Baseball continues homestand against St. John's this weekend

PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball continues its season-opening homestand this week as it prepares for a scheduled three-game series against St. John’s starting Friday, Feb. 20, at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Friday’s first pitch will take place at 6:35 p.m. MST, with Saturday and Sunday getting underway at 1:05 p.m. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. 

#10Things (X-friendly notes)
1. ASU has outscored opponents 739-449 over its last 78 regular-season games - going 43-24 in the process.

2. Landon Hairston had a double in each of ASU’s four games. He had just one XBH in his first 27 games at ASU and has 19 in 37 games since.

3. Of 1,210 D1 players currently with 15+ plate appearances, Nu’u Contrades is one of just 64 who have not struck out this season.

4. Arizona State’s average exit velocity this season is 93.4 MPH, which represented the second-highest tally in the country.

5.  23.1 percent of ASU’s balls into play have had an exit velo above 95 MPH with a launch angle between 10-30 degrees - 15th best in the nation.

6. The Sun Devils struck out just 22 times this season, the 11th-lowest total among D1 schools that have played at least four games.

7. Dominic Smaldino’s 112.4 exit velo on his homer Saturday was 26th-highest on D1 base hits for the weekend.

8. As a team, ASU’s 93.4 MPH fastball/sinker velocity was eighth-best in the nation after the opening weekend, after ranking ninth last season at 92.5

9. ASU’s 15 stolen bases this year are eight in the country, and it is one of just three teams with 15+ stolen base attempts without being thrown out.

10. Out of the 99 games during opening weekend where a team walked nine or more batters, ASU was one of just 15 to come out with a win.

By the numbers

94

During the opening weekend of action (Fri.-Sun. only), 124 Division I players had at least four pitches with a velocity of 94 MPH or more, of which the Sun Devils had five: Alex Overbay (28), Cole Carlon (25), Eli Buxton (7), Derek Schaefer (6), and Colin Linder (4). No other team in the nation had more than four players accomplish the feat. Out of 63 D1 players with at least an inning pitched, ASU had four players record an average fastball over 95.0 MPH - Overbay (96.4), Carlon (95.5), Schaefer (95.3), Buxton (95.2). ASU joined Georgia as the only other school in the country to have four players with that achievement. For perspective, from 2019-2025, the Sun Devils had just two players TOTAL that averaged 95+ MPH fastballs for a season (Lucas Kelly and Will Koger, both last season).

93
Conversely, Arizona State’s average exit velocity at the plate through four games is 93.4 MPH - good for the second-highest tally in Division I (Texas A&M, 94.0). The Sun Devils currently have a hard-hit ball average of 31.7 percent, which is fifth in Division I baseball, and the team’s 45 hard-hit balls (exit velo over 95 MPH) are fourth. Arizona State has smoked first pitch balls put into play at an average of 94.6 miles per hour, good for 10th in the country, but has hit into a ton of tough luck and great defensive plays with only a .318 batting average on those balls into play that ranks 160th in the country. Hairston’s 97.9 average exit velocity is currently 43rd of 1,210 players with at least 15 plate appearances in Division 1 this season. He has recorded eight hard-hit balls on the year (balls with an exit velocity over 95 MPH), tied for sixth.

57
ASU has trailed at one point in 57 of its last 86 victories dating back to 2023 - including Sunday’s game. 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 22 combined wins over the last three seasons when trailing by at least three runs at some point in the game (including Sunday).  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 has won four games in which the team had trailed by at least seven runs at any point in the game, which is especially 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 and 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).

Follow the action
All games this weekend will be streamed online through ESPN+ and broadcast through Arizona State’s Cronkite School of Journalism. 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 series 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 with in-game content and schedule updates throughout the weekend on the Sun Devil Baseball X account (@ASU_Baseball).
• Friday’s opener against St. John’s will feature a Branded Bills Sun Devil Baseball beanie giveaway.
• The weekend special against St. John’s is the Ballpark Philly, featuring tender sirloin piled high on an Amoroso roll, layered with melted provolone and a blend of red and green bell peppers with sweet onions.

A look back: Omaha and UConn

• Sun Devil Baseball got off to a 4-0 start behind a series sweep over Omaha last weekend, followed by a 17-7 rout over 2026 preseason Big East favorite Connecticut on Tuesday.
• This is the fourth season-opening 4-0 start and second straight in the Willie Bloomquist era.
• Willie Bloomquist moved to 44-14 (.754) in non-conference home games over the past four seasons after going 7-9 (.438) in his first season.
• Arizona State's pitching held Omaha in check. The Mavericks produced only 11 total runs in three games, batting .240 and slugging a minuscule .300. Omaha had just one double and one home run all weekend. Last year, opponents slugged .432 against the Sun Devils, which ranked 140th in Division I. For perspective, .310 was the lowest slugging percentage allowed by a pitching staff against Division I opponents last year.
• Arizona State pitching has posted a 72.8 LOB% (best at preventing runners on base from scoring) through four games, stranding 33 total runners on in four games. Entering the weekend, the NCAA average is only 61.4 percent. Last year, the nation’s best LOB% was Coastal Carolina at 75.5%, which was the NCAA Runner-Up.
• Landon Hairston has one double in each of the four games to start the season. He is hitting .412 so far this season with an OPS of 1.268. Hairston had just one extra-base hit through his first 27 games as a Sun Devil. In his 37 games since, he has 19 extra-base hits.
• The Sun Devils have hit 10 home runs through the first four games of the season, the second-most in a season since 2009 (11 in 2024).

On deck: St. John’s

• Arizona State holds a 4-0 record all-time against St. John’s, but has not squared off against the Red Storm since 2002. The Sun Devils have outscored St. John’s, 43-7, in four previous meetings.
• The Red Storm were picked to finish fourth in the Big East this season and are coming off a 1-3 effort in the opening weekend of action.
• The St. John’s baseball team is coming off its 30th BIG EAST Tournament appearance in 2025. The Red Storm compiled a 29-24 overall record, including a 13-8 mark in league play. Last season, St. John’s boasted a potent offense that ranked second in the BIG EAST and 44th nationally with a .300 batting average. The Johnnies led the league with 111 doubles, while their 7.5 runs per game were good for second in the conference.
• The Red Storm returns three First Team All-BIG EAST selections from 2025 in Jon LeGrande, Shaun McMillan and Jayder Raifstanger. The Johnnies are the only team to return three First Team All-BIG EAST selections from a year ago.
• Last season, LeGrande led the Red Storm with a .368 average. He logged seven homers, eight doubles and five triples while driving 48 runs and swiping 33 bags in just 40 attempts. Over the summer, the rising senior was named the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) Playoff MVP, helping the Bourne Braves to their fourth championship after hitting .444 in the postseason. During the regular season, LeGrande hit .288 in 38 games.

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 Third 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).
• Carlon’s debut as ASU’s Opening Night starter was nearly flawless last Friday. He surrendered just one run on two hits with three strikeouts and no walks over a career-best 5.0 innings pitched while also tossing a career-best 67 putouts.
• Among 107 pitchers over the opening week with 5.0+ innings pitched and over 20 sliders thrown, Carlon was one of just 28 to not allow a hit off his.
• His 95.5 MPH fastball/sinker average velocity was eighth-best among pitchers with 5.0+ innings of action over the opening week.
• Last season, among D1 pitchers with at least 500+ pitches in the regular season, Carlon’s 41.9 whiff percentage was second 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. Carlon 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).

Things are getting a bit Hair-y 

• Landon Hairston became ASU’s 38th Freshman All-American last season, 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 the Top 150 outfielders, D1 Baseball’s #4 Big 12 2027 Draft Prospect and also on the Big 12 Preseason Team.
• Landon Hairston has one double in each of the four games to start the season, along with a grand slam. He is hitting .412 so far this season with an OPS of 1.268.
• His four doubles are currently fifth in the country, while his ten RBI are ninth.
• Hairston had just one extra-base hit through his first 27 games as a Sun Devil. In his 37 games since, he has 19 extra-base hits.
• Hairston’s 97.9 average exit velocity is currently 43rd of 1,210 players with at least 15 plate appearances in Division 1 this season. He has recorded eight hard-hit balls on the year (balls with an exit velocity over 95 MPH), tied for sixth among all Division I players. His .417 hard hit ball average is 33rd in D1.
• Last season, 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 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 diamond last season after missing the majority of the 2024 season with a back injury. He entered last season on D1Baseball’s sixth-ranked third baseman in the country and the No. 22 MLB Draft prospect in the Big 12. Contrades has shifted over to second base this season. He was ranked by D1Baseball as the #21 second baseman in the country entering the year.
• Contrades is currently sixth in the Big 12 with seven RBIs while ranking seventh with six runs scored. He is third in the league with a 1.083 slugging percentage and seventh with his .625 in OBP and seventh with his .500 batting average.
• Of 1,210 D1 players with 15+ plate appearances this year, Contrades’ 97.1 average exit velocity is tied for 58th in the country.
• Of 1,210 D1 players currently with 15+ plate appearances, Contrades is one of just 64 who have not struck out this season. Last season, 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).
• 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.
• 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 basemen.
• 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.

Biggie Smalls

• New Sun Devil infielder Dominic Smaldino is anything but small, giving his teammates a 6-6, 230-pound target over at first base.
• Smaldino joins Hairston and Contrades as the only players on the team with at least one hit in each of ASU’s four games this season.
• Smaldino’s 112.4 exit velo on his homer Saturday was 26th-highest on D1 base hits during Opening Weekend.
• Among the 1,210 players in D1 baseball with over 15 plate appearances this season, Smaldino’s 96.5 average exit velocity is 71st in the country. His six hard-hit balls are tied for 42nd among those players

Laser show

• Arizona State’s average exit velocity at the plate through four games is 93.4 MPH - good for the second-highest tally in Division I (Texas A&M, 94.0).
• The Sun Devils currently have a hard-hit ball average of 31.7 percent, which is fifth in Division I baseball, and the team’s 45 hard-hit balls (exit velo over 95 MPH) are fourth.
• Arizona State has smoked first-pitch balls put into play at an average of 94.6 miles per hour, good for 10th in the country, but has hit into a ton of tough luck and great defensive plays with only a .318 batting average on those balls into play that ranks 160th in the country.
• ASU has put a barrel on 28 balls this season, tied for sixth in the country.
• 1 percent of ASU’s balls put into play this season have had an exit velocity over 95 MPH with a launch angle between 10-30 degrees, the 15th-highest percentage in the country.
• The team’s 31 balls with an exit velo over 90 MPH with a launch angle between 10-30 degrees is sixth in the country.

A disciplined approach

• The Sun Devils have recorded 92 quality at-bats this season (plate appearance with an exit velo over 95 MPH, ending in a hit, walk, sac bunt, sac fly or HBP, is eight pitches or longer, or moves the runner). That total is currently tied for 44th nationally.
• Arizona State has a .388 expected batting average based on exit velos when putting the first pitch into play, showing off a bit of tough luck in the category as the team has just a .348 average on such plays thus far this season.
• ASU has done a good job of not taking strikes in the zone, with an in-zone swing percentage of 72.5 percent, which is 11th in the country.
• The Sun Devils have struck out just 22 times this season, a total that is 11th-lowest in the country among teams that have played at least four games.

The heat sheets

• During the opening weekend of action (Fri-Sun. only), 124 Division I players made at least four pitches with a velocity of 94 MPH or more, of which the Sun Devils had five - Alex Overbay (28), Cole Carlon (25), Eli Buxton (7), Derek Schaefer (6), and Colin Linder (4). No other team in the nation had more than four players accomplish the feat.
• Out of 63 D1 players with at least an inning pitched in that opening weekend, ASU had four players record an average fastball over 95.0 MPH - Overbay (96.4), Carlon (95.5), Schaefer (95.3), Buxton (95.2). ASU joined Georgia as the only other school in the country to have four players with that achievement.
• For perspective, from 2019-2025, the Sun Devils had just two players TOTAL that averaged 95+ MPH fastballs for a season (Lucas Kelly and Will Koger, both last season).
• As a team, ASU’s 93.4 MPH fastball/sinker velocity was eighth-best in the nation after the opening weekend, after ranking ninth last season at 92.5. ASU ranked no higher than 28th in the category from 2019-2024 (28th in 2019 at 89.5 MPH).

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.
• Fitzpatrick has faced five batters this season and struck out four of them.
• 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 exceptional trek to the Cape Cod League, where Butler was an All-Star and finished with the second-lowest ERA in the 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 it needed him last season, allowing just three of his 15 inherited runners on the season to score. He already has one save so far this season.
• The Sun Devil bullpen has made a habit of escaping jams under Willie Bloomquist, stranding 1,892 baserunners over 234 games, an average of 8.1 stranded opponent runners per game. The team has stranded 33 baserunners this season in four games.
• Arizona State pitching has posted a 72.8 LOB percentage (best at preventing runners on base from scoring) through four games. Entering the weekend, the NCAA average is only 61.4 percent. Last year, the nation’s best LOB percentage was Coastal Carolina at 75.5, a team that would go on the be the CWS runner-up.
• Last 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).

Pitch and catch

• Sun Devil pitching coach Jeremy Accardo’s addition to the staff paid immediate dividends last season, while the defenders behind his pitchers have done 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 who met that criteria.
• ASU’s overall team WHIP was 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 an 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 currently sit 19th in the country with a .993 fielding percentage.
• 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 2024 season 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 the 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 is currently eighth in the nation with 10 home runs. The tally is tied for the second most through four games in a season at ASU since the 2009 campaign (11 in 2024). Already, eight different players have homered for the Sun Devils.
• ASU’s average home run distance of 394.38 this season is 23rd among teams that have recorded at least five home runs this year. All four home runs against UConn were logged over 410 feet.
• Arizona State had 87 home runs last season, a total that was fourth in the Big 12 and 38th in the country. 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 their 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.
• 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 double-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, and 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.

Coming in hot

• ASU has outscored opponents 739-449 over its last 78 regular-season games - going 54-24 in the process.
• Last season, the Sun Devils put up 69 innings last season where the team scored at least three runs, 32 with four or more and 21 with 5 or more. ASU has 6 with at least three this season, 3 with at least four and 2 with at least five.
• ASU has scored multiple runs in 11 of its 16 half-innings this season. Big innings were the theme of ASU’s 2025 season as the team scored in 214 halves of an inning on the year and plated two or more runs in 129 of those (.602).
• There were 34 times last season that ASU reached double-digit hits in a game. The team has reached double-digit hits in all four games thus far this season.
• ASU scored 253 runs in its 30 conference games last season (8.4 per game) - tops in the league. The team bats .328 in Big 12 games - tops in the league by 11 points.
• Last season, ASU ranked 9th nationally and 2nd in the Big 12 with a .318 batting average in the regular season 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 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 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 to 2021.

Hold onto 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. It has one such game this season.
• The Sun Devils have walked off eight games over the previous two seasons.
• ASU has trailed at one point in 57 of its last 89 victories dating back to to 2023 - including 20 of its wins last season and once this 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 22 wins over the last three seasons when trailing by at least three runs at some point in the game (one 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 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.

A fresh look

• 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 and 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 who 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 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 previously 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 an 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 this 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.