Baseball Returns Home to Take on Golden Bears

PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball returns home after two consecutive weekends on the road to square off in the program's final series against California of the Pac-12 era, beginning Thursday, March 28 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The Thursday-Saturday series due to Easter Sunday will have first pitches at 6:30 p.m. AZT on Thursday and Friday before concluding Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. AZT.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

• All three tilts this weekend will be available through the ASU Live Stream at https://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university
• All games will be broadcast live over local airwaves on KDUS 1060 AM with Tim  and Max Rossiter providing the highlights. All the radio calls from games can also be streamed online at: kdus1060.com/sundevils
• 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. Isiaah Jackson and Nick McLain is 24th and 31st  among all outfelders in runs saved from converting fly balls into outs this season at 2.87 and 2.58.

2. The Sun Devils are 8th in the country in doubles (63) and 16th in doubles per game (2.52), leading the Pac-12 in both.

3. Ryan Schiefer's 1.35 ERA is the lowest for a pitcher with 20+ innings in relief in ASU's first 24 games since Stephen Sauer in 2008 (1.31 in 20.2 innings).

4. While ASU's overall team ERA remains a bit unsightly, its SIERA mark of 3.85 is fourth-best in the Pac-12 and in the Top-75 nationally.

5. Thomas Burns has stranded 89.6% of baserunners this season - the 27th-best tally in the country this year.

6. ASU's late rally against UNLV marked the third time this season the Sun Devils have earned a victory in the ninth inning of a game (Oregon, @ARIZ, @UNLV).

7. The Sun Devils have trailed at some point in 26 of the team's last 32 victories dating back to the 2023 campaign.

8. Ryan Campos has reached base safely in 105-of-114 (92.1%) games with the Sun Devils and has a 35-game reached base streak dating back to '23.

9. The Sun Devils have struck out double digit batters in 15 of 25 games. ASU didn't reach 15 such games until over 40 game into the year last season.

10. Connor Markl is the first Sun Devil pitcher to post consecutive quality starts since Tyler Meyer in March of 2022.

BY THE NUMBERS

35 - Ryan Campos has reached base in 35 consecutive games dating back to last season. He has reached base inin a ridiculous 105-of-114 (92.0%) career games with ASU overall, and all 24 games this season.. Campos holds the 44th-highest active career batting average at .361, a tally that is sixth among all FBS catchers. Despite an uncharacteristic .277 average early this season, he has still reached base at a .410 clip thanks to a his team-leading 20 walks - 4th in the Pac-12. He is fifth in the Pac-12 with 7 homers, 7th with 26 RBIs and second with 27 runs scored.

10 - The 2024 Sun Devils had excelled in a pair of categories this season - recording double digit hits and striking out double digit batters. The team has recorded 10 or more hits in 15 of 24 games this season and is third  in the Pac-12 with 244 total hits on the year.. The pitching staff has struck out double-digit batters in 15 of 25 games, posting  10.6 strikeouts per nine innings this season - a total good for 21st  in the country and second in the Pac-12.. It is notable as it didn't reach 15 such games until over 40 games into the season last year.

8 - The Sun Devil pitchers have made a habit of escaping jams under pitching coach Sam Peraza, stranding 1,133 baserunners over 138 games, an average of 8.2 stranded opponent runners per game. ASU has stranded 197 in 25 games this season. .Thomas Burns has stranded 89.6 percent of his baserunners this year, 27th-best among eligible D1 pitchers and second in the Pac-12. The Sun Devil bullpen has allowed just 30 of 73 inherited runners to score this season (40.1 percent), paced by Hunter Omlid (only 2 of 11 inherited runners scored) and Ryan Schiefer (only 3 of 11 inherited runners scored).

3 - Ryan Schiefer has put up some of the best numbers as a reliever in recent history, allowing just three earned runs this season in 20.0 innings pitched. He has a team-best 1.35 ERA on the season, striking out 25 over 20.0 innings (all in relief) while holding opponents to a miserable 0.95 average against, giving up just six total hits. He is the first Sun Devil reliever to post a Sub-2.00 ERA with 20+ innings 24 games into the season since Mitchell Lambson had a 1.73 mark in 26.0 innings in 2010. The 1.35 tally is the lowest with that criteria since Stephen Sauer (1.31 in 20.2) in 2008.

LAST TIME OUT: WASHINGTON STATE

• The Sun Devils dropped a trio of heartbreakers against Washington State in Pullman last weekend, getting swept in the series by a combined total of four runs.
• Ryan Campos'  homer on Monday against UNLV  marked the first of his career that was hit outside the confines of Phoenix Municipal Stadium. He had 16 career homers at Muni entering the game and no homers on the road.
• After hitting no homers in its first nine games away from the confines of Phoenix Muni, ASU recorded four in the last two games starting with Nick McLain's in the Washington State finale. The Sun Devils tacked on three more on Monday at UNLV before Campos, McLain and Brandon Compton. All four of the homers came with two outs and three were two-run run shots.
• Monday's UNLV tilt t marked the ninth time in the Willie Bloomquist era that the Sun Devils have erased a lead of five or more runs, improving to 7-2 in games where it wiped a five-run deficit from the board after erasing a six-run deficit against the Rebels.
• Even with two one-run loss at Washington State, Monday's win over UNLV improved the team to 5-3 in one run games this year.
• After struggling following his return from hamate surgery that sidelined him the first two weeks of the year, Nick McLain had a monster weekend and midweek between the four games, batting 7-of-16 with five extra base hits for a 1.063 slugging percentage, leading the team with eight RBIs.

ON DECK: CAL

• Thursday will be the 199th meeting between the Bears and Sun Devils. ASU owns a 127-71 advantage in the series that predates the Sun Devils joining the Pac-12. The Sun Devils took two of three in Berkeley last season, including a nine-run go-ahead eighth inning in the rubber match.
• Late-inning heroics have been a theme for the Bears in 2024 - Cal is hitting .322 in innings 6-9, scoring 73 runs, 69 RBI, 17 doubles, 2 triples and 17 home runs. PJ Moutzouridis is hitting .857 in the ninth inning.
• On the mound, the Bears sport a staff ERA of 4.66, which ranks 58th in the nation. Cal is averaging 10.9 strikeouts per game, which ranks 43rd in the nation. The Bears sport a 9.3 K/9 ratio, which also ranks in the top 100 in the nation.
• The Bears' RPI as of 3/26 is 43rd, which is third in the Pac-12. The lowest the Bears' RPI has been this season is 28, which came on March 21. The highest was 59, which came on Mar. 12.

GOING CAMP-ING

• Ryan Campos entered the season as D1Baseball's 10th-ranked catcher in the country and No. 95 collegiate prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft. He was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 team, as voted on by the league's coaches.
• Campos has the 44th-best active career batting average (.351) - sixth among the nation's catchers and 18th among players at a Power Conference school.
• Campos has reached base in a ridiculous 105-of-114 (92.1%) career games with the Sun Devils overall and all 25 this season. He has an active 35-base reached base streak dating back to last season.
• The junior had his first multi-homer game against Santa Clara in the finale, also posting a career-best five RBIs. He added another multi-homer game against Oregon.
• His seven home runs this season are fifth in the Pac-12 and his nine doubles are tied for fourth.
• His 26 RBIs this season are tied for the team lead and 7th in the Pac-12. His 10 two-out RBI are second on the squad.
• Despite an uncharacteristic .277 average early this season, he has still reached base at a .410 clip thanks to a his team-leading 20 walks (fourth in the Pac-12) and two  HBPs.  He is also second on the team in productive outs, advancing runners with an out 11 times.
• His 27 runs scored also pace the team and are good for second in the Pac-12.
• Campos reached base in all but two games last season. The two games he did not reach base was once during opening weekend and the first game after he returned from an 11-game injury absence.
• Had a team-best 31-game reached base streak at one point in last season and showed off plenty of extra pop in the bat, recording eight homers, seven doubles and a triple
• Campos was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List and also tabbed as the Pac-12 Player of the Week after the Washington State series during his sophomore campaign.
• In 44 games, Campos smacked .388 with 16 extra-base hits including eight home runs...He walked 35 times and struck out on a mere 17 occurrences
• Campos' 35 earned free passes were 15th in the league, yet because of his midseason injury, he had the fewest games played of anyone in the top 50 in the category.
• His .388 average was third in the Conference of Champions and his .503 OBP was tops in the league
• ASU's most reliable presence over the last two seasons, Campos earned his first recognition to the All-Pac-12 First Team last season as a sophomore after picking up an honorable mention honor as a freshman, also earning Freshman All-America honors that season as well.
• Campos was named the Jim Brock Mr. Sun Devil at the squad's end-of-season awards banquet at the end of the regular season last year....Named for the legendary and late Dr. Jim Brock, the award is presented to the student-athlete who best exemplifies the attitude and character expected of a Sun Devil Baseball Player
• For his elite efforts behind the plate, Campos was named as a Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Semifinalist.

JACOB'S LADDER

• Jacob Tobias earned Preseason Pac-12 All-Pac-12 recognition after he took his game to the next level last season, finishing with a .317 average and starting 54 games - the majority coming at first base.
• Tobias is third on the team batting .301 on the seasn with 15 RBIs.
• His eight doubles are tied for 10th in the Pac-12 this season.
• Tobias was named by D1Baseball as the No. 44 first baseman in the country entering this season.
• The junior posted his first career five-hit game against Arizona last weekend.
• His seven doubles this season are ninth in the Pac-12.
• Last season, he slugged .546 with 10 homers, nine doubles and leading the team with four triples en route to a 59 RBI season - good for ninth in the Pac-12 though the eight players in front of him benefited from postseason action
• Tobias was deadly the second time through the order with 22 of those RBIs coming in the fourth or fifth innings when he saw a starter for the second or third time - batting 23-of-50 (.460) with 22 RBIs, three homers and over a .500 OBP in those two innings.
• As a sophomore, he recorded an RBI in 12 of the last 18 games of the season and 33 games overall. He has an RBI in three of four games thus far this season.
• Tobias was 7-of-9 on the season when the bases were loaded and brought a runner home from third with less than two outs 75 percent of the time (15-of-20).
• Tobias earned Pac-12 Honorable Mention accolades last season as he took his game to the next level, finishing with a .317 average and starting 54 games - the majority coming at first base.
• Tobias was named a Freshman All-American in 2022. His 12 bases (two homers, two doubles) against Utah in the series finale are tied for the most by a Pac-12 player in a game. His seven homers this year were tied for eighth in ASU freshman history.

ACTION JACKSON

• After a solid freshman showing Isaiah Jackson has shown continued exceptional defensive skills while adding 19 RBIs - third on the team - and five homers.
• His 19 RBIs this season are good for 16th in the Pac-12. His five homers are tied for 12th.
• Jackson's 19 RBIs through 25 games are notbale as he had just 28 total through the entirety of the his freshman season.
• There has been no dropoff in his defensive game either, as he is currently 24th in the country in Defensive Runs Saved on Fly Balls at 2.87.
• Jackson has paced the team in productive outs, advancing runns with an out 12 times.
• Jackson homered in the first two games of the season, as did teammate Jacob Tobias, joining a small list of Sun Devils to do so since 1998, including Spencer Torkelson (2020), Riccio Torrez (2011) and Jason Kipnis (2008).
• His three-hit game in the opener gave him more hits in five at-bats than he had through his first seven games last season.

THE BURN(S) UNIT

• Thomas Burns became the first true freshman to start on the mound for the Sun Devils on Opening Night since Ike Davis in 2006.
• The youngster was electric in his debut, allowing just a single hit in his 5.0 innings and one run en route to earning his first career win. Burns struck out seven and walked just one batter in the effort.
• Burns tossed a career-best 7.0 innings in ASU's Friday night victory over Arizona, allowing just one run for ASU's first quality start of the season.
• 11 of the 16 runs scored against him this season have come by way home runs, coming off five solo homers, a three-run shot against Texas A&M, and three by way of homer against Washington State (a two-run shot of his own and an inherited runner scoring on another pitcher's home run allowed).
• In fact, he has only given up 23 hits on the year, of which seven have  left the ballpark.
• Right-handed hitters are 10-for-55 (.182) against Burns this season while he has allowed just a .213 average against overall - ninth-lowest in the Pac-12 -  adding 39 strikeouts in just 30.1 innings.
• Burns has been at his best with runners on the basepath with teams batting just .130 (6-of-46) against him with runners. He has stranded 89.6 percent of his baserunners this season - the 27th-highest tally of any eligible pitcher in the country this year and second in the Pac-12.
• Burns is eighth in the Pac-12 in hits allowed per nine innings (6.82)and third in the Pac-12 in strikeouts per nine innings (11.57) and total strikeouts (39). He has struck out 28.5 percent of the batters he has faced this year, a tally good for fourth in the Pac-12.

BIG MAC

• Nick McLain missed the start of the 2024 campaign for the seconds-straight season due to having his other hamate bone removed but made quite the splash in his debut during the team's trip to Texas.
• After struggling following his return from that surgery, Nick McLain had a monster weekend and midweek between the four games this past week, batting 7-of-16 with five extra base hits for a 1.063 slugging percentage, leading the team with eight RBIs.
• McLain has already drawn 16 walks this year - eighth in the Pac-12 despite missing eight games. His .429 OBP is now tops among the team's day-to-day starters, despite only having the seventh-best average at .254.
• He has also been getting it done defensively, currently 31st in the country in fly balls converted to outs this season at 2.58.
• McLain bat .313 in Texas in his return from the surgery (5-of-16) and a .421 OBP with five RBIs in four games - including essentially carrying the team on his back with his four RBI effort against UT Arlington that included a two-RBI single to tie the game at 2-2 in the fifth and then a go-ahead two-RBI double in the seventh to put ASU on top for good in the victory.
• McLain also missed the first half of the season last year after a sustaining a hamate injury the week prior to the season and wasted no time catching up on the lost time.
• McLain earned Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention despite appearing in just 23 games, posting a .298 average and reached base at a .391 clip while slugging .649 behind eight homers, two triples and five doubles, recording over an RBI per game with 24 on the season, recording eight multi-RBI games.
• He enters this season as D1Baseball No. 53 collegiate prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft.
• He 3-for-6 with four RBIs  - including a two-run insurance missile in the ninth - in his collegiate debut, a road win over Grand Canyon
• McLain tarted his collegiate career with an 11-game hit streak - the longest streak to start a career for an ASU freshman since at least the 1998, as far back as easily found records can be accessed - and had hits in 14 of his first 15 games as a Sun Devil
• He also recorded five outfield assists on the year in his limited action.
• McLain showed the clutch gene through out the season, batting .400 in the 8th inning or later of games, posting four homers and eight RBIs in the process.

LEAVING HIS MARK-L

• Connor Markl as been exceptional in the past two weekend's, posting consecutive quality starts for the first time since Tyler Meyer in March of 2022.
• Markl was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week following the Arizona series, ASU's first pitcher of the week since March of 2022 as well, for his efforts in one-hitting the Wildcats.
• In his last two starts, Markl has a 1.42 ERA over 12.2 innings with 14 strikeouts to four walks, holding opponents to a .186 average against.
• He matched his career high in innings pitched with his 6.0 against Arizona and then topped it last weekend with his 6.2-inning effort against Washington State. It marked the first time in his career that he had posted back-to-back 6.0 inning efforts
• Markl has a 4.26 overall ERA but a 3.13 SIERA mark that that is currently good for eighth in the Pac-12. His 18.2 K:BB percentage is also eighth among the league's pitchers.

NOT THEIR FIRST RODEO

• While the names and faces of Harris Williams, Kevin Karstetter and Steven Ondina are new to Sun Devil fans, the trio bring no shortage of career experience and that has been in full display this season
• The three players had combined to play in 461 career games before setting foot on ASU's campus.
• Williams, a USF transfer who ranks in the Top-40 among all Division I players in games played (190), is batting .337  on the season - second on the team - and has reached base in all but two games.
• Williams leads the team with nine multi-hit games. His nine doubles are fourth in the league
• The super-duper senior has advanced baserunners at  team-best .600 clip, doing so on 30-of-50 chances - four more than any of his teammates. He has gotten the job done as the leadoff batter as well, reaching on 17-of-46 chances while leading off an inning( .380).
• Williams has brought the runner home from third with less than two outs a team-best 8-of-8 times and also leads the team with runners in scoring position, batting .476 (10-of-21).
• Karstetter has been one of ASU's best options at keeping innings alive, posting a .320 average on 8-of-26 hitting with two outs. His .438 average with runners in scoring position is second on the team.
• Ondina has quietly put up a .286 average that is fifth on the team and struck out just 11 times in 70 ABs - the 13th lowest strikeout total in the Pac-12.  His biggest impact doesn't necessarily show up in the box score as the senior is a vacuum at shortstop that has made several highlight reel plays this season.

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

• Redshirt freshman Brandon Compton was recruited to ASU as a pitcher out of high school, but Tommy John surgery sidelined him his true frosh year, instead allowing him to focus on his bat - and focus he did.
• The youngster leads the team with his .348 average this season, good for 16th in the Pac-12. His .475 average on balls in play is sixth in the Pac-12. His .467 mark (14-of-30) with runners in scoring position is tops on the team.
• His 26 RBIs are tied for most on the team and seventh in the Pac-12 and his five homers are second on the team and eighth in the league. His 11 two-out RBIs are tops on the team.
• Compton is tied for the Pac-12 lead with 10 doubles this year and sixth with six homers. His .352 average in ninth in the league while his 1.089 OPS is tops on the squad and fifth in the Pac-12.
• He was responsible for the go-ahead grand slam in the series finale against Ohio State that proved to be the difference in the 10-8 ballgame. He also had a huge game-tying RBI single in the eighth inning of ASU's eventual walk-off win over Oregon. He had the go-ahead two-run homer against Utah Valley on Tuesday as well.
• Compton had a productive Summer Ball campaign in the Northwoods League for the Duluth Huskies this past summer, making the league All-Star game and was the league leader in RBIs with 71 while slashing .320/.423/.563, recording 17 doubles and 13 homers across 60 games and 231 ABs

NO DOZE-ING OFF

• Ethan Mendoza has quietly put together quite the start to his collegiate career, posting a .298 average and earning the team's walk-off fielder's choice against Oregon and following that with a go-ahead two-RBI single in the ninth inning of the team's Friday-night victory over Arizona.
• Mendoza is tied for second on the team lead with 11 runners advanced with an out this season.
• The freshman recorded a 4-for-4 effort in the second game against Washington State despite only seeing five pitches in the contest. He led all players in the last four games with his .500 average on 8-of-16 hitting.
• Mendoza was the only Sun Devil to record hits in all four games in Texas.
• Mendoza was the only Sun Devil to record a hit against No. 7 Texas A&M in the first game of the Globe Life Series, in fact recording the only two hits in the shutout loss.
• Mendoza has been especially efficient in the field and has yet to post an error at second base this season, not recording his first error of the season until the team's 20th game.
• His .984 percentage is sixth among Pac-12 middle infielders this season.

GRABBING THE BULL-PEN BY THE HORNS

• The Sun Devil bullpen has made a habit of escaping jams under pitching coach Sam Peraza, stranding 1,133 baserunners over 138 games, an average of 8.2 stranded opponent runners per game. ASU has stranded 197 in 25 games this season.
• ASU relief pitchers have inherited 73 baserunners this season, of which only 30 have scored (41.1).  Ryan Schiefer, Matt Cornelius and Matt Tieding all inherited the bases loaded against #24 Kansas State when they entered the game and all got inning-inning strikeouts.
• Hunter Omlid paces that category, inheriting 11 baserunners this year and only allowed two to score. Ryan Schiefer has inherited 11 and allowed just three to score.
• After a disastrous first two weeks, the Sun Devil bullpen has been exceptional since the team's trip to Texas in Week Three, posting a 4.20 ERA over 17 games and 85.2 innings, striking out 98 with a .243 average against. In the team's first eight games, the bullpen had a 10.85 ERA with 44 strikeouts and a .329 average over 37.1 innings.
• In that span, Schiefer (0.53/17.0) and Hunter Omlid (0.69/13.0) have posted sub 1.00 ERAs over a combined 16 appearances.
• Ryan Schiefer has continued to be ASU's best option out of the pen, now with a a season ERA of 1.35 over 10 appearances with 20.0 innings pitched, striking out 25 and holding opponents to a paltry .095 average against with just six total hits allowed this year.  Schiefer's 1.35 ERA is the lowest for a pitcher with 20+ innings in relief in ASU's first 25 games since Stephen Sauer in 2008 (1.31 in 20.2 innings).
• ASU's 17 strikeouts against Ohio State were the most by a Pac-12 team this season. ASU is also the only team in the league to one-hit an opponent this year.
• Last season, the bullpen posted a 5.62 ERA with 22-7 record in decisions and 11 saves. The squad had 234 strikeouts to 130 walks (over 274.0 innings) and held opponents to .270 batting. While not entirely electric, it was a marked improvement from previous season where the 2022 Sun Devil bullpen had a 6.71 ERA for the season with a 13-19 record in decisions with 231 strikeouts to 170 walks (over 271.0 innings) and a .299 average against.

HEADED TO THE GAP

• The Sun Devils are tops in the Pac-12 and 8th in the country with 63 doubles this year in 25 games and the 2.52 doubles per game are 14th in the nation.
• 12 different Sun Devils have multiple doubles this season - the most of any school in the Pac-12.
• Brandon Compton is tied for the Pac-12 lead and 35th nationally with 10 doubles this year. Harris Williams and Ryan Campos are tied four fourth in the Pac-12 with nine while Jacob Tobias is 10th with eight.
• ASU has multiple doubles in 16 games this season and at least one double in 23 of 25 games.
• ASU got a slow start in the doubles category last season but came alive in the second half of the year. After having just 13 in the first 11 of the season, ASU finished with 108 to find itself in the Top-100 prior to the NCAA Tourney after being ranked as low as 232 through the first month of the season.
• The team recorded a double in 45 of 55 games overall with multiple doubles in 26 of those.
• Luke Keaschall finished seventh second in the entire country with 25 doubles .
• The Sun Devils recorded 134 doubles in 2022, 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 in 2022 and multiple doubles in 36 of 58 games.

CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL

• ASU is currently fourth in the Pac-12 and Top-75 in college baseball this season with 30 home runs, despite not hitting a single one in its four games in Texas or in its series at Arizona. In fact, Nick McLain's homer in the final against Washington State was ASU's first homer hit away from Phoenix Muni this season. ASU added three more of those against UNLV on Monday.
• The Sun Devils had eight homers in the Oregon series. Unfortunately, all came of the solo variety. The Sun Devils continue ooking for the big hit with runners on base as ASU now has 16 solo homers on its 30 this season. Of the teams 30 solo homers, however, seven were of the leadoff variety and didn't give anyone a chance to be on base while two others came as part of back-to-back homers and thus, the same principle.
• Clutch homers have increased recently though, with five of ASU's six homers in the last seven games coming with two outs.
• Already, six different Sun Devils have multiple homers and eight players have homered overall.
• The Sun Devils hit 19 more homers during the 2023 season than it did the prior year. 12 different players logged a home run last season for ASU and 10 had multiple home runs
• ASU had eight different players with at least six homers - more than any other team in the Pac-12.
• The Sun Devils had seven players with at least seven homers last year - two more than any other team at ASU has had since at least the 1998 season. ASU had five players with at least seven homers in 2022, tied for the second-most at ASU since 1998.
• ASU's 83 homers were 56th in the country prior to the NCAA Tournament.
• The better news was ASU finally started the get pumps with runners on base. 37 of the team's last 66 Sun Devil home runs last year came with runners on base after 14 of the first 17 this season were solo shots. Of the 26 solo shots, 17 were leadoff homers and thus not given the opportunity to happen with runners on base.
• The timing of the home runs  improved immensely over the second half of the 2022 season as well. 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.
• Of the nine position players with at least 30 starts in 2022, all nine had multiple home runs. ASU had ten total players with multiple homers.

COMING IN HOT

• The Sun Devils thrived in the big innings, 12 times last season recording five or more runs in an inning. The team recorded 51 innings with three or more runs scored.
• This season, ASU has now posted 19 3+ run innings and 11 4+ run innings.
• ASU has recorded 15 or more hits in 12 of 25 games this season.
• Santa Clara All-WCC closer August Souza posted a 1.69 ERA in 32.0 innings pitched in 2023, leading the Broncos with five saves. Arizona State plated three earned runs off of him in 4.1 innings. He did not allow more than two earned runs in 12 appearances a season ago.
• The team posted 52 runs in the eighth inning of games last season, just under a run per game. The team bat .326 in the eighth inning of games with a .526 slugging percentage. The squad had 25 home runs total in innings 7-9 - easily surpassing its total of 17 from the previous season.
• ASU has scored 58 runs in the 7-9th innings this season, and has scored 30 runs in the seventh inning of games alone.
• ASU is batting .348 in the seventh inning of games and n.313 in the eighth, recording 23 extra base-hits in the process.

HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS

• ASU did its part to shake off some of that bad mojo from the 2022  in close games last year, winning seven one-run games (going 7-3 after going just 1-7 in such games in 2022) and 18-9 in games decided by three runs or less - a category ASU was 14-16 in in 2022.
• This season, ASU is 8-10 in games decided by three runs or less after getting swept in Pullman by a grand total of four runs. The team is 5-3 in one-run games but oddly gone 1-5 in two-run games..
• ASU trailed at one point in 26 of its last 32 victories dating abck to last season. It has trailed in nine of the 11  wins this season.
• Last season, ASU was incredibly efficient at closing games out, going 24-4 when leading after six, 27-1 when leading after seven and 29-0 when leading after eight. ASU is 7-2 when leading after six, 8-2 after seven and 7-1 after eight this season. The loss of a ninth-inning lead in the second game against Oregon marked the first time ASU had lost a game when leading after eight innings since Feb. 25, 2022 against BYU (led 4-2, lost 6-5). The Sun Devils had won 56 consecutive games when leading after eight innings prior to that.
• ASU has gone ahead in the ninth inning of three games this season, walking off Oregon, and taking road ninth-inning leads at Arizona and at UNLV.
• In two-plus 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 had nine wins last season when trailing by at least three runs at some point in the game and four of those by at least five.
• ASU has four wins this season when trailing by three or more.
• 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 last season 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.
• Three times in 2022, 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). ASU surpassed that and won four games last season in which it trailed by five runs.
• The Sun Devils have two such games this season, adding their ninth game under Bloomquist to that tally coming back from a 7-1 deficit against UNLV on Monday, improving to 7-2 in games that featured a five-run comeback at some point under Bloomquist. .

DO I KNOW YOU?

• The Sun Devils welcome an incredible 27 new faces to the roster in 2023. The class features D1Baseball's No. 23 freshman group in the country and the No. 25 transfer class, a year removed from posting the No. 2 transfer class in the nation.
• The roster will feature 11 freshman arms, an incredible tally considering the 2022 team didn't have a single freshman arm on the roster.
• Thomas Burns is slated to become the first true freshman pitcher to start on opening night since the 2006 season when Ike Davis did it.
• The team will feature two new middle infielders for the second consecutive season after having at least one returner up the middle from 2018-22.
• Harris Williams, an All-WCC player at San Francisco last season, was the only transfer player named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 team aa voted upon by the league's coaches.
• The Sun Devils added another pair of All-WCC players in USF's Mario Demera and Santa Clara's Eamonn Lance.
• In addition to the guys playing on the field, the team also welcomed a slew of new faces on the coaching and support staff, highlighted by former Central Arizona College head coach Anthony Gilich as the team's third paid assistant, taking advantage of new NCAA legislation allowing for there to be a third coach. Sun Devil legend Brett Wallace also joined the staff as the Director of Quality Control and Offensive Strategy.

WHO'S THE NU'U GUY

• Nu'u Contrades entersedthe season as a Preseason All-Pac-12 selection and as D1Baseball's No. 46 third baseman in the country.
• The sophomore is reaching base at a .346 clip - striking out just twice in his first 21 ABs appearances, an area he struggled in last season, though he has missed action lately with a lingering back injury.
• The ASU third baseman bat .309 with 20 extra base hits (eight homers, two triples, 10 doubles), recording 40 RBIs
• The .309 average was in the Top-5 for freshmen in the Pac-12 last season and Top-50 among all freshmen in the country...The rally at the dish came despite the youngster still sitting below the Mendoza line as of March 7
• He obliterated the University of Arizona in the three-game series in Tempe, where he was 7-14 (.500) with eight RBI, three runs scored...He plated the winning run in Saturday's series-securing victory and scored it in the series finale Sunday and was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week in the process. He led the team with 10 RBIs (of 31 total for the week for ASU) with a .947 slugging percentage while batting .474 on 9-of-19 hitting in four total games that week
• Honored as the team's Bobby Winkles Award winner as a true freshman, Nu'u Contrades found himself at home in the valley as he earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors as an infielder.
• Had a productive Summer Ball campaign in the Northwoods League for the Duluth Huskies, making the league All-Star game and was the league leader in RBIs with 71 while slashing .320/.423/.563, recording 17 doubles and 13 homers across 60 games and 231 ABs

PRESEASON ACCOLADES

• The Sun Devils had five position players honored by the Pac-12 Coaches in being selected to the Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference team last week in Ryan Campos, Jacob Tobias, Nu'u Contrades, Nick McLain and Harris Williams
• The five selections were two more position players than any other team in the league.
• Williams was the only transfer recogized on the Preseason All-Pac-12 team by the coaches.
• Nick McLain was tabbed by D1Baseball at the No. 53 collegiate prospect in the 2024 MLB Draft with Ryan Campos checking in at No. 95. Isaiah Jackson was dubbed the No. 17 collegiate prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft by the outlet and Nu'u Contrades as the No. 52 prospect.
• The Sun Devils brought in the No. 25 transfer class in the nation, according to D1Baseball, highlighted by San Francisco All-WCC competitors Harris Williams and Mario Demera, Santa Clara's All-WCC Eamonn Lance and highly touted junior college transfer Kevin Karstetter out of the State College of Florida.
• Campos was ranked as the No. 10 catcher in the country for 2024 by D1Baseball, with Jacob Tobias as the No. 44 first baseman, Nu'u Contrades as the No. 46 third baseman and Harris Williams as the No. 88 outfielder in the country.
• McLain was tabbed as the No. 6 Pac-12 prospect in the 2024 Draft class with Campos checking in at No. 10, according to D1Baseball. Isaiah Jackson is the No. 3 prospect in the 2025 Draft Class in the league with Nu'u Contrades tabbed at No. 7.
• ASU also brought in the No. 23 freshman class in the country, according to D1Baseball, highlighted by middle infielders Ethan Mendoza and Jax Ryan, local two-way prospect Cole Carlon and Opening Night starter Thomas Burns out of Wisconsin.