Baseball Concludes Pac-12 Regular Season Era at The Farm

PALO ALTO -- Sun Devil Baseball will conclude the Pac-12 regular season era this weekend on the road, squaring off with long-time rival Stanford for one final clash at the Sunken Diamond in Palo Alto, Calif.  The three-game series will get underway on Friday, May 10 at 6 p.m. AZT, continuing Saturday at 2 p.m. and concluding on Sunday at 1 p.m. ASU will conclude the regular season next weekend at home with three non-conference games - two against Texas Tech and one against UNLV - before setting its sight on the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz., the following week.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

• All three tilts this weekend will be available through the Stanford Live Stream at https://pac-12.com/live/stanford-university
• 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. Nick McLain is the National Player of the Week by D1Baseball, NCAA Baseball, the NCBWA and the Pac-12 Player of the Week. 

2. Nick McLain homered in five straight games last week and rides a 12-game hitting streak into the weekend. He has double digit RBIs in 7 of last 8.

3. Jonah Giblin has allowed just one earned run over his last eight appearances over 15.1 innings, lowering his ERA from 10.03 to 4.85 in the process. 

4. ASU has stranded 1,347 baserunners over 163 games since '22 -  8.3 stranded opponent runners per game. It has stranded 412 in 50 games this year.

5. In the last 26 games, Kien Vu leads ASU with a .427 AVG and  35 RBIs - seven more than any other player. He is sixth in D1 Baseball with his .420 average.

6. This season, ASU has posted 51 innings with three or more runs and 33 different innings with 4+. The team has 14 5+ run innings.

7. The Sun Devils have trailed at some point in 35 of the team's last 47 victories dating back to last season  and in each of its four wins last week.

8. Ben Jacobs is 15th in the country and 1 in the Pac-12 with his 13.50 K/9 tally. His 76 Ks are 5th in the Pac-12 despite starting 5 less games than than those ahead.

9. ASU has 10 different players with 20 or more RBIs this season, tied for the most in the Pac-12 and the most for an ASU team since 2013.

10. Mario Demera has queitly put up the third-most RBIs on the team over ASU's last 25 games, posting 23. 

BY THE NUMBERS
92 - Ryan Campos has reached base in a ridiculous 129-of-139 (92.8%) career games with ASU. Campos has the 26th-best active career batting average (.357) - third among the nation's catchers and seventh among players with at least 500 career at-bats (529). Campos is the fourth player in three seasons under Willie Bloomquist to record at least 20 doubles and 10 homers in a season (Nate Baez and Joe Lampe in 2022, Luke Keaschall 2023) - a notable tally as just five Sun Devils accomplished the feat between 1998-2021. He is one of just 9 players in D1 with 20 doubles and 10 homers this year.

81- The Sun Devils have been on a home run tear in recent weeks, now sitting 33rd in the country with 81 homers - just two shy of its season total last year. It is already the fifth-best tally for an ASU team since the 1998 season, with the record in that time of 94 (2019) being feasibly achieveable with at least eight games left.  ASU has homered in 16 straight games and has multiple homers in 9 of the last 10. In each of its last four series (UCLA, USC, UCSD, UW), ASU has had at least one game where it recorded the most home runs allowed by that team in a game this season.

13 - Prior to Tuesday, the Sun Devils had averaged 13.7 runs per game over the team's previous nine games, scoring 123 runs in the process. ASU has reached double digits in scoring in seven of those games. The recent tear now has the Sun Devils ranked second in the league in scoring (7.6 runs per game) and total runs 382 - a total that is good for 42nd in the country. ASU's offensive output in the last month now sees the team boast a .303 overall batting average, first in the Pac-12 and 42nd in the country (15th among Power Five schools). ASU's .519 slugging percentage is second in the league and 35th in the country

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 33 of 50 games this season - and 10 of last 11 - and is tops in the Pac-12 with 539 total hits on the year (6th nationally). The pitching staff has struck out double-digit batters in 24 of 50 games, posting  10.1 strikeouts per nine innings this season - a total good for 23rd 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.

LAST TIME OUT: Washinton/#17 Arizona

• The Sun Devil offense erupted for 41 runs over three games to take the series from Washington in dramatic fashion, recording a Nick McLain walk-off grand slam in extras to win 11-7 before getting an eighth-inning go-ahead three-run shot on Saturday to cap off an frantic 21-18 affair in the rubber match. The team posted double-digit hits again against Arizona on Tuesday in a midweek non-conference tilt but a pair of brutal double plays and poor situational hitting led to a 5-3 loss in Phoenix.
• The 21 runs (on 23 hits) in the UW finale were the most since scoring 21 at Santa Clara on April 11, 2022 and tied for the most since scoring 26 against Northern Illinois in 2010. It was the most runs scored in a Pac-12 game since ASU scored 23 against Arizona on March 22, 2009.
• It was the most runs Washington had allowed since giving up 21 against Utah on May 29, 2016. That was the most since allowing 25 to, coincidentally, ASU on May 12, 2000.
• Brandon Compton's first-inning grand slam was his third grand slam of the year - tied for second-most in single-season school history behind only Jeff Larish (4) in 2003. It is also the most since that two seasons when Larish had four while Steve Garrabants and Jeremy West had three. 
• UW starter Reilly McAdams had allowed just six runs total in 19.0 innings over 11 games this season before giving up five to the Sun Devils in the first, his only frame of the game.
• ASU had scored 123 runs over its nine games (13.7 runs per game) through the UW finale  double digits in seven of those prior to the bats cooling in a three-run effort against rival Arizona on Tuesday.
• Nick McLain homered for the fifth-straight game in the UW to cap off a gaudy week at the plate with his first career five-hit game. In ASU's five games last week, McLain bat .591 (13-of-22) with 13 RBIs and scored 14 runs. He hit a walk-off grand slam in extra innings (10) to defeat Washington on Friday. He slugged 1.364 on the week with five homers and two doubles, striking out just once and reaching base at a .654 clip for a gaudy 2.018 OPS. His efforts were rewarded as the unanimous National and Conference Player of the Week by all major outlets, including NCBWA, NCAA Baseball, D1Baseball and the Pac-12 Conference. 
• Ethan Mendoza entered last week with no homers before registering three over ASU's five games last week - the first three of the freshman's career. None were bigger than his go-ahead three-run shot in the eighth of the rubber match on Sunday. That capped off a five-game stretch for the freshman where he bat .556 on 10-of-18 hitting with three homers, a triple, two doubles and an insane 1.278 OBP while scoring ten runs.
• ASU's four homers in Saturday and Sunday's games were the most allowed in a single game by the Huskies this season, the fourth-straight series in which ASU had accomplished that feat in at least one game (4 at UCLA, 4 vs. USC, 5 vs. UCSD and 4 vs. UW).

ON DECK: Stanford

• Stanford is the lone Pac-12 team with an overall winning record all-time against Arizona State since ASU became an NCAA program in 1959, posting a 109-104 record all-time against the Sun Devils - keyed by winning the last nine games in the series.
• Stanford is the one team that has truly had ASU's numbers in recent history as the Sun Devils have gone just 3-16 against Stanford since the 2017 season. ASU has not won a game at the Sunken Diamond since 2016.
• Stanford was swept in a three-game series last weekend for the first time since losing all three at then-No. 16/11 Arizona March19-22,2022
• Has won seven of its last 13 after dropping the previous four straight, but has lost three straight and 19 of thelast 31 overall after winning seven of its previous eight … four-game losing streak was the longest of the season...has wont hreeof its last five Pac-12 series, defeating Washington State,No. 16 Oregon  and California.
• Has put up double-digit runs in five of its last 13 games after managing double digitsj ust twice prior to that string... is 20-11 when scoring at least three runs in a game, but 0-14 when falling shortof three runs.
• Averaging 9.77strikeouts per nine innings to rank second in the Pac-12 and 33rd nationally...allowed thef irst run in seven of its first eight games of the season, but has scored first in 22 of the last 37 ... is 13-10 when scoring first and 7-15 when the opponent scores first ... is 17-8 when posting more hits than its opponent, 2-16 when the opponent manages more hits, and 1-1 when hits are even.

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 and has twice been named Pac-12 Player of the Week this year.
• Campos has the 26th-best active career batting average (.357) - third among the nation's catchers and sixth among players with at least 500 career at-bats (529).
• Campos has reached base in a ridiculous 129-of-139 (92.8%) 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 49 of 50 games for ASU this season. 
• Campos currently paces the Pac-12 with 20 doubles this season - a tally good for 11th in the country. His 10 homers are 12th in the league as well.
• Campos is the fourth player under Willie Bloomquist to have at least 20 doubles and 10 homers in a single season, joining Joe Lampe/Nate Baez (2022) and Luke Keaschall (2023. That tally is notable as ASU had just five players total accomplish the feat between 1998-2021. He is one of just nine players in D1 Baseball this season to reach the 20/10 mark.
• His 47 RBIs this season are tops on the team - five more than any other player -  and eighth in the Pac-12. His 18 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 and carried that through early May to bring his season total to .333 - good for 10th in the Pac-12. Campos has bat .384 in Pac-12 games, a tally that is good for third in the league. 
• His 20 multi-hit games are three more than any Sun Devil this year. 
• Campos' .442 average OBP is second on the roster and sixth in the Pac-12 while his .586 slugging percentage is 10th in the league. He is slugging .670 in Pac-12-only games, the fourth-best tally in the conference. 
• The junior has solidified his spot as a leadoff batter in the second half of the season and has posted a gaudy .525 on-base percentage when leading off an inning this season, reaching on 36-of-69 chances.
• Campos has 35 walks on the season, good for sixth in the league. 
•  In fact, despite having more strikeouts than he did all last season  (22), Campos still has more walks and his 0.63 strikeout-to-walk ratio is second in the Pac-12. He has  struck out just seven times in the last 31 games after having 15 in the first 19.
• He easily leads the team in productive outs, advancing runners with an out 27 times - 13 more than any of his teammates.
• His 59 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 16 of the last 45 baserunners attempting to steal on him (35.6 percent) after posting just a 2-for-21 tally to start the year. His 18 runners caught stealing lead the Pac-12 and his 34 defensive assists this season are tied for second  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 batting .311 on the season with 35 RBIs, 13 doubles and a team-leading 13 homers, the latter of which is good for sixth in the Pac-12 while the doubles are 17th. His .580 slugging percentage is 12th in the league.  He is slugging .617 in Pac-12 games, the seventh-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 30. The 30 homers are the ninth-most at ASU since the 1998 season.
• Tobias has a 16-game active reached base streak going into the weekend, second behind Campos's 19 and third longest over for the season (Campos had a 30-game streak to start the year as well).
• 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 swung a better bat over 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 .420 average over 39 games and 27 starts. His 41 RBIs are fourth on the squad despite having over 30 fewer at-bats than the team's eight AB leaders.
• His .773 slugging percentage (10 homers, eight doubles, two triples) 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 .385 clip on the year.
• Vu now has enough ABs to qualify for NCAA and Pac-12 statistic minimums and enters the weekend with the sixth-best batting average in the country and second in the Pac-12.
• His .773 slugging percentage is 31st nationally and second in the Pac-12 and his .485 OBP is  second in the league.
• Vu had a  15-game hitting streak ended on Tuesday against Arizona. It was the longest by a Sun Devil this season.

ACTION JACKSON

• After a solid freshman showing, Isaiah Jackson has shown continued exceptional defensive skills while adding 28 RBIs - sixth on the team - and eight homers.  Jackson is batting .270 on the year but has reached base at a .354 clip thanks to 17 walks and four HBPs.
• Jackson's 28 RBIs are already match his total from a season ago.
• The sophomore has been exceptional in the last 10 games, batting .412 on 14-of-34 hitting.
• 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 a couple weeks ago against UCLA with his incredible 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.
• McLain leads the Pac-12 in league-only games with 30 RBIs this season out of his 43 total - which are second on the team. His .588 slugging percentage in Pac-12 games in 12th in the league and his 17 extra-base hits in Pac-12 games are third. 
• The sophomore enters the weekend riding a 12-game hitting streak, the longest active streak on the Sun Devils and the second-longest streak of the season overall (Kien Vu's 15). He has reached base in 14 straight games.
• He leads the team with 13 multi-RBI games, having recorded seven such games in a row prior to the streak coming to an end Tuesday against Arizona.
• Nick McLain homered for the fifth-straight game in the UW finale to cap off a gaudy week at the plate with his first career five-hit game. In ASU's five games that week, McLain bat .591 (13-of-22) with 13 RBIs and scored 14 runs. He hit a walk-off grand slam in extra innings (10) to defeat Washington on Friday. He slugged 1.364 on the week with five homers and two doubles, striking out just once and reaching base at a .654 clip for a gaudy 2.018 OPS. His efforts were rewarded as the unanimous National and Conference Player of the Week by all major outlets, including NCBWA, NCAA Baseball, D1Baseball and the Pac-12 Conference. 
• McLain has drawn 27 walks this year and been hit six times, a large part of his .425 OBP over his .305 average on the year. His 14.5 walk percentage this season is 11th in the Pac-12 and is 0.89 strikeout-to-walk ratio is 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 13 doubles this season are 17th in the league despite his games missed.
• Defensively, McLain is 35th in the country in defensive runs saved on fly balls at 3.50. He has no errors on 81 chances this season with a team-leading four outfield assists. 
• McLain is one of just 15 eligible players in the Pac-12 to not record an error thus season and his 81 errorless chances are fourth among those. 
• After struggling following his return from hamate surgery to start the year, 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 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 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 went at least 5.0 innings in seven straight starts over the course of March and April, eating up valuable innings while ASU battles with injuries on the mound. It was the first time in his career going 5.0+ innings in seven-straight games and tied for the most at ASU since current Kansas City Royals pitcher Alec Marsh started the 2019 season with 10 such games.
• 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 quality starts.
• The senior has been exceptional in league games and his 3.83 ERA is ninth in the conference.
• Markl has a 4.61 overall ERA, which is 10th among Pac-12 pitchers with at least 10 starts
• Opponents are slugging just .379 off of Markl, the eighth-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 (209), is batting .284  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 12 multi-hit games this year. He is one of six Sun Devils with double digit doubles with 11.
• The super-duper senior has advanced baserunners at  a .532 clip, doing so on 41-of-77 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 .308 (12-of-39).
• Steven Ondina has sneakily put up a .292 average this season and has been among ASU's hottest players in the last 12 games where he has bat .348 with 14 RBIs, three homers and two triples. 
• Ondina has seven stolen bases while making several highlight reel plays at shortstop en route to a team-best 98 defensive assists this year, good for 14th among all Pac-12 defenders.
• Mario 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 25 games, Demera has quietly put up  23  RBIs, good for third on the squad in that stretch. He has just three errors at the hot corner in that stretch as well.
• Demera has also shown his veteran presence by being the team leader in successfully advancing runners at a .586 clip, doing so on 34-of-58 opportunities while being second on the team in scoring the runner from third with less than two outs at a .818 clip on 9-of-11 chances.
• Eamonn Lance has continued to be absolutely exceptional off the bench, recording a ninth-inning pinch-hit home run against Arizona on Tuesday - his third ninth-inning pinch hit homer of the year. He now has three homers as a punch hitter and a team-best six RBIs as a non-starter while batting .357. Lance now has 13 hits this season, six of which have left the ballpark while also adding two doubles. 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. 
• 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 second on the team with his .340 average this season.
• His .438 average on balls in play, however, is third in the Pac-12 and in the Top-60 nationally. 
• His .380 mark (19-of-50) with runners in scoring position is second on the team.
• His 42 RBIs are third on the team and 13th in the Pac-12 and his 21 two-out RBIs are pace the team.
• Compton is 8th in the Pac-12 with 15 doubles this year and 10th with 11 homers. Compton has recorded three grand slams this season, tied for the second most in program history and just one shy of the ASU single season record.
• His 1.055 OPS leds the the squad and is seconde in the Pac-12 while his .308 ISO Slugging (Slugging Minus Average) is fifth the Pac-12.
• Compton has easily been ASU's best hitter with two outs this season, recording a .423 average on 22-of-52 chances, leading the team in average and hits in the scenario.
• 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 .321 average - fourth on the team - and showing off a penchant for clutch batting, 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. He recorded the team's go-ahead eighth inning three-run homer in the finale of the 21-18 UW series last weekend and keyed the team's 10th inning rally in the Friday victory with his one-out triple that started the rally.
• Mendoza is fourth on the team with 12 runners advanced with an out this season. 
• In ASU's last 25 games, Mendoza is third on the team with a .345 average, recording three homers, two triples and five doubles for a .560 slugging percentage. He is the sixth Sun Devil this season with double-digit doubles (10) .
• 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 seven games with three or more hits this season, tied for the most on the team.
• Ethan Mendoza entered last week with no homers before registering three over ASU's five games last week - the first three of the freshman's career. None were bigger than his go-ahead three-run shot in the eighth of the rubber match against UW on Sunday. That capped off a five-game stretch for the freshman where he bat .556 on 10-of-18 hitting with three homers, a triple, two doubles and an insane 1.278 OBP while scoring ten runs.
• His 10-game hitting streak entering this weekend is the second-longest active streak on the team.
• His 15 hits with runners in scoring position are fourth 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 seven starts while coming out of the pen 10 times.
• Jacobs has a team-best 76 strikeouts this season over just 50.2 innings.
• The 76 strikeouts are fifth-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 (12.16) coming close.
• The 13.50 K/9 is currently the second-best single-season mark for an ASU pitcher since 1998, trailing only Ryan Burr's 14.37 tally in 2015. 
• 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 13 of his 47 total hits allowed this year being homers and accounting for 18 runs  of his 28 total earned runs allowed. 
• Jacobs has been especially deadly against lefties, holding left-handed batters to just a .217 average on 15-of-69 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 1,347 baserunners over 163 games, an average of 8.3 stranded opponent runners per game. ASU has stranded 414 in 50 games this season.
• Ryan Schiefer has a 4.10 ERA over 37.1 innings and 20 appearances - all out of the pen - holding opponents to a .224 average overall.  Schiefer has given up just 30 total hits on the season. He leads the team with three saves this season and also leads the team in stranding 19 inherited runners on the year, allowing just 6-of-25 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. 
• ASU relief pitchers have inherited 135 baserunners this season, of which only 54 have scored (40.0).  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 19 of his 25 inherited runners, Sean Fitzpatrick has done so on 3-of-18, 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 16 of the 22 and 23 first batters they've faced, respectively.
• 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 four 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 fourth in the country with 121 doubles this year in 50 games and the 2.42 doubles per game are eighth in the nation. 
• 15 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 20 doubles this year - a tally good for 11th nationally. Brandon Compton is eighth in the league with 15. Jacob Tobias and Nick McLain each have 13, Harris Williams has 11 and Ethan Mendoza has 10, giving ASU a Pac-12 leading six players that have reached double digits in the category.
• ASU has multiple doubles in 33 games this season and at least one double in 45 of 50 games.
• The team needs just six to crack into the Top-10 of ASU team's since 1998 in the category (127), with the top-five being just 15 away (136).
• 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 second in the Pac-12 and 33rd in the nation with 81 homers, just two shy of last seasons total. The 81 homers are already the fifth-most at ASU since the 1998 season with the 2019-leading total of 94 homers still within grasp. 
• Currently, four Sun Devils have reached doublle digit homers (Ryan Campos, Kien Vu, Brandon Compton and Jacob Tobias) with Nick McLain sitting at nine and Isaiah Jackson at eight. Should either of those two reach double digits, it would mark the first time at ASU since 1993 that five players accomplished the feat (Todd Cady, Doug Newstrom, Antone Williamson, Paul Lo Duca, Jacob Cruz). This is the first season that four have reached the tally since 1994.
• 10 different Sun Devils have multiple homers - second-best in the Pac-12 - and 12 have homered overall, which is also the second-most in the league.
• 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. ASU had five in a game against UC San Diego, the most it had allowed and had four in two of its games against UW, also the most the Huskies had allowed. ASU has four-straight series in which it has recorded at least one game with the most home runs allowed by that opponent this season.
• 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 has 40 solo homers on its 81 this season. Of the team's 40 solo homers, however, 19 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 in the second half of the season, with 20 of ASU's 48 homers in the last 32 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. Seven of the ten homers against Washington were multi-run shots.
• 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 six players with at least seven homers this season as well, with several still in striking distance with at least eight games remaining.
• 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 posted 51 3+ run innings and 33 4+ run innings. Fourteen times this season, ASU has scored five or more runs in an inning.
• 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 33 of 50 games this season and in six-straight games and 10 of the last 11. .ASU's 539 total hits this season are tops in the Pac-12 and 6th nationally.
• The Sun Devils' recent offense surge has boosted its team slugging percentage to .519 on the year, good for second in the Pac-12 and 35th nationally. The batting average is up to .303 for the year, tops in the Pac-12 and 42nd nationally.
• The Sun Devils are second in the Pac-12 in averaging 7.6 runs per game.
• ASU has scored 104 runs in the 7-10th innings this season, and has scored 44 runs in the seventh inning of games alone.
• The Sun Devils have truly excelled in the third innings of games this year, outscoring opponents 59-35 in the frame, batting a whopping .333 and slugging at a .534 clip with 21 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 14-13 in games decided by three runs or less. The team is 7-3 in one-run games but oddly gone an unsightly 3-8 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 UW was ASU's fifth this season as a result of a ninth or extra-inning lead change, with walk-offs against Oregon, GCU and UW (10th inning) and ninth-inning go-ahead runs on the road against Arizona and UNLV.
• ASU has won three games this year when trailing after eight innings - already matching its most since the 2017 season - and four games 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 35 of its last 47 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 when it won six of seven (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 22-2 when leading after six, 20-2 after seven and 19-1 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. 
• 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 six 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.