Baseball readies for three Top-25 opponents at Amegy Bank College Baseball Series

ARLINGTON -- Sun Devil Baseball continues its gauntlet of a week that sees the program play five games against four ranked SEC teams this week as the squad treks south from its two-game stint in Norman down to Arlington, Texas to take part in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series beginning Friday, Feb. 27. Arizona State will face No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 20 Tennessee and No. 23 Texas A&M in the tournament. The games in the weekend series will get underway at 10 a.m./10 a.m./5:30 p.m. AZT Fri-Sun., respectively, and 11 a.m./11 a.m./6:30 p.m. in local central time.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

• The Amegy Bank College Baseball series will be streamed in its entirety via FloCollege Sports, a subscription-based web service. Fans can check out subscription plans at https://www.flocollege.com/signup.
• Friday and Saturday’s games will be broadcast over the Valley airwaves on KAZG 1440 AM on Friday and Saturday and on KDUS 1060 AM on Sunday. with Alex Coil on the call alongside analyst Max Rossiter.
• Fans are encouraged to follow along in-game content and schedule updates throughout the weekend on the Sun Devil Baseball Twitter account (@ASU_Baseball).

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1. ASU has outscored its opponents 785-464 over its last 83 regular season games - going 58-25 in the process.

2. ASU’s scored multiple runs in 19 of 30 half-innings with runs this season with 13 innings with at least three runs, 10 with at least four and 8 with at least five.

3. Sean Fitzpatrick has recorded nine outs out of the bullpen this season and the first eight of those were strikeouts prior to a groundout on Wednesday.

4. Arizona State has done its part to not let the bottom of the opponent order hurt them, holding teams to a .157 average from their 7-9 hitters - 16th-lowest in D1.

5.  Arizona State’s 55.5 quality at bat percentage this season is good for 27th nationally, as are its 203 total quality at-bats.

6. Nu’u Contrades is credited with saving 2.13 runs on infield ground balls this season, good for 25th in the nation.

7.  ASU pitchers have allowed just a .152 batting average against with RISP in innings 1-7 this year - the ninth-lowest total in the country.

8. The Sun Devils are batting .333 with two outs this season, a total good for 25th in the nation - a year removed from batting .314 and ranking eighth in D1.

9. Among D1 teams with at least seven games played this season, ASU’s 49 strikeouts offensively are the 23rd-fewest in the country.

10. The Sun Devils have made sure to do damage with runners in scoring position, posting a .375 average that ranks 18th in the country.

BY THE NUMBERS
93 - Sun Devil pitchers have posted an average fastball/sinker velocity of 92.9 this season, a total that currently sets good for ninth among all Division I programs through the first couple weeks. Among pitchers with at least 4.0 innings pitched this season, ASU has the No. 13 (Alex Overbay, 96.2), No. 25 (Cole Carlon, 95.4) and No. 26 (Derek Schaefer, 95.4) pitchers in the country in average fastball velo. ASU is the only team in the country with three ranked in the Top-30 in the category. Among pitchers with 10 or more innings this season, fans this weekend will see the pitchers that have thrown the fourth, fifth and sixth-hardest single fastballs of the 2026 season in Tennessee’s Landon Mack (98.5), ASU’s Cole Carlon (98.4) and Mississippi State’s Ryan McPherson (98.4).

91 - Conversely, Arizona State’s average exit velocity at the plate through nine games is 90.8 MPH - good for the 11th-highest tally in Division I.  The Sun Devils currently have a hard-hit ball average (95+ MPH exit velo) of 46.1 percent, which is 23rd in Division I baseball and the team’s 82 hard-hit balls are fourth. Arizona State has put a barrel on 51 balls this season, ranking 12th in the country. The team has also faced its fair share of tough luck and solid opposing defense with 29 hard-hit balls resulting in outs - the sixth-highest total in the country. The Sun Devils have absolutely punished first pitches with a 91.9 average exit velocity that is 14th in the country. Garrett Michel’s average exit velocity of balls put in play is 45th among 1,875 players with at least 20 at-bats this season.

24 - The Sun Devils rank 14th in the country with 24 stolen bases this season. The Sun Devils started a perfect 16-for-16 to open the season before having their first runner thrown out. Eleven different players have recorded a stolen base for the Sun Devils thus far on the year. Nu’u Contrades is 6-for-6 on stolen bases to start the year, bringing his total to 29-for-32 in his career. Among ASU players since 1998 with 20+ stolen base attempts, his .906 stolen base percentage is best among all Sun Devils. His six stolen bases are 33rd nationally. On the flip side, ASU has allowed just a 60.0 percent stolen base success rate defensively, tied for the 28th-lowest total in the country. ASU has largely controlled the run game with opponents attempting to steal just five times this season - the 18th-lowest total in the country.

0 - Cole Carlon has yet to give up a hit off his slider this season, and his 69 sliders thrown without a hit allowed are the most in the country and nine more than any other pitcher without allowing a hit off the pitch. His is one of just 10 pitchers overall with 50+ sliders thrown without a hit allowed.He has induced an in-zone whiff percentage of 61.9 percent on the pitch that is the highest of any pitcher in the country that has thrown it at least 50 times this season and his 71.9 overall whiff percentage in third among all D1 pitchers with at least 50 sliders thrown. His 85.6 average velo on the slider is 13th in the nation. ASU will have to face a pitcher with similar success with the pitch on Sunday with Texas A&M’s Aiden Sims having just a .067 average against on his slider that ranks 15th-lowest in the country.

A LOOK BACK - OKLAHOMA

• Dating back to at LEAST 1995, the 15 runs scored Tuesday were ASU’s most in a true road game against a Top-15 ranked non-conference opponent that wasn’t named Arizona. It was the most in a true-road game against any Top-15 ranked opponent since defeating No. 22 Arizona, 22-8 in 2007 in a midweek non-conference game. It was the most any Top-15 team in a true road game not named Arizona since scoring 15 at No. 2 Stanford in 2004.
• The Sun Devils scored 14 runs in the first three innings of the game - notable as opponents had scored just 13 runs TOTAL in Oklahoma’s first seven games of the season. OU entered the game with a 1.96 ERA that was fifth-best in the nation.
• Entering the week, Arizona State had done its part to not let the bottom of opponent orders hurt them, holding teams to a .164 average from their 7-9 hitters - 30th-lowest in D1. Oklahoma went 0-for-6 out of those spots in the lineup on Tuesday and 1-for-8 on Wednesday.
• The Sun Devil pitchers started innings strong and closed innings strong Tuesday, allowing just one of seven leadoff batters to reach today (ironically the very first batter of the game on a walk) and held OU to 1-for-8 hitting with two outs.
• OU surrendered four home runs in a game for the first time since March 3, 2025, vs. DBU.
• Since the run rule became commonplace in the last couple of seasons, this marked the first time that Oklahoma had lost a seven-inning game by way of run-rule at home (they lost one eight-inning mercy rule to Vanderbilt last season)
• Oklahoma entered the midweek series averaging 14.1 runs per game - good for fourth in the nation. The Sun Devils held the Sooners to just seven TOTAL runs over the two games this week.
  
  ON DECK: AMEGY BANK COLLEGE BASEBALL SERIES at GLOBE LIFE
• The Sun Devils continue their gauntlet of a week with three more games against ranked SEC opponents at the Amegy Bank College Baseball series, taking on No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 20 Tennessee and No. 23 Teas A&M.
• The Sun Devils have a 2-2 record all time against MSU, a 14-4 mark against UT, and a 1-2 tally against Texas A&M.
• Mississippi State and Texas A&M are two of the few undefeated teams remaining in the nation this season.
• ASU is expected to see two of the most powerful arms in the nation in Tennessee’s Landon Mack and State’s Ryan McPherson, who enter the weekend ranked third and fourth in average fastball/sinker velocity at 96.4 and 96.3 MPH, respectively (min. 10 innings pitched). Friday’s contest against McPherson is especially notable with ASU’s Cole Carlon ranking 8th in that category (95.4).
• The trio of starting pitcher’s on deck facing the Sun Devils this weekend have a combined sub-2.00 ERA and a sub-.200 batting average against with 52 strikeouts to just seven walks.
• The Sun Devils will try to get the monkey off their back at Globe Life Field, where they have gone 0-4 over the past three seasons in games played in the venue.

NO LUMP OF COLE

• Cole Carlon has shown no signs that moving to a starting role has fazed him this season, picking up a winning decision in each of his first two starts for a 2-0 mark with a 1.64 ERA over 11.0 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts to three walks and just a .135 average against.
• Carlon has yet to give up a hit off his slider this season, and his 69 sliders thrown without a hit allowed are the most in the country and nine more than any other pitcher without allowing a hit off the pitch. His is one of just 10 pitchers overall with 50+ sliders thrown without a hit allowed.
• He has induced an in-zone whiff percentage of 61.9 percent on the pitch that is the highest of any pitcher in the country that has thrown it at least 50 times this season and his 71.9 overall whiff percentage in third among all D1 pitchers with at least 50 sliders thrown.
• His 85.6 average velo on the slider is 13th in the nation.
• Additionally, his 95.4 MPH fastball/sinker average velocity is eighth-best among pitchers with 10.0+ innings of action this season.
• Carlon became one of the top relievers in college baseball last year, 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).
• Last season, 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. 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  has been one of the best pure hitters in the country in the early going of the 2026 campaign.
• 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 42 games since, he has 22 extra-base hits.
• Hairston’s 1.312 OPS this seaason is eighth in the Big 12 and his .824 slugging percentage is fourth in the league.
• His 410.41 average distance on his homers is 25th among D1 players withmultiple home runs this season.
• Hairston’s 95.4 average exit velocity is currently 35th among all players with at least 30 plate appearances in Division 1 this season. He has recorded 14 hard-hit balls on the year (balls with an exit velocity over 95 MPH), tied for 12th among all Division I players (min. 30 at-bats). His 58.1 hard hit ball average is 65th in D1.
• 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  theTop 150 outfielders, D1 Baseball’s #4 Big 12 2027 Draft Prospect and also to the Big 12 Preseason Team.
• 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 represents 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 is currently fifth in the Big 12 with 15 RBIs while ranking 10th with 10 runs scored. He is fifth in the league with a .818 slugging percentage and ninth in the league with a 1.292 OPS.
• Of 571 D1 players currently with 30+ plate appearances, Contrades is tied for the third-fewest strikeouts with just one 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).
• On the flip slide of the ball, Contrades is credited with saving 2.13 runs on infield ground balls this season, good for 25th in the nation.
• Contrades made his long awaited return to the diamond 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 has shifted over to 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.
• 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. 

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’s 112.4 exit velo on his homer Saturday against Omaha was 26th-highest on D1 base hits during Opening Weekend.
• Of the D1 baseball players with over 30 plate appearances this season, Smaldino’s 93.4 average exit velocity is 72nd in the country.
• His 65.4 hard-hit ball average is 31st in the nation. His 10 hard-hit balls are top-100 in the country.
• His 410.00 average distance on his homers is 27th among D1 players with multiple home runs this season.

LASER SHOW

• Arizona State’s average exit velocity at the plate this season is 90.8 MPH - good for the 11th-highest tally in Division I.
• The Sun Devils currently have a hard-hit ball average (exit velo over 95 MPH) of 46.1 percent, which is 22nd in Division I baseball and the team’s 82 hard-hit balls (exit velo over 95 MPH) are fourth.
• The Sun Devils have hit into a ton of tough luck this season (and great defensive plays) with 29 hard-hit outs - the sixth-most in D! baseball.
• ASU has put a barrel on 51 balls this season, good for 12th in the country.
• 23.1 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 59 balls with an exit velo over 90 MPH with a launch angle between 10-30 degrees, which is eighth most in the country.

A DISCIPLINED APPROACH

• The Sun Devils have recorded a 55.5 quality at-bat percentage 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 27th nationally, as are the teams 203 total quality at-bats this season.
• ASU has done a good job of not taking strikes in the zone, with an in-zone swing percentage of 72.8 percent that is fourth in the country.
• Among D1 teams with at least seven games played this season, ASU’s 49 strikeouts offensively are the 23rd-fewest in the country.

THE HEAT SHEETS

• Sun Devil pitchers have posted an average fastball/sinker velocity of 92.9 this season, a total that currently sets good for ninth among all Division I programs through the first couple weeks.
• Arizona State also ranked 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).
• Among pitchers with at least 4.0 innings pitched this season, ASU has the No. 13 (Alex Overbay, 96.2), No. 25 (Cole Carlon, 95.4) and No. 26 (Derek Schaefer, 95.4) pitchers in the country in average fastball velo. ASU is the only team in the country with three ranked in the Top-30 in the category.
• Among pitchers with 10 or more innings this season, fans this weekend will see the pitchers that have thrown the fourth, fifth and sixth-hardest single fastballs of the 2026 season in Tennessee’s Landon Mack (98.5), ASU’s Cole Carlon (98.4) and Mississippi State’s Ryan McPherson (98.4).
• For perspective, from 2019-2025 the Sun Devils had just two players TOTAL that averaged 95+ MPH fast balls for a season (Lucas Kelly and Will Koger, both last season).

FITZ-MAGIC

• Sean Fitzpatrick enters 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 nine batters this season and struck out eight of them. In fact, his first eight outs recorded this season were all by strikeout prior to a leadoff groundout on Wednesday.
• Fitzgerald leads the nation among pitchers with at least 3.0 innings pitched with his 24.00 K/9.
• He is one of just 44 pitchers in the country with at least 3.0 innings of work (2,736 total) that hasn’t given up a hit this season.
  

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.
• A trio of right-handed Arizona natives 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.
• The bullpen has a solid 3.62 ERA this season witha  4-1 record and a 49-18 strikeout rate. Seven bullpen pitchers have a sub-2.00 ERA with five of those having a 0.00 ERA.
• Schaefer was ASU’s fireman when its needed it last season, allowing just three of his 15 inherited runners on the season to score. He already has two saves so far this season.
• The Sun Devil bullpen has made a habit of escaping jams under Willie Bloomquist, stranding 1,898 baserunners over 236 games, an average of 8.1 stranded opponent runners per game. The team has stranded 39 baserunners this season.
• Arizona State pitching has posted a 77.0 LOB percentage this season (best at preventing runners on base from scoring). Entering the weekend, the NCAA average is only 62.1 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 did their part to reward the staff for throwing strikes by taking care of balls in play.
• Arizona State’s 3.46 ERA is 35th in the nation and second in the Big 12.
• Last season, 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.
  

PLAYING THE FIELD

• The Sun Devils currently sit 19th in the country with a .993 fielding percentage.
• Brody Briggs is credited with saving 1.25 runs on blocked balls is 14th best in the nation.
• 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  the 2024 seasonof 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.
• The Sun Devils currently ranks 11th in the country with 23 doubles this season.
• 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 17 home runs. . Already, eight different players have homered for the Sun Devils.
• 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 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.
• 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.
  

COMING IN HOT

• ASU has outscored its opponents 785-464 over its last 83 regular season games - going 59-25 in the process.
• Last season, 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 scored multiple runs in 19 of its 30 half-innings with runs this season. ASU has 13 innings with at least three runs scored this season, 10 with at least four and 8 with at least five.
• There were 34 times last season that ASU reached double digit hits in a game. The team has reached double digit hits in seven of ASU’s nine games this season. 
• ASU scored 253 runs in its 30 conference games last season (8.4 per game) - tops in the league. The team bat .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 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 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 2009-2021.

HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS

• 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 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.