Devils Welcome Dawgs In Penultimate Pac-12 Series

PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball continues its nine-game home stand this weekend with the penultimate series of its Pac-12 schedule, taking on Washington for a three-game series beginning Friday, May 3. The final series between the two squads in the Pac-12 era will get underway at 6:30 p.m. AZT on Friday, as well as on Saturday, before concluding on Sunday at 1 p.m. AZT.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

• All three tilts this weekend will be available Pac-12 Arizona this weekend with Daron Sutton on the call. 
• All games this weekend are slated to be on the 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. Ryan Campos has thrown out 14 of the last 26 runners attempting to steal on him after doing so on just 2 of the first 19 this season. 

2. In the USC finale, the Sun Devils turned their first triple play since 2007 and are one of just six teams with a triple play in D1 this season. 

3. Connor Markl has a 2.27 ERA in Pac-12 games, which is the second-best among Pac-12 starting pitchers behind only Utah's Bryson Van Sickle (2.03)

4. Connor Markl has given ASU 5.0 innings of work in seven-straight starts - tied for the most at ASU since Alec Marsh had 19 in 2019.

5. In the last 22 games, Kien Vu leads ASU with a .468 average and a team-best 31 RBIs. His .909 SLG% is over .150 points higher than the closest hitter.

6. This season, ASU has posted 44 innings with three or more runs scored with 28 different innings where the team has scored four or more. 

7. The Sun Devils have trailed at some point in 33 of the team's last 45 victories dating back to last season following two come-from-behind wins vs. UCSD.

8. With one more double, Campos will become the 4th player under Willie Bloomquist to have 20+ 2B/10+ HR in a year. ASU had just 4 from 1998-2021.

9. The Sun Devils have struck out double digit batters in 22 of 44 games. The total is notable as ASU had just 21 total games a season ago. 

10. Mario Demera has quietly put up the third-most RBIs on the team over ASU's last 22 games, posting 19. He trails only Vu (31) and Campos (23).

BY THE NUMBERS
92 - Ryan Campos has reached base in a ridiculous 125-of-135 (92.7%) career games with ASU. Campos has the 32ne-best active career batting average (.354) - second among the nation's catchers and sixth among players with at least 500 career at-bats (492). Campos currently paces the Pac-12 with 19 doubles this season - a tally good for 11th in the country. His 10 homers are 10th in the league. With one more double, Campos will become the fourth player under Willie Bloomquist to have at least 20 doubles and 10 homers, joining Joe Lampe, Nate Baez and Luke Keaschall. 

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 29 of 46 games this season and is tops in the Pac-12 with 476 total hits on the year. (19th nationally). The pitching staff has struck out double-digit batters in 22 of 46 games, posting  10.1 strikeouts per nine innings this season - a total good for 26th in the country and tops in the Pac-12.. It is also notable as the team struck out 10 or more batters in just 21 total games a season ago.

8 - ASU pitchers have made a habit of escaping jams under pitching coach Sam Peraza, stranding 1,315 baserunners over 159 games, an average of 8.3 stranded opponent runners per game. ASU has stranded 382 in 46 games this season. The Sun Devil bullpen has allowed just 50 of 124 (40.3 percent) inherited runners to score this season, paced by Ryan Schiefer (6-of-21) Sean Fitzpatrick (3-of-15), and Hunter Omlid (4-of-14). A key to that is relievers getting outs as soon as they enter the game. Fitzpatrick and Cole Carlon lead that pack, retiring the first batter they faced 14 and 15 first batters of 20 faced, respectively.

2 - Now eligible for the NCAA at-bat minimums to qualify for stats, Kien Vu enters the weekend second in the nation in batting average at .450, trailing only Golden Spikes favorite Charlie Condon at Georgia. His .840 slugging percentage is 11th nationally and second in the Pac-12 and his .509 OBP is 33rd nationally and second in the league. Vu has an active 12-game hitting streak going entering the weekend, the longest by a Sun Devil this season and has homered in 7 of his last 14 games. He has 37 RBIs on the year, 14th in the Pac-12 despite his AB limitations. 

LAST TIME OUT: USC/UCSD

• The Sun Devil offense roared to life over its last five games, winning two of three to take the series from USC last weekend and sweeping UC San Diego in a pair of midweek contests this week.
• ASU outscored its opponents 69-27 in the five games, reaching double digits in scoring in all four wins. ASU has bat .398 as a team and slugged an absurd .768 as a squad behind 17 homers, three triples and 10 doubles to go with its .476 OBP.
• Eight different Sun Devils bat over .400 during the stretch, paced by .500 efforts from Steven Ondina, Isaiah Jackson and Nick McLain. Kien Vu leads the team with 11 RBIs and a 1.000 slugging percentage over the last five games with three homers, a triple and a double. 
• ASU's 19 runs on Wednesday were the most allowed by UCSD this season, which entered the midweek series with a team 4.64 ERA. It was tied for the most the Tritons have allowed since April 30, 2021 (20 vs. UC Riverside).
• ASU's 19 runs were the most it has scored this season and the most the team has had since scoring 21 against Santa Clara on April 11, 2022.
• Isaiah Jackson's eight putouts in center field are tied with Hunter Bishop (2019) for the second-most for an ASU outfielder since 1998 behind Joe Lampe's nine in 2021. Coincidentally, all three of those games have taken place against USC.
• Ben Jacobs' career-high 11 strikeouts on Friday marked him as the third DIFFERENT ASU pitcher to record a 10 strikeout game this season, joining Wyatt Halvorson (13) and Hunter Omlid (11).
• ASU turned its first triple play since 2007 in that finale and is one of just seven teams in the country to accomplish the feat this year.
• The eight earned runs allowed by USC starter Tyler Stromsborg in just three innings on Friday were the most he had given up this season (the previous being 6 in 5.0 innings). In fact, it was the most the senior had allowed in his career, which includes 34 starts in 38 appearances and 184.2 innings pitched entering the night.
• ASU's three home runs in the first of the series clinching Saturday win were the second time this season the squad recorded three first inning home runs (led off the Utah finale with three solo homers). Since at least 1998 (as far back as easily accessible play-by-plays), ASU had never had more than two home runs in a first inning of a game.
• USC  starter Michael Ebner had not given up a home run all season in 24.2 innings pitch and had given up just three total in his career over 25 career appearances prior to the three he gave up in the first inning allowed to the Sun Devils.
• Ebner had entered the game allowing opponents to bat just .208 on the year and had never given up more than four hits in a single outing before giving up five to ASU in the first inning alone.
• The six runs allowed by USC reliever Jared Feikes on Saturday were the most he has allowed in his career, which spans 67 appearances and over 200 innings pitched.
• The series marked the first USC had given up double digit runs in consecutive games since Feb. 25 and 26 at Auburn last season. The 17 runs on Saturday were the most since Stanford scored 22 on May 20, 2022 and the 29 runs between Friday and Saturday were the most USC had allowed in a two-game stretch since 34 against Stanford in the final two games of that season (22 and 12).
• ASU's four home runs on Friday and Saturday were the most USC had given up in a game this season.

ON DECK: Washington

• Arizona State owns a 44-30 advantage in the all-time series with Washington, including 21-12 in Arizona. The two sides split last season's series in Seattle, with Sunday's finale being cancelled due to rain. 
• The Huskies are seeking their first four-game winning streak of the season. UW is coming off of a series win over No. 16 Arizona followed by an in-state midweek victory over Gonzaga Tuesday.
• All three games of the Arizona series were decided by a single run...Saturday's victory over Arizona snapped an 11-game Pac-12 winning streak for the Wildcats... Washington's Sunday win in 13 innings was its first extra innings win of the season.
• The Huskies have posted double digit hits in nine of the last 13 games.
•  Aiva Arquette is riding a 17-game hitting streak, while Cam Clayton has hit safely in 13-straight games.
•  The Huskies rank 19th nationally with a .979 team fielding percentage.

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 32ne-best active career batting average (.354) - second among the nation's catchers and sixth among players with at least 500 career at-bats (492).
• Campos has reached base in a ridiculous 125-of-135 (92.6%) career games with the Sun Devils overall. He had a 40-game reached base streak dating back to 2023 snapped at Oregon State but has, regardless, reached base in 45 of 46 games for ASU this season. 
• Campos currently paces the Pac-12 with 19 doubles this season - a tally good for 11th in the country. His 10 homers are 10th in the league as well.
• With one more double, Campos will become the fourth player under Willie Bloomquist to have at least 20 doubles and 10 homers, joining Joe Lampe, Nate Baez and Luke Keaschall. That tally is notable as ASU had just five players total accomplish the feat between 1998-2021. 
• His 46 RBIs this season are tops on the team - nine more than any other player -  and sixth in the Pac-12. His 17 two-out RBI are the second-most on the squad.
• After an uncharacteristically low Sub-.300 average for the majority of the season, Campos rode a hot April where he bat .409 over 17 games to bring his average up to .322 for the season - good for 17th in the Pac-12. Campos has bat .375 in Pac-12 games, a tally that is good for fifth in the league. 
• Campos' .438 average OBP is second on the roster and eighth in the Pac-12 while his ..599 slugging percentage is 10th in the league. He is slugging .698 in Pac-12-only games, the fourth-best tally in the conference. 
• The junior has solidified his spot as a leadoff batter in recent weeks and has posted a gaudy .525 on-base percentage when leading off an inning this season, reaching on 31-of-59 chances.
• Campos has 34 walks on the season, good for fourth in the league. 
•  In fact, despite having more strikeouts than he did all last season  (19), Campos still has more walks and his 0.56 strikeout-to-walk ratio is second in the Pac-12. He has  struck out just four times in the last 27 games after having 15 in the first 19.
• He easily leads the team in productive outs, advancing runners with an out 26 times - 12 more than any of his teammates.
• His 53 runs scored also pace the team and are good for second in the Pac-12. 
• Campos has been exceptional behind the plate as well, throwing out 13 of the last 26 baserunners attempting to steal on him after posting just a 2-for-19 tally to start the year. His 16 runners caught stealing is tied for the Pac-12 lead and his 30 defensive assists this season are third  among Pac-12 catchers. 
• 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. 
• Campos reached base in all but two games last season. The only two games he did not reach base were once during opening weekend and then 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 second on the team in batting .326 on the season with 31 RBIs, 13 doubles and 12 homers, the latter of which is good for sixth in the Pac-12 while the doubles are eighth. His .606 slugging percentage is ninth in the league.
•  His .333 average in Pac-12 only games in 17th in the league and his seven homers in league games are second. He is slugging .656 in Pac-12 games, the sixth-best tally in the conference.
• His 13 doubles give him 32 for his ASU career while the 12 homers have bumped his career tally to 29. The 29 homers are tied for the 10th-most at ASU since the 1998 season.
• The junior posted his first career five-hit game in the finale against Arizona and added a four-hit game against Utah.
• Tobias was named by D1Baseball as the No. 44 first baseman in the country entering this season.
• 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.

ENJOYING THE VU

• No player has been swinging a better bat over the last month for the Sun Devils - or the Pac-12 - than Kien Vu.
• In the month of April, Vu posted a .439 average to lead the Sun Devils, boasting a gaudy .848 slugging percentage that was 100 points higher than any of his teammates. He had seven homers, four doubles and a triple while driving in 26 runs - 12 more than any other Sun Devil for the month. His efforts garnered him finalist consideration for the NCBWA Hitter of the Month.
• Overall on the season, Vu has a .450 average over 35 games and 23 starts. His 37 RBIs are already second on the squad despite having over 30 fewer at-bats than the team's eight AB leaders.
• His .840 slugging percentage (nine homers, eight doubles, two triple) is easily tops on the team while he also leads the squad with eight stolen bases on a perfect 8-for-8 on his attempts. He is reaching base at a .509 clip on the year.
• Vu now has enough ABs to qualify for NCAA and Pac-12 statistic minimums and enters the weekend with the second-best batting average in the COUNTRY, trailing only Golden Spikes favorite Charlie Condon of Georgia.
• His .840 slugging percentage is 11th nationally and second in the Pac-12 and his .509 OBP is 33rd nationally and second in the league.
• Vu has an active 12-game hitting streak going entering the weekend, the longest by a Sun Devil this season and has homered in 7 of his last 14 games.

ACTION JACKSON

• After a solid freshman showing Isaiah Jackson has shown continued exceptional defensive skills while adding 27 RBIs - sixth on the team - and eight homers.  Jackson is batting .261 on the year but has reached base at a .354 clip thanks to 17 doubles and four HBPs.
• Jackson's 27 RBIs are notable as he had just 28 total through the entirety of the his freshman season.
• Jackson has been second on the team in productive outs, advancing runners with an out 14 times. 
• The sophomore recorded SportsCenter's No. 1 play this past Sunday with his incredibly leaping grab over the wall in right center field to rob a three-run homer from the Bruins, becoming a viral sensation overnight with several million views of the catch over multiple platforms. 
• Jackson's eight putouts in center field in the USC finale are tied with Hunter Bishop (2019) for the second-most for an ASU outfielder since 1998 behind Joe Lampe's nine in 2021. Coincidentally, all three of those games have taken place against USC.
• 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.

BIG MAC

• Nick McLain missed the start of the 2024 campaign for the second-straight season due to having his other hamate bone removed but has been very productive since his return.
• After struggling following his return from that surgery, Nick McLain  had a monster eight-game stretch between the Washington State and Cal weekends, batting  a team-best .438 (14-of-32) with eight extra base hits for a .906 slugging percentage, leading the team with 16 RBIs - five more than any other player. He has three homers, four doubles and a triple in the stretch.
• McLain has drawn 26 walks this year and been hit five times, a large part of his .406 OBP despite his .273 average on the year. His 15.8 walk percentage this season is ninth in the Pac-12 and is 0.88 strikeout-to-walk ratio is tied for fifth in the league.
• He has brought the runner home from third with less than two outs 12 times this season - leading the team despite missing eight games. 
• McLain's 12 doubles this season are 14th in the league despite his games missed and his 0.33 doubles per game are seventh in the conference.
• Defensively, McLain is 35th in the country in defensive runs saved on fly balls at 3.73. He has no errors on 65 chances this season with a team-leading three outfield assists. 
• 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 has put together a solid seven-weekend stretch when ASU has needed it most, which included posting consecutive quality starts for the first time since Tyler Meyer in March of 2022.
• Markl has gone at least 5.0 innings in each of his last seven starts, eating up valuable innings while ASU battles with injuries on the mound. It is the first time in his career going 5.0+ innings in seven-straight games and tied for the most since current Kansas City Royals pitcher Alec Marsh started the 2019 season with 10 such games.l
• 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 two quality starts against Arizona and Washington State, Markl had 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 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 leads the team with three qualitystarts.
• The senior has been exceptional in league games and his 2.27 ERA is second in the conference among weekend starters behind only Utah's Bryson Van Sickle (2.03).
• Markl has a 3.44 overall ERA, which is eighth among Pac-12 pitchers and fifth among starters. 
• Opponents are slugging just .337 off of Markl, the third-lowest tally in the league.

NOT THEIR FIRST RODEO 

• While the names and faces of Harris Williams, Kevin Karstetter, Mario Demera, Eamonn Lance 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 five players had combined to play in 681 career games before even setting foot on ASU's campus.
• Williams, a USF transfer who ranks in the Top-50 among all active Division I players in career games played (207), is batting .276  on the season.
• Williams was responsible for the team's walk-off two-RBI double is ASU's home win GCU, ready when his number was called after not starting and not entering the game until the seventh inning as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement. 
• Williams has 11 multi-hit games this year. His 11 doubles are 22nd in the league. 
• The super-duper senior has advanced baserunners at  a .514 clip, doing so on 37-of-72 chances. He has gotten the job done as the leadoff batter as well, reaching on 24-of-62 chances while leading off an inning ( .387).
• Williams has brought the runner home from third with less than two outs 10 times, third,  and has been solid with runners in scoring position, batting .316 (12-of-38).
• Steven Ondina has sneakily put up a .303 average this season that is good for fifth on the team and has been among ASU's hottest players in the last 10 games where he has bat .405 with nine RBIs, two homers and a triple. 
• Ondina has seven stolen bases while making several highlight reel plays at shortstop en route to a team-best 77 defensive assists this year. He has just four errors over 82 chances in the last 22 games for a solid .953 fielding percentage at short, posting a team-best 53 assists in that stretch.
• Demera has seen an uptick in playing time and has been pivotal in filling the void at third-base with Nu'u Contrades' season-ending injury. He was responsible for the go-ahead grand slam in the fifth inning of ASU's series-clinching win over Cal. It was his the first home run as a Sun Devil and also the first home run given up by Cal reliever Tyler Stasiowski this season. It was the first he had allowed since March 7, 2023 against Villanova, ending a streak of 29 straight appearances and 43.0 innings without allowing a long ball. 
• It was Demera's first homer since April 22 of last year against San Diego and just his sixth career homer over three-plus seasons and over 130 games played with over 450 at-bats.
• In the last 22 games, Demera has quietly put up  19  RBIs, good for third on the squad in that stretch. He has just two errors at third base in that span as well, posting a .950 fielding percentage at the hot corner.
• Eamonn Lance hasn't cared if its a start or a pinch hit in his last 18 appearance where he has  five homers and 14 RBIs, posting a .659 slugging percentage. He was the only player to record an RBI in all three games against Oregon State, doing so twice as a pinch hitter - including breaking up a shutout in the ninth inning in Saturday's game with a solo home run. He added another pinch hit homer, a two-run shot, in the finale against UCLA as well. 
• Of his 11 hits this season, five have left the ball park.
• Karstetter has been solid with a.333 average with runners in scoring position (8-of-24).

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 is third on the team with his .324 average this season, good for 16th in the Pac-12. 
• His .422 average on balls in play, however, is fifth in the Pac-12. His .364 mark (16-of-44) with runners in scoring position is second on the team.
• His 36 RBIs are third on the team and 16th in the Pac-12 and his 19 two-out RBIs are pace the team.
• Compton is 14th in the Pac-12 with 12 doubles this year and 12th with nine homers - two of which have been grand slams.
• His 1.013 OPS is third on the squad and 11th in the Pac-12 while his .287 ISO Slugging (Slugging Minus Average) is eighth 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 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 .293 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 fourth on the team 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 has five games with three or more hits this season, tied for the most on the team.
• He notched his first career homer against UCSD this week and his 44 total hits are tied for fourth on the quad. 
• His 11 hits with runners in scoring position are fifth on the team. 
• 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.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS

• Ben Jacobs has put together an impressive season for ASU and done so in a number of roles, making six starts while coming out of the pen 10 times.
• Jacobs has a team-best 67 strikeouts this season over just 44.2 innings.
• The 67 strikeouts are sixth-best in the league but his 13.50 K/9 is easily tops in  league among players with at least 30 innings pitched this year with only Stanford's Matt Scott (12.00) coming close).
• Jacobs struck out a career-best 11 hitters in his Friday night win over USC, earning a quality start with a career-best 6.1 innings of work while allowing just a single run. 
• Jacobs' only struggle has been keeping the ball in the park with 10 of his 43 total hits allowed this year being homers and accounting for 14 runs  of his 24 total earned runs allowed. 
• Jacobs has been especially deadly against lefties, holding left-handed batters to just a .210 average on 13-of-62 batting this year.

GRABBING THE BULL-PEN BY THE HORNS

• The Sun Devil bullpen has made a habit of escaping jams under pitching coach Sam Peraza, stranding 1,315 baserunners over 159 games, an average of 8.3 stranded opponent runners per game. ASU has stranded 382 in 46 games this season.
• Ryan Schiefer has a 3.74 ERA over 33.2 innings and 17 appearances - all out of the pen - holding opponents to a .210 average overall.  Schiefer has given up just 25 total hits on the season. He leads the team with three saves this season and also leads the team in stranding 13 inherited runners on the year, allowing just 6-of-21 to score. 
• Hunter Omlid has come on strong of late in 16 relief appearances, posting a 4.03 ERA out of the bullpen and holding opponents to just a .190 average against. He has stranded 10 of his 14 inherited runners on the year. His 11 total strikeouts against Utah Valley were his most at the Division I level, trailing only a 12-strikeout game while at Central Arizona in 2021. It was the most strikeouts for an ASU relief pitcher since Tyler Thornton struck out 11 in 7.0 innings against Rhode Island on April 30, 2021. 
• Overall, with his first start as a Sun Devil against UCLA included, Omlid has a 3.76 ERA over 26.1 innings with 39 strikeouts to 13 walks while holding opponents to a .191 average against
• ASU relief pitchers have inherited 124 baserunners this season, of which only 50 have scored (40.3).  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. 
• Scheifer paces the category, stranding 15 of his 21 inherited runners, Sean Fitzpatrick has done so on 3-of-15, Hunter Omlid on 4-of-14 and Matt Cornelius on 6-of-14.
• Recording the first out when coming into the game out of the pen has been a highlight for several bullpen members, with Cole Carlon and Sean Fitzpatrick leading the way in retiring 15 of the 20 first batters followed by Fitzpatrick's 14-of-20 mark on first batters faced when entering the game out of the pen. 
• ASU's 17 strikeouts against Ohio State AND Cal State Fullerton are the most by a Pac-12 team this season. ASU is also one of just two teams 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 ninth in the country with 110 doubles this year in 46 games and the 2.39 doubles per game are 13th in the nation. 
• 14 different Sun Devils have multiple doubles this season - the most of any school in the Pac-12. 
• Ryan Campos is the Pac-12 leader with 19 doubles this year - a tally good for 11th nationally. Jacob Tobias is eighth in the league with 13,  Brandon Compton and Nick McLain are 14th in the league with 12 and Harris Williams has 11. ASU is the only Pac-12 school with five players with double digit doubles this season. No other has more than three. 
• ASU has multiple doubles in 29 games this season and at least one double in 41 of 46 games.
• The team needs just 17 to crack into the Top-10 of ASU team's since 1998 in the category (127).
• 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 third in the Pac-12 and 44th in college baseball this season with 70 home runs.
• ASU homered once in each of the three games against Oregon State, notable as the Beavers had allowed just 10 homers all season entering the weekend and just five total at Goss Stadium. ASU had six homers in its road series against UCLA, the most allowed by UCLA in a three-game series this year. ASU had four in each of its first two games against USC, the most the Trojans had allowed in a game all year.
• The Sun Devils had eight homers in the Oregon series. Unfortunately, all came of the solo variety. 
• The Sun Devils continue looking for the big hit with runners on base as ASU now has 36 solo homers on its 70 this season. Of the team's 36 solo homers, however, 17 were of the leadoff variety and didn't give anyone a chance to be on base while four others came as part of back-to-back homers and thus, the same principle.
• Clutch homers have increased recently though, with 17 of ASU's 37 homers in the last 28 games coming with two outs. Five of ASU's six homers against UCLA were two-run shots and 5 of 10 against USC were multi-run bombs, as were five of its seven against UC San Diego.
• Nine different Sun Devils have multiple homers and 12 players have homered overall.
• The Sun Devils hit 19 more homers during the 2023 season (83) than it did the prior year. 12 different players logged a home run last season for ASU and 10 had multiple home runs.
• Last season, 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.  The Sun Devils have five players were at least seven homers this season as well, with several still in striking distance with a month to play.
• ASU's 83 homers last season 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

• This season, ASU has now posted 44 3+ run innings and 28 4+ run innings. ASU has 12 innings with 5+ runs. 
• The Sun Devils thrived in the big innings a year ago as well, 12 times recording five or more runs in an inning. The team recorded 51 innings with three or more runs scored - both tallies in danger of being surpassed by this year's squad
• ASU has recorded 10 or more hits in 29 of 46 games this season.ASU's 476 total hits this season are tops in the Pac-12 and 19th nationally.
• The Sun Devils' recent offense surge has boosted its team slugging percentage to .502 on the year, good for second in the Pac-12 and 49th nationally. The batting average is up to .294 for the year, good for third in the Pac-12.
• ASU has scored 89 runs in the 7-9th innings this season, and has scored 42 runs in the seventh inning of games alone. 
• The Sun Devils have truly excelled in the third innings of games this year, outscoring opponents 57-27 in the frame, batting a whopping .341 and slugging at a .551 clip with 20 doubles and seven long balls.
• 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.

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 13-12 in games decided by three runs or less. The team is 7-3 in one-run games but oddly gone an unsightly 3-7 in two-run games.. ASU's seven wins in one run games already matches last season's total and is the most since the team had nine in the 2017 season.
• The walk-off win against GCU was ASU's fourth this season as a result of a ninth-inning lead change, with walk-offs against Oregon and GCU and ninth-inning go-ahead runs on the road against Arizona and UNLV.
• It was the third time ASU has won a game this year when trailing after eight innings - already matching its most since the 2017 season - and fourth when trailing OR tied after 8 (achieved in 2017 and 2021). The team had five wins when trailing or tied after eight in 2016 and nine in 2015. However, should ASU win another game in which it trails after eight innings, it would be the most since the team had five such victories in 2006. 
• ASU trailed at one point in 33 of its last 45 victories dating back to last season and all but eight of its wins this season, though it has flipped the script on that in the last couple weeks and won six of the last  nine (vs. Utah, at Fullerton, 2x at UCLA, 2x vs. USC) without trailing at any point
• 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. This season ASU is 20-2 when leading after six, 18-2 after seven and 17-1 after eight. 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 five 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.

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.
• Burns has been sidelined with shoulder inflammation the last three weekends. 
• 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  prior to his injury -  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. 
• Prior to his injury, he had stranded 89.6 percent of his baserunners this season - the 14th-highest tally of any eligible pitcher in the country this year and tops in the Pac-12.
• Prior to his recent absence, Burns was seventh 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). He had struck out 28.5 percent of the batters he has faced this year, a tally good for sixth in the Pac-12.

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.