals organization, leaving a gap at the catcher position that was manned by the .369 career hitter the last three seasons but Josiah Cromwick and Brody Briggs have answered the call.
• After a prolific offensive Fall and early Spring in team scrimmages, Josiah Cromwick has shown he can do it with the lights on as well, currently second on the team with 12 homers.
• Cromwick has 31 total hits on the season and 20 of those have gone for extra bases, recording 12 homers and 8 doubles.
• ASU went with Cromwick as the backstop to get the opening night start. Granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA, Cromwick was arguable t he team's best player through Fall and Preseason camp this year, recording 20 home runs in live AB scrimmages. Cromwick was a Top-25 catcher in the nation out of high school and started 67 games for the Oregon Ducks prior to transferring to ASU last year.
• Brody Briggs has posted a .276 average on the year. His seven RBIs on the first two home runs of his career in the rubber match victory over TCU are the most for a Sun Devil this season.
• Briggs has shown defensively as well, with 28 defensive assists on the year and leading the team in throwing out 10 runners this season - tied for fifth in the Big 12 despite single significantly fewer chances than the players ahead of him.
• The duo has combined for 17 home runs and 12 doubles this season with 56 RBIs - easily helping offset the offensive loss from Ryan Campos, who started nearly every game at catcher last year.

THINGS ARE GETTING HAIR-Y

• Freshman Landon Hairston has shown a mature approach at the plate despite the freshman tag and has quickly become a staple in the Sun Devil lineup and was named to the All-Big 12 first team as a utility player and named to the Big 12 All-Freshman team.
• The youngster is making quite a case for Freshman All-America accolades as he now sits 8th in the Big 12 with his .362 average - good for 8th among all freshmen nationally and 2nd among freshmen in a Power Four conference.
• His .485 OBP is 4th in the league and is 13th among all freshmen in the nation and 4th among Power Four freshmen.
• Hairson is easily ASU's best player in advancing runners, doing so at a .650 clips - 43 points higher than anyone else on the team.
• Hairston is second on the team with his .448 average with runners in scoring position (26-for-58).
• Hairston has 16 extra base hits in his last 24 games (11 doubles, 1 triple, four homers) after he had just one through his first 27 games as a Sun Devil.
• Hairston has shown his ability to make in-game late inning adjustments as he is batting .349 in innings 6-9 this season.
• Hairston has become an every day fixture in the outfield for ASU despite coming to the program as a corner infielder and is 67-for-69 on defensive chances with two errors.

 
HEADED TO THE GAP

• ASU is third in the nation with its 141 doubles this year and has recorded multiple doubles in 39 games (5th in country at 2.52 per game). The team is just 7 back from D1 leader New Mexico (148).
• ASU has had a player reach 20 doubles five times under Willie Bloomquist and at least one player do so in each season (2022-p). ASU had just two players, total,  reach 20 doubles from 2011-21.
• 11 players have recorded at least four doubles this season and eight have already reached double digits in the category.
• Jacob Tobias ranks 26th in the country and first in the Big 12 with his 20 doubles. Kyle Walker is 50th nationally and fourth in the Big 12 with 19 doubles. Brandon Compton is 7th in the league (18) and Matt King is 12 (17).
• The Sun Devils were tops in the Pac-12 and sixth in the country with 143 doubles last year in 58 games and the 2.47 doubles per game were fourth in the nation. The total was 15 more than any other team in the Pac-12 even without making the postseason.
• 15 different Sun Devils had multiple doubles last season - the most of any school in the Pac-12.
• Ryan Campos was the Pac-12 leader with 25 doubles this year - a tally good for 7th nationally. Nick McLain was sixth with 18, Brandon Compton was 12th with 16.  Jacob Tobias had 14, Harris Williams had 13 and Ethan Mendoza and Kien Vu had 11, giving ASU a Pac-12 leading seven players that have reached double digits in the category.
• ASU had multiple doubles in 39 games last season and at least one double in 51 of 63 games. The team's 143 double were fifth out of all ASU team's since 1998 in the category.
• ASU got a slow start in the doubles category in 2023 but came alive in the second half of the year. After having just 13 in the first 11 of the season, ASU finished with 108 to find itself in the Top-100 prior to the NCAA Tourney after being ranked as low as 232 through the first month of the season.
• The team recorded a double in 45 of 55 games overall that year with multiple doubles in 26 of those. Luke Keaschall finished seventh second in the entire country with 25 doubles .
• The Sun Devils recorded 134 doubles in 2022, 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 in 2022 and multiple doubles in 36 of 58 games.

CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL

• Arizona State has 84 home runs this season, a total that is third in the Big 12 and 32nd in the country.
• 11 players have recorded home runs for ASU this year, with 10 posting at least four.
• ASU only had runners on base on 7 of its first 21 homers of the season but has had runners on 38 of its last 63 homers with the 14 of the 25 exceptions being leadoff home runs or the back half of back-to-back homers.
• ASU is 18-3 when hitting two or more homers in a game.
• Five times this season ASU has recorded five or more homers. That includes a school record 8 homers against BYU and 6 in two other games that is tied for third.
• The Sun Devils set a school record with eight home runs in the finale of the BYU series, surpassing its previous record of seven against Arizona on March 4, 2000. ASU got that in the first two innings of the game alone as eight of the team's first 10 hits all left the ballpark.
• ASU's 15 home runs in the BYU series (8 Saturday, 6 Friday and 1 Thursday) were a school record for a three-game series.
• After not having a game with back-to-back homers all season, ASU did it four times in the BYU series and THREE times in a single inning on Saturday.  Isaiah Jackson and Brody Briggs (x2) AND Matt King and Jacob Tobias all did it in the second inning after Tobias and Nu'u Contrades did it in the first yesterday.
• There's only been one instance in MLB databank of two players going back-to-back jacks TWICE in the SAME inning like Jackson and Briggs did in that BYU game - when the Mariners Mike Cameron and Bret Boone did it on May 2, 2002.
• Notable though, ASU swept the road series against Utah WITHOUT hitting a home run - the first time the team had accomplished that feat in a road series sweep since the start of the 1999 season (3-0 at Hawai'i, 4-0 at Hawai'i-Hilo) and the first time overall in a series sweep since 2017 against Northwestern in Week One.
• The Sun Devils had 102 homers last year, good for 30th nationally and surpassing the program's BBCOR record of 94 from the 2019 season. ASU became just the eighth Sun Devil team in the program's illustrious history to reach 100 home runs and the first to do it since having 101 in 1990. The 2024 Sun Devils were the fastest to reach triple digits in the category in program history, doing so in 56 games.
• ASU had five Sun Devils reach doublle digit homers (Ryan Campos, Kien Vu, Brandon Compton, Jacob Tobias and Nick McLain), marking the first time at ASU since 1993 that five players accomplished the feat (Todd Cady, Doug Newstrom, Antone Williamson, Paul Lo Duca, Jacob Cruz). It was the first season that even four had reached the tally since 1994.
• 11 different Sun Devils had multiple homers - second-best in the Pac-12 - and 13 homered overall, which was also the second-most in the league.
• The 2024 Sun Devils were the first ASU team to have 13 players homer since the 2008 squad also had 13.
• ASU homered once in each of the three games against Oregon State, notable as the Beavers had allowed just 10 homers all season entering the weekend and just five total at Goss Stadium.
• ASU had six homers in its road series against UCLA, the most allowed by UCLA in a three-game series this year. ASU had four in each of its first two games against USC, the most the Trojans had allowed in a game all year. ASU had five in a game against UC San Diego, the most it had allowed and had four in two of its games against UW, also the most the Huskies had allowed. With the team's five-homer game against Stanford  - the most the Cardinal had allowed at the Sunken Diamond since 2000 - ASU had five-straight series in which it has recorded at least one game with the most home runs allowed by that opponent last season.
• The Sun Devils had eight homers in the Oregon series. Unfortunately, all came of the solo variety.
• The Sun Devils continued looking for the big hit with runners on base as ASU had 49 solo homers on its 102 last season. Of the team's 49 solo homers, however, 23 were of the leadoff variety and didn't give anyone a chance to be on base while five others came as part of back-to-back homers and thus, the same principle.
• The big homers with men on base, however, increased in the last month. Five of ASU's six homers against UCLA were two-run shots and 5 of 10 against USC were multi-run bombs, as were five of its seven against UC San Diego. Seven of the ten homers against Washington were multi-run shots. Four of the 11 homers against Stanford were three-run bombs while another was a two-run shot.
• The Sun Devils hit 19 more homers during the 2023 season (83) than it did the prior year. 12 different players logged a home run last season for ASU and 10 had multiple home runs. In 2023, ASU had eight different players with at least six homers - more than any other team in the Pac-12.
• The Sun Devils had seven players with at least seven homers that year - at the time two more than any other team at ASU had had since at least the 1998 season. ASU had five players with at least seven homers in 2022, tied for the second-most at ASU since 1998. The Sun Devils had seven players with at least seven homers last season as well.
• ASU's 83 homers in 2023 were 56th in the country prior to the NCAA Tournament.
• The better news was ASU finally started the get pumps with runners on base. 37 of the team's last 66 Sun Devil home runs that year came with runners on base after 14 of the first 17 that season were solo shots. Of the 26 solo shots, 17 were leadoff homers and thus not given the opportunity to happen with runners on base.
• The timing of the home runs improved immensely over the second half of the 2022 season as well. 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.
• Of the nine position players with at least 30 starts in 2022, all nine had multiple home runs. ASU had ten total players with multiple homers.

COMING IN HOT

• The Sun Devils have put up 68 innings this season where the team has scored at least three runs, 32 with four or more and 21 with 5 or more.
• ASU has outscored opponents 698-431 over its last 74 regular season games - going 50-24 in the process.
• Big innings have been the theme of ASU's season as the team has now scored in 203 halves of an inning on the year and have plated two or more runs in 126 of those (.625).
• ASU scored 253 runs in its 30 conference games this season (8.4 per game) - tops in the league.
• There have been 33times this season that ASU has reached double digit hits in a game
• The team bat .328 in Big 12 games - tops in the league by 11 points.
• ASU ranks 7th nationally and 1st in the Big 12 with a .320 batting average this season and is 15th in the country and first in the league with a .533 slugging percentage. ASU is first in the Big 12 and 26th nationally with 8.5 runs per game.
• Seven time in the Willie Bloomquist tenure - and twice this season - the Sun Devils have recorded 20 or more hits (since 2022). The team had just eight from 2008-21 and only three from 2011-21).
• Both of ASU's 20-hit games this season have come on the road and three of the seven total under Bloomquist. Of the team's 36 games with 20+ hits from 2000-2021, only eight came on the road.
• The Sun Devils have scored 20 or more runs five times in 3+ seasons under head coach Willie Bloomquist. That total is notable as the team had just five such games TOTAL from 2009-2021.
• Last season, ASU has posted 68 3+ run innings and 41 4+ run innings. 21 times last season, ASU  scored five or more runs in an inning.
• The Sun Devils thrived in the big innings in 2023 as well, 12 times recording five or more runs in an inning. The team recorded 51 innings with three or more runs scored.
• ASU recorded 10 or more hits in 39 of 58 games last season and in nine-straight games to conclude the regular season and 16 of the last 17 in the regular season . ASU's 652 total hits last season were tops in the Pac-12 and 14th nationally.
• The Sun Devils'  offensive surge at the end of last year boosted its team slugging percentage to .541 on the year, good for tops in the Pac-12 and 15th nationally. The batting average was .313 for the year, tops in the Pac-12 and 12th nationally.
• Last season, the Sun Devils were second in the Pac-12 in averaging 8.3 runs per game and 29th nationally.
• The Sun Devils have outscored opponents 74-35 in the first innings of games this year and are 22-8 when scoring in the first.
• ASU has outscored opponents by 34 in both the second (50-20) and sixth inning (64-31) of games.

HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS

• After going 1-7 in one-run games in 2022, ASU went 7-3 and 8-5 in one run efforts in 2023 and 2024. ASU's eight wins in one run games last year were the most since the team had nine in the 2017 season.
• ASU is 6-7 in one-run games this season and is 10-10 in games decided by two runs or less after going 11-13 in such games last year.
• ASU is the only team in the country that has not lost a game this season by more than 5 runs - something achieved only twice before in program history (1969 and 1973).
• The team has posted the game-winning RBI/run in the sixth inning or later in 12 of the team's wins so far.
• The Sun Devils have not lost a game by more than 5 runs this season (@UNLV), a notable - if frustrating - statistic as there have been just two other seasons in program history where ASU had not lost a game by 5 or more runs: the 1969 National Champions and the 1973 CWS team that lost just 8 total games.
• ASU and Iowa are the only teams in the country that have not lost by more than 5 runs this season.
• The walk-off win against UNLV  in the regular season finale a year ago was ASU's sixth last season as a result of a ninth or extra-inning lead change, with walk-offs against Oregon, GCU and UW (10th inning) and UNLV and ninth-inning go-ahead runs on the road against Arizona and UNLV. ASU has two walk-offs this season.
• ASU won four games last year when trailing after eight innings and five games when trailing OR tied after 8. The team had five wins when trailing or tied after eight in 2016 and nine in 2015. ASU's four games in which it trailed after eight innings are the most since the team had five such victories in 2006.
• ASU has trailed at one point in 56 of its last 85 victories dating back to to 2023 - including 20 of its wins this season.
• In three seasons 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 in each of the last two seasons when trailing by at least three runs at some point in the game. ASU has won three such games this season.
• In 2022, 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 doubled down at that in 2023  with the victories over North Dakota State and GCU, overcoming a 7-0 deficit in both (and 9-2 in entering the eighth against GCU) for victories in both.
• ASU came from behind 13-6 in the regular season finale against UNLV to walk it off in the ninth - the fourth seven-run comeback in the Bloomquist era.
• ASU has won 11 games in which it has trailed by at least five runs at some point in the game under Willie Bloomquist.

DO I KNOW YOU?

• The Sun Devils welcome an incredible 22 new faces to the roster in 2025. The class features Perfect Game's No. 17 freshman group in the country - its second-straight Top-25 class.
• The roster will feature 6 freshman arms, a notable tally considering the 2022 team didn't have a single freshman arm on the roster. Additionally, ASU added six transfer arms, including expected Saturday starter Jack Martinez (Louisiana) and potential closer Will Koger (Louisville)
• The team will feature two new middle infielders for the third consecutive season after having at least one returner up the middle from 2018-22, this year in the form of Matt King (UTSA) at short and Kyle Walker (Grambling) at second.
• In addition to the guys playing on the field, the team also welcomed a slew of new faces on the coaching and support staff, highlighted by new pitching coach Jeremy Accardo, new hitting coach Jason Ellison and new pitching analytics coordinator Jared Matheson.