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Baseball readies for final home series of season

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Baseball readies for final home series of seasonBaseball readies for final home series of season

PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball  is set to host its final four home games of the regular season, beginning this weekend with a three-game Big 12 series against the Houston Cougars, beginning Friday, May 9 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. AZT, followed by a pair of 1 p.m. AZT afternoon contents on Saturday and Sunday.  The regular season home finale will take place on Tuesday, May 13 against crosstown rival Grand Canyon at 6:30 p.m. AZT.

There will be plenty of action pre-game on Friday as the program will celebrate both its annual Senior Night as well as honoring the 2005 College World Series team. The 2005 team will be recognized on the field in a pre-game ceremony beginning around 6 p.m. AZT on the field. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a special Jeff Larish Bobblehead, courtesy of Gila River Resorts and Casinos. Larish, who was named to the CWS All-Tournament team that season, will throw out the honorary first pitch in the contest. ASU will honor its seniors following the recognition of that 2005 team. 

FOLLOW THE ACTION

  • All games this weekend will be available to be streamed online on ESPN+. 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 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 teams 638-392 over its last 67 regular season games dating back to last season, posting a 47-20 record in the process

2. ASU is batting an exceptional .396 (103-for-260) this season when the team has put the first ball of an at-bat into play.

3. ASU has three series wins this season when losing the Friday opener - notable as it had just one such series win (Oregon State '23) in 3 previous season.s 

4. Among Big 12 middle infielders with over 50 defensive assists, Matt King (.983) and Kyle Walker (.983) are tied for the second-best fielding %.

5. ASU has posted 27 games this season without an error and the No. 13 fielding percentage nationally (.980). It hasn't been in the Top-100 since 2021. 

6. ASU has not lost a single game by more than 5 runs (@UNLV), something only two other team's in school history have achieved (1969 and 1973)

7. Landon Hairston ranks 3rd among Power Four freshmen with his .360 average and 2nd with his .484 OBP.

8. ASU is one of just two schools in the nation with three different players with 70+ strikeouts (Vanderbilt)

9. Tasked with replacing All-American catcher Ryan Campos, ASU's duo of Josiah Cromwick and Brody Briggs have 16 homers, 12 doubles and 53 RBIs.

10. The Sun Devils have stolen 102 bases this season - good for 33rd in the country and notable as the team has not ranked in the Top-120 since 2011. 

BY THE NUMBERS

70 - Cole Carlon has struck out 70 batters in just 44.0 innings of work this season, a total good for sixth in the Big 12 despite doing so solely out of the bullpen. Of the 97 players in D1 baseball to record 70 strikeouts this season, Carlon has accomplished the feat in the second fewest innings of work (Vanderbilt's Connor Fennell, 72 in 39.1 innings).Among D1 pitchers with at least 500+ pitches this season, Carlon's 41.7 whiff percentage is first in the nation. His 59.2 whiff percentage on his slider is first among pitchers that have throw it at least 150 times.  Carlon has allowed just 10 hits in his last 27.1 innings of work and 47 of those 83 outs come via strikeout to just eight walks.Carlon has a 2.45 ERA this season with a 2-0 record and three saves and only a paltry .132 batting average against  over 44.0 innings.

34 - ASU has recorded 124 doubles this year and multiple doubles in 34 games. The 124 doubles are good for a ranking of 3rd in the country (and 7th at 2.53 per game) and first in the Big 12. The team is just four doubles behind Georgia Tech (128) for first in the nation. Eleven different Sun Devils have recorded at least three doubles this season and seven have already reached double digits in the category.  Jacob Tobias ranks 31st in the country with his 18 doubles and tops in the Big 12 while Brandon Compton's 16 doubles are fourth in the league. Tobias's 18 doubles already surpass his previous career best of 14 and his 51 career doubles are 18th among active D1 players. Matt King has posted 52 career doubles (15 this season) and his tally ranks 15th among alll active players. 

12 - Matt King has 12 games this season where he has recorded three or more hits - notable as the next-closest player on the team has six. King is second in the Big 12 and ranks 38th in the nation with his .393 batting average - sixth among players in a Power Four conference. His his 1.048 OPS is 14th in the Big 12. King's .420 in Big-12 only games is second in the league, as are his 29 Big-12 only RBIs. His 47 overall RBIs are 11th in the Big 12.He has been equally efficient on the defensive side as well with just two errors and a .983 fielding percentage on 121 chances. Among 36 Big 12 players with at least 50  defensive assists, his .983 fielding percentage is second in the league (Kansas's Chase Diggins, .987) and his two total errors are tied for the fewest among Big 12 middle infielders. 

9 - The Sun Devils have won nine weekend series this season and posted a series record of 9-3 in those. The team is 6-2 in Big 12 series. ASU is looking to reach double digits in weekend series wins for just the second time since 2016 (also in 2021). Should ASU win its final two weekend series, the 11 series wins would tie for the fourth-most at ASU since 2000 (12, x3) while the .786 weekend series win percentage would be third-best in that time behind only the 12-1 seasons in 2009 and 2010. Series wins in each of the last two weeks would also guarantee 20 conference victories for the first time since the 2010 team went 20-7. It would mark just the third time ASU reached 20 conference wins since the 1996 season (2009 and 2010). Going at least 5-1 would guarantee ASU with its fourth-most conference wins (21) in history. 

LAST TIME OUT: BAYLOR

  • The Sun Devils improved to 9-3 in weekend series as it rallied from a Friday night defeat to take a series for the third time this season, taking two of three on the road at Baylor to improve to 6-2 in Big 12 series this season. The three series wins despite a Friday night loss are notable as ASU had just one of those (Oregon State, 2023) in three previous seasons. 
  • The Sun Devils came out of the weekend alone in the Big 12 Conference, three games back from first and one game up on the third-place teams with six games left in the conference schedule.
  • The Sun Devils improved to 5-1 over their last six road series dating back to last season and is now 15-8 in their last 23 true road contests dating (9-8 in true road games this season) - notable as the team was 18-38 in its previous 56 road games to the current stretch.
  • Josaiah Cromwick was the hero of the weekend, recording three RBIs in each of ASU's victories on Saturday and Sunday - the first time in his career recording 3+ RBIs in consecutive games. Cromwick had the go-ahead two-RBI single in ASU's 4-1 victory on Saturday, adding an insurance run later and also throwing out two runners trying to take second. In a close 4-2 affair in the seventh on Sunday, Cromwick shook off an two-out, 0-2 count as he laced a three-RBI double off the wall in left to give ASU the breathing room it would need in the 8-6 victory. 
  • On Friday, Ben Jacobs recorded his third consecutive game with 10 or more strikeouts (13, 11, 10). He became the first Sun Devil pitcher to do so in three-straight games since Mike Leake did it in three games in 2009 (12, 12, 15).
  • Isaiah Jackson had a streak of four-straight games with a homer ended on Saturday but concluded his impressive week with a team-best nine RBIs over ASU's five games.  

ON DECK: HOUSTON

  • The Sun Devils will look for their seventh conference series victory of the year and 10 overall series win this season as it welcomes the Houston Cougars for three games, beginning Friday. 
  • The all-time series sits in the hands of the Sun Devils, who hold the 12-3 advantage. This will be the first matchup since 2010, where ASU secured a sweep at Packard Stadium.
  • The first-ever meeting came at the 1967 College World Series with Houston winning the first game, 3-0,  before ASU took the winner-take-all finale, 11-2, to win its second National Championship in program history.
  • No strangers in the postseason, Houston would knock ASU out of the 2002 Mesa Regional with a pair of victories over the Sun Devils. 
  • Houston owns the longest active winning streak in the Big 12 at 5 wins and the seventh-longest active streak in the country.
  • Houston swept its first Big 12 Conference series of the season and won its first home series since March 9 with a sweep of Utah last weekend. 
  • The Cougars have won four-straight Big 12 games, the longest streak in the two years since joining the league. Houston's 10 Big 12 wins are a three-game improvement from 2024.Houston's 13 road wins are fourth-most in the Big 12. The Cougars have improved their road win total from 2024 by 160% with three road games remaining.
  • Senior Antoine Jean is arguably the nation's best pitcher with a nation-leading 15.43 strikeouts per nine innings pitched and the fifth-best hits allowed per nine rate of 5.14 while striking out the 10th most hitters in all of college baseball with 96 and allowing a the 18th best WHIP of 0.93. Jean is one of two pitchers nationally in the top 10 in both K/9 and H/9.

SHORT KING

  • While shortstop Matt King was a new face to Sun Devil fans early this year, he has quickly established himself as a staple of the program's offense and one of the best hitters in the nation this year. 
  • His recent efforts garnered him the No. 22 ranking nationally among shortstops in D1Baseball's Week 12 positional rankings. 
  • King is second in the Big 12 and ranks 38th in the nation with his .393 batting average - sixth among players in a Power Four conference. His his 1.048 OPS is 14th in the Big 12
  • King's .420 in Big-12 only games is second in the league, as are his 29 Big-12 only RBIs. His 47 overall RBIs are 11th in the Big 12.
  • He ranks eighth in the Big 12 and 88th nationally with his 15 doubles this season. His 52 career doubles are 15th among avtive D1 players.
  • King has shown his clutch hitting ability in bringing a runner home from third with less than two outs a team-best 17-of-18 times (.944). His 31 hits with runners in scoring position are four more than any of his teammates. He is 22-for-56 with two outs - a .393 average that also leads the team.
  • The surge has elevated King to 137th in the country among all D1 players in offensive runs above replacemen and oWAR at 35.59/2.66 - Top-75 among all Power Four players.
  • When King does get a hit this season, he gets them in droves. He has hits in 32 games and has recorded multiple hits in 22 of those. He has 12 games with 3 or more hits this season. The next closest Sun Devil has six.  
  • 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 10.8 at-bats this season, the second-best tally in the Big 12 and 62nd nationally.
  • He has been equally efficient on the defensive side as well with just two errors and a .983 fielding percentage on 121 chances. Among 36 Big 12 players with at least 50  defensive assists, his .983 fielding percentage is second in the league (Kansas's Chase Diggins, .987) and his two total errors are tied for the fewest among Big 12 middle infielders. 
  • King's 208 career games are 25th among active D1 players that have played their entire careers at the D1 level and his 169 total runs scored are 31st. His 248 hits are 14th, his 174 RBIs are 23rd, 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 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 37th among all activie 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 13th in games played (214), 18th in ABs (794), 16th in hits (243), 16th in total bases (430) and 9th in RBIs (189)
  • He is third on the team with 43 RBIs this season and is reaching base at a .388 clip with a .302 average. 
  • He is third on the team with 26 hits with with runners in scoring position this season. Nine 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 18 doubles are first in the Big 12 and 31st in the nation and crush his previous season best of 14 from a year ago. His 51 career doubles rank 18th among active D1 players. 
  • His 17 two-out RBIs are second on the team. He has also been ASU's most productive out, advancing runners with an out 27 times - eight 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 was earned All-America honors last season in recent weeks.
  • Vu missed the majority of March and early April with an ankle injury, but maintains a .341 average on the season with nine homers and nine doubles and a .601 slugging percentage.
  • He has also done a ton of damage on the basepaths, where he leads the team with 20 stolen bases (on 24 attempts). He broke ASU's single game school record with six stolen bases against Long Beach State on 4/30.
  • He is 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 the 20 bags and 64th nationally with his .51 stolen bases per game.
  • Vu is reaching base at a a .452 clip on the year and is third on the team in advancing runners at a .597 clip (31-of-51).
  • 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 34 walks this season, which has contributed to his .385 OBP over his .274 average.
  • Compton has six homers, 16 doubles and 43 RBIs on the season - ranking fourth in the Big 12 in doubles and tied for 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 has steadily put up hits in all but 13 of Arizona State's 49 games this season and recorded new career highs in just about every offensive category. 
  • He currently has a career-high .297 average with 23 extra-base hits (11 doubles, 2 triples, 11 homers).
  • The 11 homers are tied for 11th in the Big 12 and surpass his previous career high by three. His 11 doubles are a career high, as are his two triples. 
  • Jackson enters the weekend having recorded five homers in the last seven games. 
  • He has 53 overall RBIs this season,  six 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 22 two-out RBIs are five more than any other player on the roster. 
  • Jackson leads the Big 12 with his 32 RBIs in conference-only games this season, three more than second place. His 53 total RBIs are tied for third in the league and 81st in the nation and 23rd among Power Four conference players.
  • Jackson has been among ASU's best hitters with a runner in scoring position, posting a 27-for-68 (.397) mark in the category. 
  • Jackson has reached on 19 of his 41 leadoff opportunities (.463) on the season, good for second on the team.
  • Jackson has no errors on 117 opportunities in the field this season - one of only three Big 12 players with 100+ defensive chances and no errors this season and leading that group with his 117 chances.
  • 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 sits 3rd in the Big 12 and 14th nationally with his 12.80 K/9 percentage while his 91 total strikeouts are 3rd in the league and 17th in the country. His career 13.23 K/9 is 6th among active D1 pitchers.
  • Jacobs has recorded double digit strikeouts in three straight starts (13, 11, 10) - the first Sun Devil to accomplish that feat since Mike Leake in 2009.
  • 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. 
  • Jacobs has stranded 73.3 percent of his baserunners this season - the 11th-best total in the Big 12. His .469 xFIP tally in ninth in the Big 12.
  • Among pitchers with at least 150 changeups thrown this season, Jacobs' 53.5 whiff percentage is sixth in the nation.
  • Jacobs has gone at least 5.0 innings and allowed three or fewer runs in each of his last four starts. 
  • Jacobs has a 4.50 ERA overall but his 2.70 SIERA - which takes into consideration factors outside the pitcher's control. - is 4th-best in the Big 12 and 39th in the nation.
  • 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.

WHO'S THE NU'U GUY

  • Nu'u Contrades made his long awaited return to the hot corner this season after missing the majority of last year with a back injury. He entered the season on D1Baseball's sixth-ranked third baseman in the country and the No. 22 MLB Draft prospect in the Big 12.
  • Contrades is reaching base at a .410 clip this season over his .304 average while posting 15 doubles, three triples and six homers. His 24 extra-base hits are tied for second on the team behind Jacob Tobias' 25.
  • He ranks third in the Big 12 with those 15 doubles and tied for second in the Big 12 with nine doubles in conference-only games. 
  • He has notably struck out just 30 times - compared to 28 walks -  on 181 ABs year (16.6 percent) after striking out 51 times with just 9 walks his freshman season on 217 ABs (23.5 percent).
  • Contrades has played exceptionally well at the hot corner, second on the team in defensive assists with 77 - the most among Big 12 third baseman. 
  • Contrades is 14-for-15 on stolen bases this year, bringing his career tally to 23-of-26. The 14 stolen bases are tied for 9th in the Big 12. 
  • Contrades was named the Big 12 Co-Player of the Week for his efforts against Oral Roberts, where he homered three times and bat at a .385 average with five RBIs and six runs scored. 
  • In limited action last year, Contrades reaching base at a .346 clip - striking out just twice in his first 21 ABs appearances, an area he struggled in as a freshman.
  • The ASU third baseman bat .309 with 20 extra base hits (eight homers, two triples, 10 doubles) and recording 40 RBIs as a freshman in 2023.
  • The .309 average was in the Top-5 for freshmen in the Pac-12 that year and Top-50 among all freshmen in the country...The rally at the dish came despite the youngster still sitting below the Mendoza line as of March 7
  • He obliterated the University of Arizona in the three-game series in Tempe, where he was 7-14 (.500) with eight RBI, three runs scored. He plated the winning run in Saturday's series-securing victory and scored it in the series finale Sunday and was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week in the process. 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 in four total games that week
  • Honored as the team's Bobby Winkles Award winner as a true freshman, Nu'u Contrades found himself at home in the valley as he earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors as an infielder.
  • Had a productive Summer Ball campaign in the Northwoods League for the Duluth Huskies following his freshman season, making the league All-Star game and was the league leader in RBIs with 71 while slashing .320/.423/.563, recording 17 doubles and 13 homers across 60 games and 231 ABs.

WALK THIS WAY

  • Kyle Walker has assumed duties at second base this season after a very productive undergraduate campaign at Grambling.
  • The veteran ranks 110th among all D1 players with his 2.73 WAR this season - Top-60 among Power Four players.
  • Walker has reached base in 38 straight games entering the weekend. 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 second on the team in average at .365 - 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 .402 on 51-of-127 hitting with a .502 OBP and team-leading 44 runs scored. 
  • Since moving to the leadoff spot on March 15th against TCU, Kyle Walker has recorded a hit to start the game in 14 of 31 games in that role and reached base 15 times, total. 
  • 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 .492 career OBP is third among active D1 players that have played their whole careers at the D1 level and his .375 career average is 11th among those active players.  He also ranks 13th among active D1 players in runs scored (180).
  • Walker has struck out just once ever 8.8 at-bats this season, marking him the 6th-toughest player in the Big 12 to strike out.
  • Walker leads the team with 98 defensive assists this year while fielding an exceptional .983. The 98 assists are good for 11th in the Big 12.
  • Among 36 Big 12 players with at least 50 defensive assists this season, Walker's .983 fielding percentage ranks second. Walker's 7.42 defensive runs saved this season rank 94th among all D1 players. 
  • He has successfully advanced runners at a .605 clip (52-of-86).
  • 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 67.0 innings.  
  • While Martinez has a 4.32 ERA, his 2.26 SIERA - which accounts for runs not in the pitcher's control -  is second-lowest in the Big 12 and 15th-lowest in the nation. His 4.48 xFIP fifth-best in the Big 12 
  • Among D1 pitchers with 250+ changeups thrown this year, His 47.4 whiff percentage is 14th in the country and his 70.9 strike percentage on the pitch is third. 
  • He is leading the Big 12 with 97 strikeouts - good for 9th in the nation - and his 13.03 K/9 is second in the league and 11th in the country. Five times this season has Martinez recorded double-digit strikeouts, including three of his last five starts.
  • He needs just 6 strikeouts to move into ASU's Top-10 strikeout leaders for a single season since 1998 a - a list that has remained untouched since Seth Blair recorded 108 in 2010 to sit seventh. 
  • His 3.73 strikeout to walk ratio is 7th in the Big 12 his 1.15 WHIP is 5th 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. 
  • Among D1 pitchers with at least 500+ pitches this season, Carlon's 41.7 whiff percentage is first in the nation. His 59.2 whiff percentage on his slider is first among pitchers that have throw it at least 150 times. 
  • Carlon has allowed just 10 hits in his last 27.1 innings of work and 47 of those 83 outs come via strikeout to just eight walks.
  • Carlion has a 2.45 ERA this season with a 2-0 record and three saves and only a paltry .132 batting average against  over 44.0 innings.
  • He has 70 strikeouts on the season, third on the Sun Devils, sixth in the Big 12 and 87th in the nation.
  • Of the 97 players in D1 baseball to record 70 strikeouts this season, Carlon has accomplished the feat in the second fewest innings of work (Vanderbilt's Connor Fennell, 72 in 39.1 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 1,778 baserunners over 219 games, an average of 8.1 stranded opponent runners per game. ASU stranded 453 in 55 games last season and 364 in 49 games this season.
  • ASU has three players with a bullpen ERA of 2.50 or less with 10.0+ innings pitched (Cole Carlon, Easton Barrett, Lucas Kelly) - a feat that hasn't been achieved through 49 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).
  • Lucas Kelly has allowed just five runs in 21.2 innings over 17 appearances with 26 strikeouts and just a .244 average against to go with his 2.08 ERA. He easily leads the team with six holds this season.
  • 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.
  • Derek Schaefer has been ASU's fireman when its needed it this season, allowing just three of his 14 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 15.0+ 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 67th 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 four 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 2.516ranks 30th 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 7th nationally. The Sun Devils have struck out double digit batters in 30 of 49 games on the season.
  • ASU is one of just two schools in the nation with three different pitchers with 70+ strikeouts (Vanderbilt)
  • ASU has struck out 540 batters this season, the third-most in the country. At the team's current clip, it will challenge the 2009 Sun Devil squad for the second-most in the aluminum bat era (a tally that sits at 608) while the school record 675 set by the 1975 team remains in sight with a postseason run. 
  • ASU has given up the 77th most home runs this season (54) which, while not ideal, is still a marked improvement from last year's squad, which ranked 23rd with 88 allowed. 
  • The Sun Devils have posted 27 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 13th in the country. ASU ranked outside the Top-100 in each of the last three seasons in the category.
  • The 27 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 - 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, leading the Sun Devils with 11 home runs this season, good for 11th in the Big 12 despite not seeing every day action in the lineup.
  • Cromwick has 28 total hits on the season and 19 of those have gone for extra bases, recording 11 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 .284 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 26 defensive assists on the year and leading the team in throwing out eight runners this season - tied for fifth in the Big 12 despite seeingle significantly fewer chances than the players ahead of him. 
  • The duo has combined for 16 home runs and 12 doubles this season with 53 RBIs - easily helping offset the offensive loss from Ryan Campos, who started nearly every game at catcher last year.

THINGS ARE GETTING A BIT 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.
  • The youngster is making quite a case for Freshman All-America accolades as he now sits 9th in the Big 12 with his .360 average - good for 15th among all freshmen nationally and 3rd among freshmen in a Power Four conference. 
  • His .484 OBP is third in the league and is seventh among all freshmen in the nation and 2nd among Power Four freshmen.
  • Hairston has 13 extra-base hits in his last 17 games (three homers, nine doubles, one triple) - notable as he had just one (a double) in his first 27 games as a Sun Devil. 
  • Hairston has shown his ability to make in-game late inning adjustments as he is batting .354 (23-65) in innings 6-9 this season. 
  • Hairston has become an every dayu fixture in the outfield for ASU despite coming to the program as a corner infielder and is a perfect 62-for-62 on defensive chances with no errors.

HEADED TO THE GAP

  • ASU has recorded 124 doubles this year and multiple doubles in 34 games, ranking 3rd in the country (and 7th at 2.53 per game) and first in the Big 12. The team is just four doubles behind Georgia Tech (128) for first in the nation.
  • 11 players have recorded at least three doubles this season and seven have already reached double digits in the category. 
  • Jacob Tobias ranks 31st in the country with his 18 doubles and tops in the Big 12. 
  • 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 70 home runs this season, a total that is third in the Big 12 and 36th in the country. 
  • 11 players have recorded home runs for ASU this year, with nine posting at least five.
  • ASU only had runners on base on 7 of its first 21 homers of the season but has had runners on 3 of its last 49 homers with the 11 of the 15  exceptions being leadoff home runs or the back half of back-to-back homers.
  • ASU is 15-3 when hitting two or more homers in a game. 
  • 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 60 innings this season where the team has scored at least three runs, 28 with four or more and 18 with 5 or more after the five-run seventh today. 
  • ASU has outscored teams 638-392 over its last 67 regular season games dating back to last season, posting a 47-20 record in the process. 
  • Big innings have been the theme of ASU's season as the team has now scored in 176 halves of an inning on the year and have plated two or more runs in 112 of those.
  • ASU has scored 210 runs in its 24 conference games this season (8.8 per game) - tops in the league - and 25 more than any other team in the conference.
  • The team is batting .328 in Big 12 games - tops in the league by 24 points. 
  • ASU ranks 12th nationally and 1st in the Big 12 with a .316 batting average this season and is 16th in the country and first in the league with a .523 slugging percentage. ASU is second in the Big 12 and 30th 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.
  • The game marked the 27th time this season that ASU has reached double digit hits in a game. It is the 5th game in which the team has finished with 16 or more hits.   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 71-31 in the first innings of games this year and are 21-6 when scoring in the first. 
  • ASU has also been very good in the sixth inning of games, outscoring teams 55-23.

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 6-6 in one-run games this season and is 10-9 in games decided by two runs or less after going 11-13 in such games last year. 
  • The team has posted the game-winning RBI/run in the sixth inning or later in 11 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. 
  • 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 53 of its last 81 victories dating back to to 2023 - including 17 of its wins this season. 
  • In 2023, ASU was incredibly efficient at closing games out, going 24-4 when leading after six, 27-1 when leading after seven and 29-0 when leading after eight. Last season ASU was 27-2 when leading after six, 25-2 after seven and 23-1 after eight
  • ASU is 103-5 when leading after eight innings under Willie Bloomquist. 
  • 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.