Territorial Cup Series Awaits Baseball in Phoenix

PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball returns home to Phoenix Municipal Stadium this weekend for a huge early season Pac-12 series against in-state rival Arizona, beginning Friday, March 24 in Phoenix. The annual Territorial Cup Series will get underway at 7 p.m. AZT on Friday, 6 p.m. AZT on Saturday and 4 p.m. AZT on Sunday.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

The Pac-12 Network will broadcast all three games in the weekend series with Daron Sutton and Ryan Spilborghs on the call.

All games will be broadcast live over local airwaves on KDUS 1060 AM with Tim Healey and Max Rossiter on the call.

Fans are always encouraged to follow the Sun Devil Baseball team on social media  for any program or schedule updates throughout the week on the Sun Devil Baseball Twitter account: @ASU_Baseball.

#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)

1. ASU has scored in the first inning in an incredible 14 of 21 games played this season, going 10-4 in those games.

2.  On March 8, ASU was 92nd in the nation in slugging, 191st in doubles and 131st in average. Those totals now sit at 45th, 61st and 35th respectively.

3. The Sun Devils are 3-1 in one-run games this season, a notable tally as ASU went just 1-7 in one-score games last season.

4. Sun Devil Baseball has 30 doubles in its last 10 games after posting a measly 13 in the first 11 games this season.

5. Luke Keaschall has the second-longest active hitting streak in the Pac-12 at 10 games and is the defending Pac-12 Player of the Week.

6. Jacob Tobias leads the team with an active 20-game reached base streak and also has 23 RBIs already to lead the team (had 29 total last year).

7. After 14 of ASU's first 17 homers this season were solo shots, 7 of last 10 have come with runners on base - two of those solos being leadoff shots.

8. The Sun Devils have six players with 12+ RBIs this season, tied for second in the Pac-12 with Oregon State behind Washington (7).

9. ASU's pitchers struck out 68 batters over the last eighth games to 22 total walks - notable as ASU averaged 4.8 PER GAME in first 13 games

10. Brock Peery led the Pac-12 in '22  with 10 saves - tied for 7th-most at ASU since 1998 and first in double digits since 2016. He has two this season.

BY THE NUMBERS
30 - The Sun Devils have 30 doubles over their last 10 games (3.0 per game) - notable as the team had a paltry 13 in the first 11 games of the season. The streak has brought ASU from 191st in the nation in the category on March 8 to 61st overall and third in the Pac-12. Three Sun Devils are tied for second in the Pac-12 with nine doubles in Luke Keaschall, Wyatt Crenshaw and Luke Hill. ASU finished 19th in the nation in doubles last year and the team's 127 regular season doubles were a ASU BBCOR record and fifth-most since 1998.

7 - The Sun Devils have shown an ability to be successful in close games, going 7-1 this season in games decided by three runs or less. A year ago the team was 14-16 in those games. More notably, ASU is 3-1 in one run games this season after going \ 1-7 in those games last year. ASU has also been impressive in its single-game midweek tilts this year, going 4-0 in such games after Wednesday's romp over #25 Grand Canyon. ASU was 4-4 in single-game midweek tilts last season.ASU has yet to blow a game in which it was leading after 7 or 8 innings, going 13-0 and 12-0, respectively.

3 - The trio of Ryan Campos, Luke Keaschall and Nu'u Contrades have been on an unreal tear over the last eight games. The group has combined for a 1.260 OPS and .786 slugging percentage with 14 doubles, one triple and seven home runs. Over that span, the trio has combined for 36 of ASU's 73 total RBI, just shy of 50%. Keaschall leads the pack with eight doubles in his last eight games. Campos is second in the league with a .405 average and while Keaschall sits in the Top-10 in the league in slugging, doubles, RBIs and stolen bases.

1 - The Sun Devils offensive has come alive in recent weeks, now leading the Pac-12 in batting average (.310) and hits (224). The team is 35th in the nation in batting average after sitting 131st in the category on March 8. On that same date, ASU was 191st in the country in doubles - a tally that now sits 61st and third in the Pac-12. The team was also 92nd in the country in slugging percentage on March 8 - a total that is now 45th in the nation and fourth in the league. As a team, ASU has bat .360 over the last eight games with a .538 slugging percentage.

HONORING THE PAST

• The Sun Devils will wear black SB and MG tribute patches on batting helmets throughout the 2023 season to honor the loss of two great alumni this past offseason in Sal Bando and Mike Gallagher.
• Saturday's first pitch will be CAUGHT by Sun Devil Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Leake, receiving the first pitch from his son, Jackson.
• Sunday's first pitch will be thrown out by 1967 College World Series Champion and Most Outstanding Player Ron Davini.

LAST TIME OUT: UTAH/GRAND CANYON

• The Sun Devils went on the road into the cold and took the first Pac-12 series of the season at Utah, winning 2-out of-3. ASU returned home to knock off #25 Grand Canyon in convincing fashion with an 11-1 victory at Muni on Wednesday evening.
• In four games, the second baseman hit .625 (10-for-16) with 11 RBI, eight runs scored, three doubles, three home runs and a pair of stolen bases en route to Pac-12 Player of the Week honors and recognized by Collegiate Baseball News as one of its National Players of the Week.
• The victory over the Lopes improved ASU to 4-0 in single-game midweek contests this year after going just 4-4 in those last season.
• The Lopes only plated one unearned run against ASU pitching. GCU had been leading the Western Athletic Conference at 7.7 runs per game and 9.2 over the last nine games.
• The victories give ASU wins in seven of the last eight games and the bats have contined to stay hot. ASU had 14 hits against the Lopes. It was the fifth time in the last six games and sixth time in the last eight that Arizona State had double digit hits.
• ASU averaged 10.3 runs per game over the four games and and has average 10.0 on the dot over the last eight games.
• Campos, Keaschall and Contrades have been unstoppable over the last eight games, combining for a 1.260 OPS and .786 slugging percentage with 14 doubles, one triple and seven home runs. Over that span, the trio has combined for 36 of ASU's 73 total RBI, just shy of 50%. Keaschall leads the pack with eight doubles in his last eight games.

ON DECK: ARIZONA

• In the modern era of Sun Devil Baseball (since it became an NCAA sport in 1959), ASU owns a dominant 207-139 record against the Wildcats. ASU went 23-116 against the Wildcats prior to that dating back to 1907, skewing the overall series record all-time.
• Of the Wildcats 212 hits this season, 88 have gonefor extra bases — 55 doubles, eight triples, and 25
• home runs. Kiko Romero leads the team and the conference with 17 XBH this year.
• Arizona's .978 fielding percentage currently ranks second in the Pac-12 behind only Washington (.984). The Wildcats finished 2022 ninth in the conference in fielding percentage.

GOING CAMP-ING

• Ryan Campos has been among the hottest batter in the Sun Devil lineup of late and finds himself rising up the ranks in the Pac-12 as well.
• Over the last eight games, Campos is batting .586 (17-of-29) with seven walks and a HBP for a .676 OBP. He has two homers, a triple and three doubles in that time for a .966 slugging percentage and a OPS over 1.500.
• His is second on the team with an active 19-game reached base streak.
• For the season Campos is now batting .405 for the season and second in the Pac-12 and also second in the Pac-12 with a .526 OBP - aided by his team-leading 18 walks, which are fourth in the league.He sits just outside the Top-10 in the Pac-12 with his .649 slugging percentage.
• Campos' overall 1.175 OPS is fifth in the Pac-12
• Campos 8.4 percent strikeout rate this season is the third-lowest in the Pac-12 while the .44 strikeout-to-walk ratio is tops in the league
• The sophomore also leads the team in runs, currently sitting second in the league with 26.
• Campos led the Sun Devils with a .357 average last year as a true freshman – the sixth-best freshman average in program history and just ahead of head coach Willie Bloomquist's .356 average.
• It was the seventh-highest average in the Pac-12 prior to the NCAA tournament and the 11th-highest batting average for a catcher in the NCAA prior to the tournament and the fourth-highest for a Power Five catcher.
• It was the 10th-highest batting average for a freshman in the NCAA prior to the tourney and the best freshman catcher average in the country.
• He was one of just 19 freshmen to crack the Top-250 in the NCAA in average and the only freshman Power Five catcher to do so.
• It marked the second straight season a true freshman led the team in average (Ethan Long last year) - something that has never happened in consecutive years in program history and just the fourth time in program history overall that it had happened.
• His .363 average in league-only games was the fifth-highest in the conference.
• His .438 OBP in league games was also tops on the team and ninth in the Pac-12 and tops among league catchers
• Campos had the best average on the team with runners in scoring position at 21-for-59 (.356).
• He had 20 multi-hit games last year – good for third on the team despite starting 13-15 fewer games than the majority of the other starters on the team.
• He threw out seven baserunners on the year despite catching in 10+ less games than the other league catchers.

USE THE FORCE, LUKE

• After a slow start at the dish this season, perhaps no batter in the Pac-12 has been as hot as Luke Keaschall over the last two weeks.
• Moved to the cleanup spot in the batting order after leading off for the first month of the season, Keaschall has responded with an .529 average and an absurd 1.029 slugging percentage, recorded eight doubles and three homers.
• His .667 slugging percentage on the season (5 homers, 1 triple, 9 doubles) has him at sixth in the Pac-12.
• His 15 RBIs in that time are four more than any other play on the roster and have bumped him up to 22 for the season - good for eighth in the Pac-12.
• His nine doubles for the season are one of the Pac-12 lead and he sits fourth in the league with seven steals.
• He has a 10-game hitting streak, the longest active streak on the team entering the weekend and second-longest active one in the Pac-12.
• Keaschall has also been getting it done in the field, turning a league-best 65 defensive assists this season.
• In four games against Utah Tech and Utah, the second baseman hit .625 (10-for-16) with 11 RBI, eight runs scored, three doubles, three home runs and a pair of stolen bases en route to Pac-12 Player of the Week honors and recognized by Collegiate Baseball News as one of its National Players of the Week.

JACOB'S LADDER

• Jacob Tobias got the first RBI of the 2023 season with his RBI single in the first inning of Opening Night.
• Tobias leads the team with 23 RBIs this season - tied for sixth in the Pac-12. The tally is especially notable as he had just 29 in the entirety of last season.
• Tobias leads the team with an active 20-game reached base streak.
• While not looking the part, his two triples this season give him three for his career, marking him the active career leader in the category at ASU in games played for the Sun Devils.
• Tobias was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 team after being a first team selection as designated hitter last season.
• His 12 bases (two homers, two doubles) against Utah in the series finale were tied for the most by a Pac-12 player in a game last year.
• His seven homers last year were tied for eighth in ASU freshman history.
• His 23 RBIs in Pac-12 games were the second-most on the team, 20th in the Pac-12 and third among Pac-12 freshmen.

RUNNING UP THAT HILL

• Luke Hill did not at all look like a true freshman starting at shortstop over the first month of action, showing savy skills with the bat and with the glove.
• Hill is second on the team with a .378 average that is sixth in the Pac-12 among eligible batters and 20th among all freshmen nationally.
• His 28 total hits are fifth in the league and the freshman is also second in the Pac-12 with nine doubles this season - good for 26th in the country.
• He notched his first career homer in the series finale against Mississippi State
• He has just two errors on the season for a .972 fielding percentage on 69-of-71 fielding.
• His  54 defensive assists are fifth in the conference.

NOT SO QUIET WYATT

• Transfer Wyatt Crenshaw posted video game numbers last season at Colorado College and has quickly shown that was no fluke, speaking plenty loud with his bat despite saying approximately 18 total words in two post-game press conferences thus far thus season.
• Crenshaw is batting .310 on the season, slugging .575 with four homers, a triple and nine doubles - the latter good for second in the Pac-12
• He has also played a nice right field for ASU, recording all 29 putouts on balls flown his way thus far with no errors.

WHO'S THE NU'U GUY

• It was a quiet start for true freshman Nu'u Contrades but he has swung one of the hottest bats in the lineup in the last two weeks.
• Contrades bat .486 over the last eight games to bring his season average from under the Mendoza line to .333 on the season.
• He was second on the squad with 11 RBIs in that time, launching his first two career homers and three doubles for a .743 OBP.

WELCOME TO THE JAM

• Christian Bodlovich has inherited 73 runners in his career at ASU, with only 24 scoring (32.9 percent), including an 11-for-37 tally last season.
• ASU stranded 497 opponent baserunners last season - an average of 8.6 per game. That total is 167 this season - just under 8.0 per game.
• Brock Peery finished 10th in the nation with 34 appearances last season, a tally good for second in the Pac-12.  He has appeared in 12 this season, currently tied for 10th in the nation
• Peery has given up just a single run and has stranded a team-high eight inherited runners on the year.
• Peery led the league with 10 saves last season year - good for 26th in the country. He added two in the first four games this season and tacked on a win for good measure.
• The 10 saves last season were tied for seventh-most at ASU since the 1998 season and marked the first time a closer reached double digits in the category at ASU since 2016.
• Matt Tieding has been essential in saving the Sun Devil bullpen after tough outings for starters this year. As a reliever, the newcomer has  team-low 2.16 ERA in 12.2 innings (min. 8.0 IP).
• Jonah Giblin has also done his part as an inning eater, tossing 11.2 innings in relief with a 3.09 ERA and 11 strikeouts. The effort earned him his first weekend start against UC Davis where he spun 5.0 innings of scoreless baseball to earn his first Division I victory. Giblin now leads the team with 21.2 innings pitched and has done so with a solid 2.49 ERA.
• Several Sun Devils have shined under pressure with runners on the basepath, holding opponents to sub-200 averages through the staff including Josh Hansell (.167), Nolan Lebamoff (.071), Brock Peery (.182) and Tyler Valdez (.167).

PLAYING THE FIELD

• ASU turned 50 double plays last year - a tally good for 21st in Division I and fourth in the Pac-12. The squad has turned 110 double plays over the previous two seasons.
• ASU has 26 double plays this season, good for 18th in the country.
• The Sun Devils are fielding at a .973 clip this season, good for fourth in the Pac-12.
• Luke Keaschall leads the league with 65 defensive assists while Luke Hill is fifth with 54.
• For the third straight season, the majority of position players on the diamond are new faces with only Will Rogers (left field) and Ryan Campos (catcher) starting the season reprising their roles from last year. ASU had just two players start last season in the same position they finished in 2021 (Joe Lampe in CF, Nate Baez at C and Sean McLain at 2B, though McLain was playing shortstop by the second weekend while Baez moved around the field by Week Two as well). ASU's only veteran starter in 2021 was Drew Swift - who shifted over to shortstop after spending the majority of his career at second base. All other positions on the diamond that season replaced by newcomers.
• ASU had four fielders in the Top-30 in fielding percentage in the Pac-12 last year (min. 100 chances) in Joe Lampe, Kai Murphy, Ryan Campos and Conor Davis. That was tied with USC and Oregon State for the most in the Pac-12.
• Sean McLain had the second-most defensive of assists of any player in the Pac-12 (179) - the second straight season an ASU player accomplished that feat following Drew Swift (171) in 2021.

HEADED TO THE GAP

• ASU got a slow start in the doubles category this season but has come on hot of late. The team has 30 in its last 10 games after posted just 13 in the first 11 of the season.
• That has brought ASU back up to 61st in the NCAA in doubles and third in the league (63). On March 5, ASU was 252nd in the nation in the category.
• The Sun Devils recorded 134 doubles last year, good for 19th in the nation and third in the Pac-12.  The 127 doubles during the regular season were the most for a Sun Devil team in the REGULAR SEASON in the BBCOR era (since 2011) and tied for the fifth-most in a regular season since 1998.
• ASU had at least one double in all but six games last season and multiple doubles in 36 of 58 games.
• There were 45 Pac-12 players with double-digit doubles in the regular season, of which ASU had seven (Baez, Lampe, Rogers, McLain, Long, Davis, Murphy). No other team had more than six.
• ASU reached double digits in hits in 28 of the last 34 games of 2022 and 37 times in 58 games. They have done so in seven games this season.

CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL

• 10 different players have logged a home run for ASU and eight have multiuple home runs.
• ASU's 27 homers are third in the Pac-12 and Top-60 nationally.
• The better news is ASU has finally started the get knocks with runners on base. Seven of ASU's last 10 home runs have had at least one runner on base after 14 of the teams first 17 homers this season were solo shots. Two of the homers in the last 10 were of the leadoff variety as well, not giving there any opportunity to have a runner on base.
• Of the nine position players with at least 30 starts last season, all nine had multiple home runs. ASU had ten total players with multiple homers.
• ASU had five players with at least seven homers last year, tied for the second-most at ASU since 1998.
• The timing of the home runs  improved immesely over the second half of the last season. On 24 of the final 37 homers on the year, ASU had at least one runner on base. That was notable as ASU had runners on base just eight times on the teams first 27 homers. ASU will hope for some deja vu in that area with 14 solo homers on 17 home runs this season.
• The Sun Devils had four grand slams last year - the most it had had in a season since 2004 (also four).

COMING IN HOT

• The Sun Devil bats have been at another level over the last two weeks, sitting near the top of the league in most offensive categories.
• The team currently leads the league with 224 hits, good for 29th nationally and notable as the team was 115th in the country in the category on March 8.
• ASU was 92nd in the nation in slugging percentage on March 8, 191st in doubles and 131st in batting average. Two weeks later, those totals sit at 45th, 61st and 35th respectively.
• ASU's .310 average as a team is tops in the Pac-12.
• Campos, Keaschall and Contrades have been unstoppable over the last eight games, combining for a 1.26 OPS and .786 slugging percentage with 14 doubles, one triple and seven home runs. Over that span, the trio has combined for 36 of ASU's 73 total RBI, just shy of 50%.

HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS

• ASU has its part to shake off some of that bad mojo from last season  in close games thus far, winning three one-run games and going 7-1 in games decided by three runs or less - a category ASU was 14-16 in last season and was 1-7 in one-run games.
• ASU has yet to blow a game in which it was leading after 7 or 8 innings, going 13-0 and 12-0, respectively.
• The Sun Devils played no shortage of tight games last  season - for better or worse - with 26 of the teams 58 games being decided by one or two runs - the most since it also played in 26 in 2017.
• Unfortunately, ASU was 1-7 in one-run losses and 15 of the teams 32 losses came by way of 1-2 runs. ASU is 3-1 in one-run games this season.
• That said, the Sun Devils have shown that no opponent lead is safe, showing off plenty of grit in erasing multi-run deficits. On 11 occasions last season, ASU erased a lead of at least three runs.
• 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 with the victory over North Dakota State this season, overcoming a 7-0 deficit in an eventual 10-9 walk-off victory.
• Three times last season ASU rallied from a deficit of five or more runs to tie or win the game - the first time that had happened since 2010 (also 3).

DO I KNOW YOU?

• The Sun Devils welcome an incredible 28 new faces to the roster in 2023. ASU went hard in the Transfer Portal during the offseason, recording the No. 2 transfer portal class in the nation according to several outlets.
• The new batch was highlighted by a total overhaul of the pitching staff, which will feature three transfer starters this weekend in LHP Ross Dunn (Florida State), RHP Khristian Curtis (Texas A&M) and LHP Timmy Manning (Florida). Owen Stevenson (San Francisco) also figures to find a spot in the rotation over the course of the season.
• Dunn competed for Team USA on the Collegiate National Team this past summer.
• Preseason All-American Luke Keaschall (San Francisco) highlights the incoming position players).
• Among the newcomers, freshman Isaiah Jackson ('22, Astros, 18th Round),  Dunn ('19, Yankees, 11th Round) and Drake Varnado ('21, Diamondbacks, 17th Round) have all been drafted at some point in their careers.
• The Sun Devils didn't have a single freshman arm in the clubhouse last season but welcomes four this season (Ryan Hanks, Brandon Compton, Austin Humphres and Stephen Hernandez).
• After the departure of Sean McLain to the MLB Draft following last season, the Sun Devils will welcome his brother Nick McLain to the clubhouse this season with the youngster expected to be the Opening Day center fielder.
• ASU will feature an entirely new infield this season, highlighted by standout freshmen Nu'u Contrades, Luke Hill and Reese Beheler with a deep group of veteran transfers in Keaschall, Vernado, Jonny Weaver, Willie Cano and Wyatt Crenshaw.

ROGERS THAT

• Will Rogers got the Sun Devils off to a huge start on Opening Night, going 3-for-5 and  a stolen base with a home run and a the game-winning walk-off single.
• He added his second walk-off of the season against NDSU with his one-out solo shot in the bottom of the ninth for a 10-9 victory.
• Rogers had nine homers last season, tied for fourth in ASU freshman school history.
• From April 1 on,  Rogers had the second-highest average on the team at .373. respectively. He led the team with a .746 slugging percentage in that time with nine doubles, a triple and five homers.
• His 27 extra-base hits on the season were the third-most of any Pac-12 freshman and 19th in the league overall.

WE WANT EZ

• Ethan Long was  tabbed as the No. 37 overall collegiate prospect in the 2022 MLB Draft class by Baseball America last season and was selected with the very final pick of the 2022 MLB Draft though he will look to prove he is, in fact, Mr. Relevant for the Sun Devils this season. He was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team for the 2023 season.
• Long has been one of the standouts offensively for ASU this year, posting an OBP of .438 despite his .270 average. He is second on the team with eight walks this year and tied for the team lead with three homers.
• Due to a left wrist injury last year, Long was unable to bat over the last month of the season, though he contributed on the mound. The big bat was a little slow getting going last year, but Long settled into a nice pace and he was fourth on the team with seven homers on the year despite missing the last month-plus of the year. Four of his seven home runs last season came in the sixth inning or later.
• He used 18 walks and 3 HBPs to post a .384 OBP over his .300 average.
• He was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career following his efforts in the Washington series.
• Long became the 129th Sun Devil to be named an All-American following his freshman campaign in 2021, becoming a consensus selection after being named to teams by Collegiate Baseball News, NCBWA, and Baseball America. He also earned two freshman All-America nods (CBN/NCBWA) and was a First Team All-Pac-12 pick as well as an ACBA All-West Region second team selection and Pac-12 All-Conference first team pick
• Long finished the 2021 regular season 22nd nationally and second in the Pac-12 with 16 home runs while finishing 13th nationally and leading the league with a .725 slugging percentage on .340 hitting. He was sixth in the league with 53 RBI. His .340 average was the ninth-highest freshman average in Sun Devil history.
• That season, he finished with a team-best 54 RBI, tied with Barry Bonds for fourth in ASU freshman history while his 16 homers on the year surpassed Bonds for second in ASU freshman history behind only Spencer Torkelson (25) and good for Top-Five in the league.
• Behind Long's bat, ASU won five straight weekend series in the last half of the year. In a 19-game stretch, Long bat .444 with 40 RBI, 15 home runs, eight doubles, a 1.181 slugging percentage, a .500 OBP and an absurd 1.681 OPS. Of his 32 hits in that span, 23 were for extra bases.