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Baseball lifts lid on 2026 campaign at home against Omaha

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Baseball lifts lid on 2026 campaign at home against OmahaBaseball lifts lid on 2026 campaign at home against Omaha
by Jeremy Hawkes

PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball will lift the lid on its 2026 campaign this weekend as the team’s quest for a return to the College World Series in Omaha coincidentally starts against Omaha as Arizona State will welcome to Mavericks for a three-game series at Phoenix Municipal Stadium beginning Friday, Feb. 13. Opening Night will get underway with a 6:35 p.m. AZT first pitch at Muni while Saturday and Sunday’s games will begin at 1:05 p.m. AZT.

#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 bat an exceptional .399 (115-for-288) in the regular season last year when the team put the first ball of an at-bat into play.

3. ASU had 4 series wins last 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. ASU has produced an All-American in each of the last four seasons (six total). From 2014-21, ASU had just eight total All-Americans.

6. ASU was the only D1 team to not lose a game by over 5 runs in the regular season (which happened just once, at UNLV).

7.  ASU was the ONLY team in the nation ranked in the Top-15 in batting average (9th, .318), K/9 (6th, 11.4) and fielding percentage (14th, .980) in the regular season.

8. The Sun Devils ranked second in program history (aluminum bat era) with their 653 strikeouts last year - 7th nationally

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. Arizona State is one of just seven Power four programs in the country with 16 or more conference wins in each of the last three years.

BY THE NUMBERS

56 - ASU has trailed at one point in 56 of its last 85 victories dating back to to 2023 - including 20 of its wins last season. 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 21 combined wins over the last three seasons when trailing by at least three runs at some point in the game.  The Sun Devils have walked off eight games over the previous two seasons. ASU has won 11 games in which it has trailed by at least five runs at some point in the game under Willie Bloomquist and have won four games in which the team had trailed by at least seven runs at any point in the game - which is especiqlly notable as the team had not won such a game since 2000 prior to Bloomquist’s arrival.

27 - The Sun Devil roster will look quite a bit different in 2026, especially in the field. Arizona State welcomes a whopping 27 new faces (12 on the mound anf 15 position players) as ASU was aggressive in both the transfer portal and the high school ranks. The Sun Devils brought in the nation’s No. 11 portal class according to 64Analytics. It was the highest-ranked class west of the Mississippi and the highest ranked class NOT in the SEC (8 teams) or ACC (2 teams). ASU brought in six portal players rated in the Top-250 in the nation while not losing any players to the portal that were ranked in that Top-250 (RHP Kole Klecker, 54/INF PJ Moutzouridis, 98/INF Dominic Smaldino, 155/OF Dean Toigo, 187/LHP Brady Louck, 242/INF Garrett Michel, 243).

10 - The Sun Devils won 10 weekend series last season and posted a series record of 10-4 in those (7-3 Big 12). The Sun Devils’ resilience showed  in winning four weekend series last 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 continued its upward trend in the conference win category, going from 16 in 2023 to 17 in 2024 to 18 last 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 Sun Devils are one of just seven Power Four programs with 16+ conference wins in EACH of the last three seasons.

1 - Last season, ASU led the nation with its 149 doubles and the team  recorded multiple doubles in 42 of 60 games. The team was  seventh in country at 2.48 doubles per game. 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. Eleven players recorded at least four doubles last season and eight reached double digits in the category. Additionally the Sun Devils were the only team in the country that finished the regular season last year ranked in the Top-15 in batting average (9th, .318), stikeouts per nine innings (6th, 11.4) and fielding percentage (14th, .980).

FOLLOW THE ACTION

  • ASU’s opening weekend tilts will all be streamed online through ESPN+. Jody Jackson will serve as the analyst throughout the weekend while play-by-play will be offered by Braiden Bell, Jordan Hamm and Jesse Ough on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. 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.
  • Friday’s opener will also be available over the airwaves this weekend on KDUS 1060 AM with Tim Healey on the call alongside analyst Max Rossiter.
  • Saturday and Sunday’s games will also have a radio stream available online via Blaze Radio featuring students from the Cronkite School of Journalism at: https://www.blazeradioonline.com/page/blazesportsmixlr
  • Fans are encouraged to follow along in-game content and schedule updates throughout the weekend on the Sun Devil Baseball Twitter account (@ASU_Baseball).
  • Saturday, Feb. 14 will mark Valentine’s Day at the Ballpark. Fans can have Sparky light up Game Day with hand-delivered valentines as the Sun Devils take on Omaha starting at 1:05 p.m.

A LOOK BACK - 2025 CAMPAIGN

  • In the regular season, ASU won 23 games against Power Four teams, the fifth-highest tally in the country (UCLA 28, Texas 27, Clemson 24, Kansas 24).
  • ASU went 5-3 in its 8 games against RPI Top-25 teams (2x TCU, 2x Kansas, 1x UCLA). ASU was one of just 12 teams in the country that have played at least 5 Top-25 RPI games with a winning record and one of just 6 outside of the SEC.
  • The average RPI of ASU’s wins was 102 - the 15th-BEST total of any team in the country. The average RPI of the losses was 62 - the 38th-lowest in the country.
  • ASU was one of just 16 Power Four conference teams to win 18 conference games last season. At No. 49 in the RPI, ASU won more conference games than 21 of the teams ranked ahead of them.
  • The Sun Devils won seven of 10 Big 12 series and two of the series losses came on the road. ASU had won four straight-conference series prior to the final weekend of the season (against the preseason Big 12 favorite Oklahoma State). The Sun Devils were the ONLY team in the Big 12 outside West Virginia to have a chance to win the conference in the finale weekend of action.
  • Among ASU’s non-conference games were several teams that performed exceptionally in their own conferences in the regular season: UCLA (Co-Big Ten Champions), Austin Peay (ASUN Division Champion), Oral Roberts (Summit League Champions),Gonzaga (second in WCC), Fullerton (third in Big West), GCU (third in WAC) and USC (fourth in Big Ten),
  • While weather and other events are 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 last season. UCF played 55 and no other team played more than 54.
  • The Sun Devils were the only team in the country to have not lost a game by more than 5 runs in the regular season (6-11 in neutral game vs. UNLV). This was a feat only two ASU teams have accomplished before - the 1973 team that lost just eight games total and the 1969 National Champions.
  • ASU recorded the game-winning RBI in the sixth inning or later in 12 games last season
  • Out of ASU’s 22 losses, the team was able to bring the game-winning or tying run to the plate in the ninth inning or later in 13 of those games.
  • Arizona State showed how good it has been as an all-around team as the program was the ONLY team in the nation that finished the regular season in the Top-15 in batting average (9th, .318), K/9 (6th, 11.4) and fielding percentage (14th, .980). It was one of just four teams to rank in the Top-25 in each category (Georgia, DBU, Florida State).
  • Arizona State drew a record attendance of 119,956 and 3,427 people per home game last season. Among Big 12 sporting events on linear television, the ASU/Arizona game was the most-viewed baseball game on television this season and the seventh-most viewed non-football/basketball event of the year.
  • The Sun Devils’ resilience showed in winning four weekend series last season where they had lost the series opener - the most since the 2014 season and notable as ASU had managed it just ONCE in the three previous seasons (vs. Oregon State, 2023).

ON DECK: OMAHA

  • The Sun Devils will be taking on the Omaha Mavericks for the first time in program history.
  • Last season, Omaha finished 20-30 overall with a 12-16 mark in Summit League play but the Mavs were picked to finish second in the league in the preseason poll this season.
  • Henry Zipay was named Summit League Player of the Year last seasonand a first-team All-Summit League selection after leading the Mavericks and tying for the Summit League lead with a .384 batting average. He also ranked first in the conference with a .475 on-base percentage and posted the second-highest OPS in the league at 1.026. He ranks No. 22 in the 2026 D1 Baseball Top 50 Third Baseman Preseason Player Rankings.
  • Sophomore right-handed pitcher Maddox Meyer joins Zipay as a 2026 Summit League Player to Watch. As a freshman in 2025, Meyer made 18 appearances, including eight starts, and finished with 31 strikeouts in 39.1 innings pitched.

NO LUMP OF COLE

  • Cole Carlon became one of the top relievers in college baseball as a sophomore, earning All-America honors from the NCBWA to become ASU’s 135th all-time All-American. He also earned All-Big 12 first team recognition and was named the Collegiate National Team for USA Baseball.
  • Carlon received a slew of preseason recognition coming into 2026 with a trophy case that includes being D1 Baseball’s #9 Big 12 2026 Draft Prospect, D1 Baseball’s #68 of Top 200 starting pitchers , a 3rd Team NCBWA Division 1 Preseason All-American, Baseball America’s #8 Big 12 2026 Draft Prospect , Baseball America’ 3rd Team Preseason All-American (Relief Pitcher) and on the Big 12 Preseason Team (Relief Pitcher).
  • Among D1 pitchers with at least 500+ pitches in the regular season, Carlon’s 41.9 whiff percentage was 2nd in the nation. His 55.3 whiff percentage on his slider was fifth among pitchers who threw it at least 150 times.
  • Carlon allowed just 16 hits in his last 33.2 innings of work in the regular season, and 68 of those 102 outs came via strikeout.
  • Carlion had a 2.82 ERA in the regular season with a 3-1 record and three saves, and only a paltry .147 batting average against over 51.0 innings.
  • He had 82 strikeouts in the regular season, third on the Sun Devils, 10th in the Big 12 and 105th in the nation - but notable as all came out of the bullpen.
  • Of the 117 players in D1 baseball to record 80 strikeouts in the regular season, Carlon accomplished the feat in the second fewest innings of work (Vanderbilt’s Connor Fennell, 82 in 50.1 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.

THINGS ARE GETTING A BIT HAIR-Y

  • Landon Hairston showed a mature approach at the plate despite the freshman tag and quickly became a staple in the Sun Devil lineup in his first year.
  • Hairston became ASU’s 38th Freshman All-American, as selected by the NCBWA and was named to the All-Big 12 first team as a utility player and to the Big 12 All-Freshman team.
  • Hairston’s preseason recognition includes being ranked D1 Baseball’s #101 of theTop 150 outfielders, D1 Baseball’s #4 Big 12 2027 Draft Prospect and also to the Big 12 Preseason Team.
  • Hairston finished the regular season last year eighth in the Big 12 with his .362 average - also good for eighth among all freshmen nationally and 2nd among freshmen in a Power Four conference.
  • His .485 OBP was fourth in the league and 13th among all freshmen in the nation during the regular season and fourth among Power Four freshmen.
  • Hairston was easily ASU’s best player in advancing runners, doing so at a .638 clip - 34 points higher than anyone else on the team during the regular season.
  • He was second on the team with his .441 average with runners in scoring position (26-for-59) in the regular season.
  • Hairston had 16 extra base hits in his last 25 games of the regular season (11 doubles, 1 triple, four homers) after he had just one through his first 27 games as a Sun Devil
  • Hairston became an everyday fixture in the outfield for ASU despite coming to the program as a corner infielder and is 70-for-72 on defensive chances with two errors and a team-leading three outfield assists.

NOT SO NU’U ANYMORE

  • Nu’u Contrades will represent ASU’s most veteran presence as he enters his fourth year with the program - a rarity in the modern age of college baseball. Contrades was selected by his teammates as a Co-Captain of the 2026 squad entering the year.
  • Contrades made his long awaited return to the hot corner last season after missing the majority of 2024 season with a back injury. He enteredl last season on D1Baseball’s sixth-ranked third baseman in the country and the No. 22 MLB Draft prospect in the Big 12.
  • Contrades is expect to shift over the second base this season. He was ranked by D1Baseball as the #21 second basemen in the country entering the year.
  • Unfortunately, after a strong season for the majority of last year, Contrades missed ASU’s final month of the season with a hand injury.
  • Prior to the injury, Contrades was reaching base at a .416 clip over his .309 average while posting 15 doubles, three triples and six homers. His 24 extra-base hits were tied for second on the team at the time
  • He ranked third in the Big 12 at the time with those 15 doubles and tied for second in the Big 12 with nine doubles in conference-only games.
  • He notably struck out just 30 times - compared to 28 walks -  on 181 ABs on the year (16.6 percent) after striking out 51 times with just 9 walks his freshman season on 217 ABs (23.5 percent).
  • Contrades played exceptionally well at the hot corner, and was second on the team in defensive assists prior to the injury with 75 - the most among Big 12 third baseman
  • Contrades was 14-for-15 on stolen bases last year, bringing his career tally to 23-of-26. The 14 stolen bases were tied for 9th in the Big 12 at the time of the injury
  • Contrades batted out of the leadoff position often last year and reached on 21-of-51 (.412) leadoff opportunities
  • He was named the Big 12 Co-Player of the Week for his efforts against Oral Roberts, where he homered three times and batted at a .385 average with five RBIs and six runs scored.

BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THOSE NEW GUYS

  • The Sun Devil roster will look quite a bit different in 2026, especially in the field. Arizona State welcomes a whopping 27 new faces (12 on the mound anf 15 position players) as ASU was aggressive in both the transfer portal and the high school ranks.
  • The Sun Devils brought in the nation’s No. 11 portal class according to 64Analytics. It was the highest-ranked class west of the Mississippi and the highest ranked class NOT in the SEC (8 teams) or ACC (2 teams).
  • ASU brought in six portal players rated in the Top-250 in the nation while not losing any players to the portal that were ranked in that Top-250.
  • Right-handed pitcher Kole Klecker was the highest-rated of the group, checking in at No. 54 after returning back home to the Valley after his time at TCU. Klecker was a Freshman All-American in 2023 and started a game for the Horned Frogs in Omaha at the College World Series. The Chandler native previous starred at Hamilton High School, winning a State Title as the starting pitcher his senior year in the championship game.
  • A pair of Cal transfers in PJ Moutzouridis (No. 98) and Dominic Smaldino (No. 155) will look to serve a prominent role in ASU’s infield. Moutzouridis was a Freshman All-American himself in 2024. Smaldino is anything BUT small, standing at 6-6 and offering a big target over at first base. The junior launched 11 homers for Cal last season and figures to greatly enjoy the lefty-friendly hitting confines of Phoenix Muni this season.
  • Dean Toigo has already been asterisked by the Big 12 coaches, who voted him the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year entering 2026. Toigo was the Mountain West Co-Player of the Year for UNLV last season and was also named a NCBWA Preseason All-American heading into this year as 64Analytics’ No. 187 transfer.
  • A pair of ACC transfers in Florida State’s Brady Louck and Virginia Tech’s Garrett Michel checked in at No. 242 and No. 243 in the transfer rankings. Louck was the top-rated southpaw out of Illinois out of high school while Michel is a light tower power-wielding bat that has battled through injuries in the last two seasons after a freshman campaign that saw him log 11 homers and 16 doubles.
  • Austin Roellig looks to man the hot corner for ASU this season and just missed being a Top-250 transfer prospect, checking in at No. 255. Roellig earned Big 12 All-Freshman honors and was a All-Big 12 Honorable Mention after his redshirt freshman campaign at Utah last year.
  • Junior College transfer RHP Finn Edwards was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 18th round of the 2025 MLB Draft before electing to continue his collegiate career with the Sun Devils thus year.
  • Alex Overbay (UNLV), Nick Annello (Jacksonville), Colby Guy (UNC Asheville) and Taylor Penn (Western Kentucky)  bring a glutton of experience to the mound while Coen Niclai (Oregon), Dominic Longo (Utah Valley), Matt Polk (Vanderbilt) and Sam Myers (TCU) all figure to contribute in the field over the course of the season.
  • ASU signed the nation’s No. 22 freshman class in 2025 and while the veteran-heavy lineup will allow the group to mature, there is plenty of talent in the form of INF Finn Leach (No. 141 prospect nationally by Perfect Game), Marcelo Rodriguez (No. 244), Austin Musso (No. 331), Cooper Clouser (No. 416), Brenden Lewis (No. 433) all flashing throughout Fall and Spring practices.

GRABBING THE BULL-PEN BY THE HORNS

  • As many fresh faces as there are in the starting rotation and in the field, the most veteran force on the roster likely comes from the team’s bullpen.
  • Sean Fitzpatrick will enter his fourth season of college baseball and third season with the Sun Devils and was elected a team captain by his teammates entering this season. The southpaw - whose numbers don’t necessarily reflect his impact on the mound - has bulked up over the offseason and it has resulted in a noticeable uptick in velocity.
  • A trio of right-handed Arizona natives will look to anchor the bullpen in the form of Josh Butler (Phoenix), Wyatt Halvorson (Scottsdale) and Derek Schaefer (Cave Creek). Butler and Halvorson are returning from an exception trek to the Cape Cod League where Butler was an All-Star and finished with the second-lowest ERA in tge league (1.03) while Halvorson was sixth with his 1.95 ERA. Schaefer, who won a National Championship with Tennessee two seasons ago, filled all three roles for ASU last season as a starter, middle relief and closer and provides ASU a familiar face in key situations in games. Jaden Alba and Eli Buxton also saw significant play last year with the former starting as a weekend starter before taking on a key role in middle relief.
  • Schaefer was ASU’s fireman when its needed it last season, allowing just three of his 15 inherited runners on the season to score.
  • The Sun Devil bullpen has made a habit of escaping jams under Willie Bloomquist, stranding 1,859 baserunners over 230 games, an average of 8.1 stranded opponent runners per game. ASU stranded 471 in 57 games last season and 445 in 60 games this season.
  • In the regular season, ASU had 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 hadn’t been achieved through the regular season at ASU since the 2013 team (Ryan Burr, Matt Dunbar, Josh McAlister).
  • Last season was the first time ASU posted two midweek shutouts (2-0 at UCLA, 7-0 vs. UNLV) since 2012 (when the team beat Utah Valley (9-0) and Cal State Fullerton (1-0) on March 13 and March 27). It was the first time the team had back-to-back midweek shutouts since March 26-27, 1996 vs. Portland State (10-0, 12-0). It was the first time a team had 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). The totals are all notable as ASU used five pitchers in each of those victories last season.

PITCH AND CATCH

  • Sun Devil pitching coach Jeremy Accard addition to the staff paid immediate dividends last season while the defenders behind his pitchers have did their part to reward the staff for throwing strikes by taking care of balls in play.
  • ASU had seven pitchers with 10.0+ innings pitched and a sub-4.55 ERA in the regular season. In 2024, the team had just a single player that met that criteria.
  • ASU’s overall team WHIP swas 78th nationally at 1.48. While not eye popping, It was notable as the team had 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 had five games last season where it walked just a single batter, compared to having just three such games in 2024.
  • The team’s strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.44 ranks 36th in the nation. The Sun Devils had 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 was first in the Big 12 with a 11.3 K/9 average this season, good for third nationally. The Sun Devils struck out double digit batters in 37 of 60 games on the season.
  • ASU was one of just three schools in the nation with three different pitchers with 80+ strikeouts (Vanderbilt, Florida State) in the regular season.
  • ASU struck out 653 batters last season, the seventh-most in the country. The tally was the second-most in school history in the aluminum bat era, just behind the school record 675 set by the 1975 team.
  • ASU had given up the 81st most home runs (64) in the regular season which, while not outstanding, was still a marked improvement from the previous year’s squad, which ranked 23rd with 88 allowed.
  • The Sun Devils posted 31 games last season without an error and quietly put up a .980 fielding percentage in the regular season - 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 31 games without an error easily surpassed ASU’s total for the season a year ago of 21.
  • ASU had a seven-game streak without an error at one point last year - which was its longest since a nine-game stretch in the 2015 season.
  • The Sun Devil pitchers were amongst the most improved in the area, with just four errors credited against them in the regular season (10.2 percent) - notable as ASU pitchers were responsible for 12 of ASU’s 60 errors in 2024 (20.0 percent).

HEADED TO THE GAP

  • ASU led the nation with its 149 doubles last season and recorded multiple doubles in 42 of 60 games. The team was  seventh in country at 2.48 per game.
  • 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 recorded at least four doubles last season and eight reached double digits in the category.
  • The Sun Devils were tops in the Pac-12 and sixth in the country with 143 doubles in 2024 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 that season - the most of any school in the Pac-12.

CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL

  • Arizona State had 87 home runs this season, a total that was fourth in the Big 12 and 38th in the country.
  • 11 players recorded home runs for ASU this year, with 10 posting at least four.
  • ASU was 19-3 when hitting two or more homers in a game.
  • Five times last season, ASU recorded five or more homers. That included a school record eight homers against BYU and 6 in two other games that were tied for third in school history.
  • 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. 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 inning in the second game of the series.
  • There had 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 in 2024, 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 in 2024 (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. The 2024 Sun Devils were the first ASU team to have 13 players homer since the 2008 squad also had 13.
  • 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 that year 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.

COMING IN HOT

  • The Sun Devils put up 69 innings last 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 were the theme of ASU’s 2025 season as the team has scored in 214 halves of an inning on the year and plated two or more runs in 129 of those (.602).
  • ASU scored 253 runs in its 30 conference games last season (8.4 per game) - tops in the league.
  • There were 34 times last 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 ranked 9th nationally and 2nd in the Big 12 with a .318 batting average in the regular eason and was 19th in the country and first in the league with a .527 slugging percentage. ASU was first in the Big 12 and 27th nationally with 8.4 runs per game in the regular season.
  • Seven times in the Willie Bloomquist tenure - and twice last 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 last season have came on the road and three of the seven total under Bloomquist have met that criteria. 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.
  • The Sun Devils outscored opponents 74-35 in the first innings of games in the regular season last year and were 23-8 when scoring in the first on the entire year.

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 was 11-11 in games decided by two runs or less last season after going 11-13 in such games last year.
  • The Sun Devils were the only team in the country that didn’t lose a regular season game by more than 5 runs last season (@UNLV), a notable - if frustrating - statistic as there had 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 team posted the game-winning RBI/run in the sixth inning or later in 12 of the team’s wins last year.
  • The Sun Devils have walked off eight games over the previous two seasons.
  • ASU has trailed at one point in 56 of its last 85 victories dating back to to 2023 - including 20 of its wins last season.
  • In four 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 21 wins over the last three seasons when trailing by at least three runs at some point in the game.
  • 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 in 2024 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.