#16 Baseball hosts Oklahoma State in final home weekend of regular season

PHOENIX -- No. 16 Sun Devil Baseball returns home for the final time this regular season, getting set for a key late-season Big 12 series against red-hot Oklahoma State beginning Friday, May 8 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The penultimate series of the regular season will have its first two games on Friday and Saturday broadcast on nationally on ESPN2 beginning at 6 p.m. AZT. Sunday’s series finale is scheduled for a 1 p.m. AZT first pitch.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

The Sun Devils will be featured prominently on the national scene with a pair of weekend primetime tilts scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2 on Friday and Saturday. Mike Ferrin and Connor Wanhanen will be on the call for both games.

Sunday’s finale will all be available to stream via ESPN+ with Braidel Bell and Alex Coil. Fans can check with their local cable or internet providers to see if they are on an ESPN+ plan or visit https://plus.espn.com/to sign up.

All three games will be available over the local airwaves on KDUS 1060 AM. Tim Healey and Max Rossiter will be on the call all weekend.

There is a chance for inclement weather in the Orlando area this weekend. 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.  Arizona State 2.82 ERA over the last two weeks is the eighth-lowest in the country, as are the team’s 42 total hits allowed. It’s 12.06 K/9 is third.

2. ASU has held Big 12 opponents under five runs in six consecutive games, its longest streak in conference play since a nine-game stretch in 2012.

3. Only 26.7 percent of Cole Carlon’s pitches have ended up in play this season, the second-lowest total nationally (min. 50 innings).

4. Of Landon Hairston’s 75 hits, 45 have gone for extra bases (18 doubles, 25 homers, 2 triples) - a total that is six more than any other player in the country.

5. During Nu’u Contrades’ 14-game hit streak, he has an extra base hit in 12 of those. His 14 extra-base hits in that span are 11th most in the nation.

6. The Sun Devil pitchers have 77 strikeouts this season with runners in scoring position and two outs, a total good for 13th in the nation.

7.  Arizona State’s aggressive nature on the basepaths has seen the team advance a runner from 1st to 3rd on a single 42 times, 14th-most in the country.

8. The Sun Devils have allowed just a .204 batting average against with two outs over its last 10 games, the 25th-lowest tally in the nation over the stretch.

9.  Opponents put Sean Fitzpatrick’s fastball into play just 10.2 percent of the time - the lowest percent of the country among pitchers with 20+ innings

10.  The ASU bullpen has a 0.78 HR/9 tally that is 59th in the nation (20 total). Last year’s team ranked 232nd nationally with a 1.26 mark (38 allowed).

BY THE NUMBERS

93 - Sun Devil pitchers have posted an average fastball/sinker velocity of 93.2 this season, a total that currently sets good for ninth among all Division I programs. 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).  ASU’s overall average pitch velocity on all pitches is 88.3, good for 11th in the country. Among pitchers with at least 25.0 innings pitched this season, ASU has the No. 16 (Cole Carlon, 95.9), No. 25 (Alex Overbay, 95.4) and No. 26 (Derek Schaefer 95.4) pitchers in the country in average fastball velo.  For perspective, from 2019-2025 the Sun Devils had just one player TOTAL that averaged 95+ MPH fast balls for a season in over 20 innings (Lucas Kelly last season).

91 - Conversely, Arizona State’s average exit velocity at the plate this season is 91.0 MPH - good for the fourth-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 18th in Division I baseball and the team’s 402 hard-hit balls (exit velo over 95 MPH) are 10th.  ASU has put a barrel on 281 balls, good for 10th in the country and the squad’s 21.4 overall barrel percentage is 28th.19.6 percent of ASU’s balls put into play this season have qualified as line drives  with an exit velocity over 95 MPH with a launch angle between 10-30 degrees, the 14th-highest percentage in the country.Four players rank in the Top-100 nationally in the category: Dominic Smaldino (28th, 94.7), Landon Hairston (42nd, 94.1), Nu’u Contrades (63rd, 93.6), DeanToigo (72nd, 93.4).

74 - Landon Hairston has 74 RBIs this season, good for second country. HOWEVER, all 74 RBIs have come while hitting as the leadoff batter in the Sun Devil lineup, which is easily the most of any Division I player - TWENTY-THREE more than Graham Grahovac at Texas A&M.  For perspective, that total is already for most for ANY leadoff hitter since at least 2019 in leadoff RBIs for a season, surpassing Christian Moore’s 71 over 65 games in 2024.  25 of Hairston’s RBIs this season have come in pitcher’s counts (0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 2-2) - 13th-most in the nation. His eight homers while trailing in the count are tied for eighth nationally. His 31 hits overall in pitcher’s counts are tied for 19th-best in the country with his .408 average in that scenario good for fourth and his .842 slugging percentage is first.

1 - No team in the country has gotten more swing-and-miss from their pitchers than Arizona State’s 1,125 this season. Cole Carlon  leads all individual pitchers with his 226 whiffs on the season. The team is inducing a 22.0 whiff rate on pitches IN the zone that is third in the country while the 33.1 OVERALL miss rate is second. The team is allowing a Z-Contact rate (pitches in the zone where contact was made divided by total pitches in the zone) of just 49.6 percent, the 11th-lowest total in the country. Only 33.0 percent of ASU pitches have been put into play this season, the sixth-lowest total in the country. Opponents are missing (swing and miss/total swings) offspeed/breaking pitches 42.3 percent of the time - the eighth-highest total in the country.

A LOOK BACK - UCF

• The Sun Devils picked up the team’s 10th weekend series victory of the season on the road at UCF last week, taking two out of three in Orlando by scores of 9-4, 2-4, and 6-3. Saturday’s game was suspended after two innings, leading to 16 innings of action on Sunday with the Sun Devils taking the rubber match with a three-run go-ahed ninth inning in the finale.
• UCF had scored 34 runs a week prior in its series sweep on the road at Utah before being limited to just 11 runs against the Sun Devils.
• The series the first three games in history between the two programs. At roughly 1,850 miles by air, the trip marked ASU’s longest road trip in the continental United States for a regular season weekend series since travelling to Miami (Fla.) for a three-game set back in 1983 (~1,975 miles).
• The Sun Devils moved to 10-1 in weekend series this season, the lone series loss coming to West Virginia.
• This marked ASU’s fourth series victory on the road this season, its most since the 2021 season. ASU moved to 10-5 in road games with four remaining on the schedule this season.
• The Sun Devils won their fifth rubber match of the season, moving to 5-1 in such series. Arizona State was 5-1 in such games last season and are a combined 10-2 over the last two seasons - an absurdly notable number as the team was 15-25 in rubber matches from 2016-24. Sunday marked ASU’s third ROAD rubber match victory of the season.
• Arizona State won its sixth consecutive Big 12 game with its Friday victory, marking the first time the program had accomplished the feat since a six-game stretch back in 2016 (Cal x1, Stanford x3, Oregon x2).
• Arizona State was a very pedestrian 18-18 in night games last season and have shown vast improvement in that area this year with a 17-8 record in the late games.
• The team was especially bad in Friday night/weekend series openers a season ago, going just 6-8 in those. With Friday’s victory, ASU is now 8-3 in weekend series openers this season. Conversely, UCF was 7-1 on in weekend series openers when the first game game was played on a Thursday or Friday entering the weekend.
• UCF Friday starter Mateo Gray had posted a 5-0 record on the season before taking his first loss Friday. Gray had gone at least five innings in each of his last five starts entering the weekend before being chased in the third. His six runs allowed were notable as he had allowed just 23 total earned runs over his 13 other appearances this season.
• The Sun Devils got UCF standout Andrew Williamson to strand a career-high six batters on base on Friday - a feat matched just once before in March of his freshman season in 2024. Williamson was a career .331 hitter with runners in scoring position and batting .395 in the category this season. He was batting .667 with the bases loaded this season, making his eighth inning groundout to Fitzpatrick all the more noteworthy.
• Williamson struck out three times on Friday and twice in the finale after he had struck out just five times TOTAL over his previous nine games.

ON DECK - OKLAHOMA STATE

• Arizona State enters the penultimate regular season series tied for second in the Big 12 with West Virginia (who owns the tiebreaker between the two teams) at 16-8, four games back from No. 7 Kansas. Oklahoma State is fifth in the Big 12 standings and ranked 25th in this week’s Baseball America Top-25.
• Arizona State is ranked No. 16 in this week’s D1Baseball poll, its highest ranking under head coach Willie Bloomquist.
• The Sun Devils have a storied history against the Cowboys, though Oklahoma State has largely dominated the recent memories. OSU owns a 21-17 advantage in the all-time series and has won nine consecutive games dating back to 2018 against Arizona State after sweeping the Sun Devils in Stillwater last season.
• Oklahoma State head coach Josh Holliday was an assistant coach for the Sun Devils from 2007-09.
• The weekend will feature two of the nation’s most electric left-handed pitchers in Friday night’s duel between junior Cole Carlon and sophomore Ethan Lund. The duo rank third and sixth nationally, respectively, with 104 and 100 strikeouts.
• The series will also feature two of the nation’s top home run hitters between OSU Kollin Ritchie (26) and ASU’s Landon Hairston (25), ranking second and fourth in the nation, respectively.
• The series pits the Big 12’s top home run hitting teams overall against each other with the Pokes leading the way (second nationally) with 111 with ASU second  with 92 (eighth nationally).

NO LUMP OF COLE

• Cole Carlon has shown no signs that moving to a starting role has fazed him this season, entering this weekend ranked third in the nation with his 104 strikeouts and also third with his with his 14.86 strikeouts per nine innings.
• Carlon’s 12.79 career K/9 is 11th among active Division I players.
• Carlon picked up a winning decision in each of his first two appearances of the season but didn’t pick up his third until April 17 at BYU - and has since made it three-straight Friday-night victories for the Sun Devils with wins over Baylor and UCF.
• Carlon has been at his best with traffic on the bases as he has allowed just a .127 batting average against (8-for-63) with runners in scoring position - the 10th-lowest tally in the nation (min. 50 innings). He has allowed just one extra-base hit with a runner in scoring position, tied for sixth-lowest.
• With a runner in scoring position and two outs on the board, Carlon’s 18-inning ending strikeouts are second-most in the country (min. 50 innings).
• Carlon’s 95.9 MPH fastball/sinker average velocity is sixth-best among pitchers with 50.0+ innings of action this season. His fastest velo of the season of 100.7 is third-best as an individual with at least 50.0 innings of work this season.
• Only 26.7 percent of Carlon’s pitches have ended up in play this season, the second-lowest total nationally (min. 50 innings).
• Opponents have swung and missed on 226 of Carlon’s pitches this season, the highest total in the country.
• Carlon’s overall whiff rate on pitches in the zone of 33.9 percent is second among all pitchers with 50+ innings of work (564 total). His 44.8 overall miss percentage is first in the nation.
• 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.
• 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).

SLIDING INTO THE DM’S

• Among pitchers with at least 350 sliders thrown this season, Carlon’s .203 average against on the pitch is the 17th-lowest in the country.
• He has induced an in-zone whiff percentage of 41.8 percent on the slider that is highest of any pitcher in the country that has thrown it at least 350 times this season and fifth-lowest among ALL pitchers with 50+ innings of work, regardless of total sliders thrown.
• Batters are making contact in the zone on the slider just 60.3 percent of the time, which is the the lowest total in the country (min. 350 sliders).
• Carlon is getting batters to swing on the slider 53.3 percent of the time, which is sixth-most in the country (min. 350 sliders).
• His 56.6 overall slider whiff percentage (including sliders out of the zone) is most in the country among those with 350+ thrown. He has gotten batters to chase out of the zone 39.9 percent of the time, fourth-best in the country.
• His 86.5 MPH average velo on the slider is third in the nation among pitchers with at least 350 sliders thrown.

HAIRY BONDS

• Landon Hairston has not experienced any sort of sophomore slump in Year Two with the program, quickly establishing himself as one of the elite pure AND power hitters in the country.
• Hairston is third in the nation with his .426 batting average. He had his 28-game hitting streak ended at UCF last weekend, which was tied for the fifth-longest in Sun Devil school history.
• Hairston enters the weekend 25 home runs, a total that is fourth in nation and is tied with Spencer Torkelson (2018) and Bob Horney (1978) for second-most in single season history. ASU’s single school record of 27, set by Mitch Jones in 2000 is very much worth keeping an eye on in coming weeks.
• His 18 doubles this season are tied for 26th the country and second in the Big 12.
• Should he reach 20 in both doubles and homers, he would join Bob Horner’s 1978 season as the only other time a player reached the 20/20 club at ASU.
• He enters the weekend as one of just nine players in the nation with at least 15 homers AND 15 doubles.
• Hairston’s leads the entire nation with his 1.468 OPS (min. 3 PA per game) - over .100 points higher than the next closest player. His .937 slugging percentage is also tops in the nation
• Of his 81 hits this season, 45 have gone for extra bases (18 doubles, 25 homers, 2 triples).  Hairston didnt record a single XBH at UCF last weekend and still leads the nation by six in the category.
• Hairston had just one extra-base hit through his first 27 games as a Sun Devil. In his 75 games since, he has 61 extra-base hits.
• He has had just 16 games this season WITHOUT an extra base hit. He had a streak of 13 consecutive games with an extra-base hit ended against Arizona on April 13.
• Hairston is the national leader with his four grand slams this season - also tying the ASU school record in the process.  The NCAA single season record is six.
• His 407.95 average distance on his homers is 18th among D1 players with 12+ home runs this season (159 total). Hairston’s 94.0 average exit velocity is 44th in the nation.
• Hairston’s WAR of 4.68 is tops in the country while his 62.31 total Offensive Runs over Replacement is also first - 10 more than any other player.

ALL EYES ON THREE

• Landon Hairston (who wears #3) has 73 RBIs this season, good for second country and five off the national lead. HOWEVER, all 74 RBIs have come while hitting as the leadoff batter in the Sun Devil lineup, which is easily the most of any Division I player - TWENTY-THREE more than Graham Grahovac at Texas A&M.
• For perspective, that total is already for most for ANY leadoff hitter in Division RBIs for a season since at least 2019, surpassing Christian Moore’s 71 over 65 games in 2024.
• 25 of Hairston’s RBIs this season have come in pitcher’s counts (0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 2-2) - 13th-most in the nation. His eight homers while trailing in the count are tied for eighth nationally.
• His 31 hits overall in pitcher’s counts are tied for 19th-best in the country with his .408 average in that scenario good for fourth and his .842 slugging percentage is first.
• Hairston is batting .346 overall with two strikes this season, good for 17th in the nation.
• Other teams have continuously tried to keep Landon Hairston off guard as 56 times this season an opponent has made a pitching change either directly before facing the lefty or within two batters of facing him - among the Top-50 most in the country. And continuously, Hairston has shown that it doesn’t make a difference.
• His 11 home runs as one of the first three batters an opponent reliever has faced are 1st in the country and three more than any other player. He has 24 hits and 32 RBIs in that scenario, ranking first in both categories. He is batting .558 off new pitchers that face him within their first three batters faced - second-best in the country. His 1.512 slugging percentage off those new pitchers is near .400 points higher than any other player.
• Hairston has been equally a pest as the very first batter of a game, having recorded a hit to leadoff a game 20 times (in 48 games) - the second-highest total in the country (UT Martin’s TJ Grimes, 24).
• His .455 average to lead off games is 10th among all players with at least 30 games led off. He has a hit on the FIRST PITCH of a game nine times - three more than anyone else in the nation.
• Hairston is also second in the country with his 70 runs scored, five more than any Power Conference player.
• Opponents have intentionally walked Hairston ten times this season, the third highest total in the country.
• 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 moved from D1Baseball’s No. 101 outfield in its preseason rankings to its No. 2 outfielder in its Week 6 update.

NOT SO NU’U ANYMORE

• Nu Contrades is 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.
• He enters the weekend on an 14-game hitting streak and recorded an extra-base hit in 12 of those and vaulted to D1Baseball’s No. 2 ranking among second basemen in their Week 12 release.
• Since that hit streak started in the Friday’s night contest against Utah four weekends ago, Contrades leads the team with a .403 average, 1.286 OPS, six homers, 21 RBIs and 14 XBH. The 14 extra-base hits are 11th in the country in that time and his .823 slugging percentage is 38th
• Contrades’  14 homers are eighth in the conference despite missing a decent chunk of time this season and batting off one leg for the majority of the season.
• Contrades’ 406.89 average distance on his homers is 21st in the nation among players with at least 12 homers this season.
• Contrades has homered four times off relievers entering the game as the first batter they have faced, tied for fourth-most in the country. His 11 RBIs in that scenario are  tied for ninth in the country.
• Contrades is one of 20 players with at least 14 doubles and 14 homers this season.
• Contrades has struck out just 21 times this season (13.8 percent on 152 ABs). 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 the veteran was down a couple games while dealing with a hamstring injury sustained in the finale against LMU, missing nearly three weeks and the first two weekends of Big 12 action. Even with returning to the lineup, Contrades has operated mostly under 100 percent with the injury lingering.
• Prior to his injury, Contrades was credited with saving 3.09 runs on infield ground balls this season, good for 34th in the nation but third among all second basemen.
• 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 was 14-for-15 on stolen bases last year, 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. 

TOIG-A PARTY

• Dean Toigo was voted by the Big 12 coaches as the conference’s Preseason Newcomer of the Year and has been one of the most prolific offensive threats in the conference thus season.
• Toigo’s 16 homers this year are 40th in the country and sixth in the Big 12. His 405.91 average distance on his homers is 23rd among those with at least 12 homers.
• Toigo is one of 37 players with at least 12 homers and 12 doubles this season.
• Toigo has at least one RBI in 23 of his last 34 games. He had nine RBIs through his first 13 games this season and has 37 since then. The 46 total RBIs  are just outside the Top-100 in the country and 15th in the Big 12.
• After having just eight hits in the first 10 games of the season, Toigo has 51 in the last 38 to bring his season average to .321.
• Toigo’s OBP is over 100 points higher than his average at .428, due in large part to being a magnet for the baseball as his 14 HBPs this season are fourth in the Big 12.
• The transfer from UNLV was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on March 16 for his efforts against TCU and named to Baseball American’s National Team of the Week as well.

BIGGIE SMALS

• New Sun Devil infielder Dominic Smaldino is anything but small, giving his teammates a 6-6, 230-pound target over at first base.
• Of the D1 baseball players averaging 3+ plate appearances per game this season (2,127 total), Smaldino’s 94.7 average exit velocity is 28th in the country and his 425.66 average home run distance is second in the country among players with at least nine homers this year.
• Smaldino’ mammoth blast against Mississippi State at Globe Life Field was officially logged at 480.74 feet RECORDED homer by any Division I player this season and the longest recorded by a Sun Devil since 2019.
• Smaldino has seen his line drive percentage jump to 34.1 percent this season, which is the ninth-highest rate in the nation. That total is especially notable as it sat at just 14.8 percent as a freshman and 24.8 last season. His 47 total line drives are 23rd in the nation.
• Conversely he has watched his groundball rate drop from nearly 45 percent in 2024 to 31.3 percent this season.

MOUTZ SEE TV

• PJ Moutzouridis (pronounced MOOT-zerr-EE-diss) is another Sun Devil quiet putting up a solid start to the season.
• Moutzouridis leads the team in seeing 203 pitches with two strikes this season. His 53 balls fouled off also pace the team with two strikes, ten more than his teammates.
• HOWEVER, it’s his ability to battle back from early holes in the count that has stood out. With two strikes on the board, Moutzouridis’ 2.39 pitches seen per plate appearance is the Top-75-HIGHEST total in the country (among batters with 3+ PA per game, 2,127 players).
• That said, Moutzouridis is arguably ASU’s best hitter while being aggressive in the count as well. His 20 hits this season on the first pitch of at at-bat are tied for 28th-most in the country and he has a .465 average when putting the first pitch he sees into play.

LASER SHOW

• Arizona State’s average exit velocity at the plate this season is 91.0 MPH - good for the fourth-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 18th in Division I baseball and the team’s 402 hard-hit balls (exit velo over 95 MPH) are 10th. 
• ASU has put a barrel on 281 balls this season, good for 10th in the country and the squad’s 21.4 overall barrel percentage is 28th.
• 19.6 percent of ASU’s balls put into play this season have qualified as line drives  with an exit velocity over 95 MPH with a launch angle between 10-30 degrees, the 14th-highest percentage in the country.
• Four players rank in the Top-100 nationally in the category: Dominic Smaldino (28th, 94.7), Landon Hairston (42nd, 94.1), Nu’u Contrades (63rd, 93.6), DeanToigo (72nd, 93.4).

A DISCIPLINED APPROACH

• The Sun Devils have recorded a 53.5 quality at-bat percentage this season (plate appearance ending in a hit, walk, sac bunt, sac fly or HBP, is eight pitches or longer, moves the runner, or with an exit velo over 95 MPH). That total is currently tied for 11th nationally.
• ASU has done a good job of not simply watching pitches taken for strikes, with an in-zone swing percentage of 70.3 percent that is 18th in the country.
• The team makes contact on 87.4 percent of the pitches in the zone, the 22nd-highest total in the nation.
• When sticking to the team’s approach of hunting pitches in the upper half of the zone, few teams are better than the Sun Devils and their .373 team average that is eighth nationally.  The team sees its average drop to .276 when chasing pitches in the lower third of the zone.
• The Sun Devils are batting .269 as a team when trailing in the count this season, which is the fourth-highest in the country. The team’s .458 slugging percentage in pitcher’s counts is second in the country behind Georgia Tech (.468).
• The Sun Devils have recorded 71 of their RBIs this season by way of hits to the opposite field, the 39th-most in the nation while ranking 38th as a team with a .380 average to opposite field.
• Arizona State is 19-4 in games in which it has at least three hits to opposite field this season compared toa  14-11 record when it doesn’t.
• Among D1 teams with at least 43 games played this season, ASU’s 315 strikeouts offensively are the 35th-fewest in the country.
• The team has just 76 strikeouts looking on the season, which is eighth-lowest among teams with 43+ games.
• The Sun Devils are producing quality at-bats even while being agressive at the plate. The team’s .410 average on first pitches put into play this season is 36th nationally. The squad’s 120 hits on first pitches are the 18th in the country and the 20 first pitch homers are eighth.
• Arizona State has advanced a runner from first to third base on a single 42 times this season, 14th-most in the country.

THE HEAT SHEETS

• Sun Devil pitchers have posted an average fastball/sinker velocity of 93.2 this season, a total that currently sets good for ninth among all Division I programs.
• 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).
• The only non-SEC team ranked ahead of ASU in the category is Wake Forest, which leads the country at a 94.4 MPH rate.
• ASU’s overall average pitch velocity on all pitches is 88.3, good for 11th in the country.
• Among pitchers with at least 25.0 innings pitched this season, ASU has the No. 16 (Cole Carlon, 95.9), No. 25 (Alex Overbay, 95.4) and No. 26 (Derek Schaefer 95.4) pitchers in the country in average fastball velo.
• For perspective, from 2019-2025 the Sun Devils had just one player TOTAL that averaged 95+ MPH fast balls for a season in over 20 innings (Lucas Kelly last season).
• Colin Linder has a swinging strike rate (misses/pitches) of 13.9 percent on his fastball this year that is 25th-best among all pitchers with at least 400 fastballs thrown.
• Opponents are putting Linder’s fastball into play just 26.6 percent of the time - the seventh-lowest total in the country among pitchers with 400+ fatballs.
• Opponents are making contact with the pitch just 70.4 percent of the time, which is 19th-lowest among the 400+ crew.

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 bulked up over the offseason and it has resulted in a noticeable uptick in velocity.
• Fitzpatrick has appeared in 80 games over his career in relief (77 at ASU), which currently ranks 10th among active Division I players.
• Fitzpatrick has recorded 67 outs this season and 40 of those have come by way of strikeout. Among pitchers with 20.0+ innings of work, his 16.12 K/9 is fifth-best in the country.
• He has inherited a team-high 30 baserunners this season and just 12 have scored.
• Out of all D1 pitchers with at least 20 appearances this season (301 total), Fitzpatrick has given up just one base hit to the first batter he has seen in an appearance, tied for the second-lowest total in the country.
• He has struck out the first batter he has seen 12 times, which is the third-most in the country (min. 20 appearances).
• Fitzpatrick is getting a called strike 46.6 percent of the time he throws his slider, the 21st-best percentage in the country among pitchers with at least 100 sliders thrown.
• Conversely, Fitzpatrick gets a swinging strike on 18.9 percent of his fastballs thrown, the fourth-highest percent in the country among pitchers with at least 20 innings of work. Opponents put Fitzpatrick’s fastball into play just 10.2 percent of the time - the lowest percentage in the country among those with at least 20 innings.
• The 54.2 contact rate on Fitzpatrick’s fastball is also the lowest among all pitchers with at least 20 innings of work.

YOUR BEST SALES PITCH

• Sun Devil pitching coach Jeremy Accardo’s addition to the staff paid immediate dividends last seasonand continues to excel this season.
• The team has a K/9 ratio of 11.3 that is seventh in the country and tops in the Big 12. ASU has struck out double digit batters in 31 games this season.
• The team is inducing a 22.0 whiff rate on pitches IN the zone that is third in the country while the 33.1 OVERALL miss rate is second.
• The team is allowing a Z-Contact rate (pitches in the zone where contact was made divided by total pitches in the zone) of just 49.6 percent, the 11th-lowest total in the country.
• The team’s 1,125 overall swings-and-misses induced are the most in the country.
• Only 33.0 percent of ASU pitches have been put into play this season, the sixth-lowest total in the country.
• Opponents are missing (swing and miss/total swings) offspeed/breaking pitches 42.3 percent of the time - the eighth-highest total in the country.
• Kole Klecker has had plenty of success getting batters to chase his slider OUT of the zone, with a 41.5 percent chase rate that is 12th in the nation among pitchers with at least 200 sliders thrown. His 54.8 percent swing rate induced on the slider in general is 13th-highest in the nation (min. 200 sliders thrown).
• Taylor Penn is getting a swing and miss rate (miss/swings) of 40.5 on his changeup - 43rd among pitchers that have thrown at least 150 changeups this year. His swinging strike rate (miss/pitches) on the pitch of 19.9 percent is 42nd among those pitchers.
• 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 was 78th nationally at 1.48 last year. 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 had been outside the Top-200 five different times since then and outside the Top-150 eight times.
• The team’s strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.44 ranked 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 last season, good for third nationally. The Sun Devils struck out double digit batters in 37 of 60 games.
• 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.
  

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.
• The bullpen has a 4.81 ERA this season with a 22-6 record and a 299-110 strikeout to walk rate over 232.0 innings. The 299 strikeouts are the third-most of any bullpen in the nation.
• The ASU bullpen has a 0.78 home runs per nine innings allowed tally that is 59th in the nation (20 total allowed). That’s notable as last year’s team ranked 232nd nationally with a 1.26 mark (38 allowed)
• Derek Schaefer has taken hold of the back end of the bullpen, settling in as the team’s closer with a mid-90s fastball and electric secondary pitches. Schaefer’s 95.4 average fastball velo is 26th in the country among pitchers with at least 25.0 innings of work.
• Schaefer seven saves are 35th in the nation this season and first in the Big 12. He was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award Midseason Watch List.
• Schaefer’s 4.39 ERA is heavily skewed by his uncharacteristic outing against Utah where he was put back into the game in the ninth despite ASU having an eight-run lead and credited with six earned runs allowed. Removing that from the equation, he has allowed just seven earned runs in his other 25.2 innings for a 2.45 ERA. He has appeared in six straight games since then without allowing a run (10.0 innings).
• Schaefer was ASU’s fireman when its needed it last season, allowing just three of his 15 inherited runners on the season to score.
• Taylor Penn has ate up valuable middle relief innings, posting a 4-0 record over his 20.1 innings out of the pen, striking out 20 and posting a 1.96 ERA. That ERA ranks 36th in the nation among all players with at least 20.0 innings of work in relief this season.
• 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). 

HEADED TO THE GAP

• The Sun Devils currently rank 22nd in the country and third in the Big 12 with 103 doubles this season, paced by Landon Hairston’s 18.
• The team has recorded at least one double in all but seven games this season and has multiple doubles in 28 games.
• 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 is currently eighth in the nation with 92 home runs. . Twelve different players have homered for the Sun Devils as the team has already surpassed its total of 87 from last year.
• The 1981 program record of 110 homers is very much at risk of falling with the Sun Devils have at least 16 games left this season.
• ASU is 22-5 when recording two or more homers this season and have four or more homers in nine games.
• The team hasn’t had many cheapies either, with its average home run distance of 403.36 ranking ninth in the country.
• The squad’s 15 opposite field homers are tied for 18th in the nation and its 27 homers to center are seventh.
• The Sun Devils are third in the nation when behind in the count with 33 homers.
• ASU’s nine grand slams this season are tops in the country.
• 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 opponents 1118-713 over its last 121 regular season games, going 82-36 in the process.
• ASU has scored multiple runs in 92 of its 165 half-innings with runs this season. ASU has 54 innings with at least three runs scored, 30 with at least four and 23 with at least five.
• Last season, The Sun Devils put up 69 innings where the team had scored at least three runs, 32 with four or more and 21 with 5 or more.
• The team has reached double digit hits in 32 games this season.
• ASU’s 545 total hits this season are fifth in the country as is team’s .325 average AND the team’s .562 slugging percentage.
• ASU is averaging 8.7 runs per game, good for 14th nationally.
• 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.
• Eight times in the Willie Bloomquist tenure have 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 eight 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 six times in 4+ 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 team posted the game-winning RBI/run in the sixth inning or later in 12 of the team’s wins last year. It has done so 10 times this season. The team has eight wins in one or two-run games on the year (8-7).
• The Sun Devils have walked off ten games over the last two-plus seasons (not including run-rule games).
• On the season, when ASU has a potential go-ahead or game-tying plate appearance (7th inn. or later), the team’s .365 average (46-for-126) in the 16 games the scenario has occured is fifth in the country.
• ASU has trailed at one point in 72 of its last 113 victories dating back to 2023 - including 20 of its wins last season and 16 times this season.
• With the team’s 9-3 loss in the finale of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series at Globe Life, the Sun Devils lost their first regular season game by more than five runs since a 17-7 run-rule loss at Cal State Fullerton on April 17, 2024 - ending its nation-leading streak of 85-straight regular season games.
• In four seasons under Willie Bloomquist, the Sun Devils have shown that no opponent lead is safe, with plenty of grit in erasing multi-run deficits. ASU has 25 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.
• It added its fifth and six such comebacks this season after rallying from a 7-0 deficit at Grand Canyon to win 12-8 and also from 7-0 against BYU to win 12-8 as well.
• ASU has won 13 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.