Top-10 Tilts Await Baseball at Globe Life Field - Arizona State University Athletics (2024)

PHOENIX -- Sun Devil Baseball will take to the roadfor the first time this season and square off with a pair of Top-10 programs at Globe Life Stadium, Home of the World Champion Texas Rangers, as part of the Kubota Baseball Series this weekend in Arlington, Texas. The Sun Devils will take on #7 Texas A&M on Friday and Sunday, sandwiched around a tilt against #5 TCU on Saturday. Friday and Saturday's tilts are slated for 5 p.m. AZT first pitches (6 p.m. Texas time) with Sunday's finale getting underway at 10 a.m. AZT (11 a.m. Texas).

FOLLOW THE ACTION

• All three tilts will only be available via FloSports at https://flosports.link/41ot0px
• Friday's game will be broadcast live over local airwaves on KAZG 1440 AM with Tim Healey and Max Rossiter providing the highlights. Saturday and Sunday's games will be available on KDUS 1060 AM and all games can 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. Attacking the strike zone hasn't been an issue for Sun Devil pitchers, who are 23rd nationally with 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings - second in the Pac-12.

2. Isaiah Jackson's 15 RBIs in eight games this season are notable as he didn't his 15th RBI until his 32nd game last season

3. Thomas Burns became the first true freshman to start on Opening Night at ASU since Ike Davis did so in 2006.

4. Harris Williams had 10-of-18 ABs in five games last week and reached base at a .680 clip over the course of that span.

5. Jacob Tobias is the only Sun Devil with a hit in each of ASU's first eight games this season and has a 10-game hitting streak dating back to last year.

6. Eight different Sun Devils have multiple doubles this season and the team is 27th in the country in total doubles (21).

7. The Sun Devils trailed at some point in 21 of the team's last 26 victories dating back to the 2023 campaign.

8. Ryan Campos has reached base safely in 88-of-97 (90.7%) of games with the Sun Devils overall and has a 18-game reached base streak dating back to '23.

9. Thomas Burns and Ben Jacobs have posted twinsie stat lines this season, each strikeing out 15 batters with just 2 walks and a .156 average against.

• The Sun Devils split the series against the Ohio State Buckeyes this past weekend, in a strange series that featured three blowouts one way or the other followed by a nailbiter in the finale, a 10-8 Sun Devil victory that was called after eight innings due to Ohio State's travel plans.
• The Sun Devil offense was hot and cold, scoring 10 and 14 runs in two games but held to season lows of four runs in the two others.
• Harris Williams paced the team offensively with his .563 average on 9-of-16 hitting while Brandon Compton had a team-best eight RBIs while batting .500 on the weekend, including the go-ahead grand slam in the finale on Sunday.
• The team bat .338 as a whole on the weekend, getting plenty of hits despite some of the low scoring outputs.

ON DECK: #7 TEXAS A&M/#5 TCU

• The Sun Devils' appearance in the Kubota Baseball Series in Arlington, Texas marks the first time ASU has left the state in the first month of the season specifically for an early season Invitational/Tournament/Event. The last time ASU did so was the 2007 season, when the Sun Devils took part in the Houston College Classic during the second weekend of the year - ironically also facing Texas A&M, as well as Vanderbilt and Houston.
• In fact, the weekend will mark just the second and third times ASU has ever played Texas A&M outside of the 2007 tournament (a game in which ASU won). ASU is 6-5 in the all-time series against TCU, taking one of three from the then No. 1 Frogs in 2017.
• This will also mark the first time the Sun Devils have played a regular season game against a non-Pac-12 team ranked in the Top-10 nationally in weekend games since that 2017 series against TCU. The team played No. 4 Oklahoma State in a pair of midweek games in 2022.
• Neither squad has lost a game this season, coming in with a combined 17-0 record.
• Texas A&M's slated starting pitchers for the Sun Devil games have not given up an earned run this season in ovr 20 combined innings pitched.

GOING CAMP-ING

• Ryan Campos enters 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 26th-best active career batting average (.361) - third among the nation's catchers and 18th among players in at least their third season of collegiate baseball.
• Campos has reached base in a ridiculous 88-of-97 (90.7%) career games with the Sun Devils overall and all eight this season. He has an active 18-base reached base streak dating back to last season.
• The junior had his first multi-homer game against Santa Clara in the finale, also posting a career-best five RBIs.
• His 13 RBIs this season are second on the team and have all come in the last six games. His seven two-out RBI are tops on the squad.
• Despite an uncharacteristic .250 average early this season, he has still reached base at a .400 clip thanks to a his seven walks (second on the team) and a hit-by-pitch. He has also paced the team in productive outs, advancing runners with an out five times.
• His 11 runs scored also pace the team and are tied for fourth in the Pac-12.
• Campos reached base in all but two games last season. The two games he did not reach base was once during opening weekend and the first game after he returned from an 11-game injury absence.
• Had a team-best 31-game reached base streak at one point in last season and showed off plenty of extra pop in the bat, recording eight homers, seven doubles and a triple
• Campos was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List and also tabbed as the Pac-12 Player of the Week after the Washington State series during his sophom*ore 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 sophom*ore 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 has been on fire to start the year, batting .417 and posting multi-hit games in a team-best five games.
• With hits in each of his first eight games, he rides an active 10-game hitting streak into the weekend dating back to last season. He is the only Sun Devil with a hit in each game.
• 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 sophom*ore, he recorded an RBI in 12 of the last 18 games of the season and 33 games overall. He has an RBI in three of four games thus far this season.
• Tobias was 7-of-9 on the season when the bases were loaded and brought a runner home from third with less than two outs 75 percent of the time (15-of-20).
• Tobias earned Pac-12 Honorable Mention accolades last season as he took his game to the next level, finishing with a .317 average and starting 54 games - the majority coming at first base.
• Tobias was named a Freshman All-American in 2022. His 12 bases (two homers, two doubles) against Utah in the series finale are tied for the most by a Pac-12 player in a game. His seven homers this year were tied for eighth in ASU freshman history.

ACTION JACKSON

• Isaiah Jackson has shown ample improvement in Year Two with the Sun Devils, batting .364 this season with a team-leading 15 RBIs and four homers.
• His 15 RBIs this season are good for 17th in the country while his four home runs are 33rd.
• 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.
• Jackson's 15 RBIs are especially notable as he didn't notch his 15th RBI until after 30 games into tis freshman campaign.

THE BURN(S) UNIT

• Thomas Burns became the first true freshman to start on the mound 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. He was equally solid in his second outing, going 4.1 innings with just two runs allowed.
• All three of the runs scored against him this season have come by way of solo homers.
• Right-handed hitters are 0-for-11 against Burns this season while he has allowed just a .156 average against through two games with 15 strikeouts and two walks and a 2.89 ERA.

BIG MAC

• Nick McLain missed the first half of the season last year after a sustaining a hand 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.

WHO'S THE NU'U GUY

• Nu'u Contrades enters the season as a Preseason All-Pac-12 selection and as D1Baseball's No. 46 third baseman in the country.
• The sophom*ore is reaching base at a .346 clip - striking out just twice in his first 21 ABs appearances, an area he struggled in last season.
• He is tied for second on the team with three doubles this season.
• 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

NOT THEIR FIRST RODEO

• While the names and faces of Harris Williams, Kevin Karstetter and Steven Ondina are new to Sun Devil fans, the trio bring no shortage of career experience and that has been in full display this season
• The three players had combined to play in 461 career games before setting foot on ASU's campus.
• Williams, a USF transfer who ranks in 40th among all Division I players in games played, is batting a gaudy .471 on the season and has reached base in all eight games. The .471 average is Top-80 in Division I this season and seventh in the Pac-12
• Williams' six-game hitting streak in second on the team and he is tied for the team lead with five multi-hit games. He has a .571 OBP that is Top-100 in the country and fourth in the Pac-12.
• The super-duper senior has advanced baserunners at team-best .667 clip, doing so on 14-of-21 chances. He has gotten the job done as the leadoff batters as well, reaching on 7-of-15 chances while leading off (.467).
• Karstetter leads the team in walks with eight this season and his .513 OBP is third on the team while he has bat .367. He has been ASU's best option at keeping innings alive, posting a .500 average on 5-of-10 hitting with two outs.
• Ondina has quietly put up a .407 average that is fourth on the team and struck out a team-low three times. His biggest impact doesn't necessarily show up in the box score as the senior is a vacuum at shortstop that has made several highlight reel plays this season.

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

• Redshirt freshman Brandon Compton was recruited to ASU as a pitcher out of high school, but Tommy John surgery sidelined him his true frosh year, instead allowing him to focus on his bat - and focus he did.
• The youngster leads the team with his .480 average this season, good for 5th in the Pac-12 and 69th in the country.
• His 13 RBIs are tied for second on the team and fourth in the Pac-12.
• He has reached base at a .567 clip, fifth in the Pac-12. His four doubles are fourth in the Pac-12 and tops on the team.
• 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.
• 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

GRABBING THE BULL-PEN BY THE HORNS

• The Sun Devil bullpen has made a habit of escaping jams under pitching coach Sam Peraza, stranding 998 baserunners over 121 games, an average of 8.2 stranded opponent runners per games. ASU has stranded 62 in eight games this season.
• ASU relief pitchers have inherited 31 baserunners this season, of which only 10 have scored (32.3).. 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.
• Cornelius has stranded all four inherited runners he has this season, and posted a 2-0 record last week in his first two games as a Sun Devil. The junior college transfer allowed no earned runs in 3.2 innings, striking out seven with no walks and just one hit allowed
• Ben Jacob has also excelled out of the pen for ASU, posting a 2.08 ERA in two appearances over 4.1 innings with seven strikeouts and just one walk while allowing a single hit. As a whole, Jacobs leads the team with 15 strikeouts two just two walks this season while holding opponents to a .156 average.
• ASU used midweek games as bullpen days last year and the crew was absolutely electric, going 7-1 in single-game midweeks this season and 8-4 overall after going 5-7 in them in 2022. ASU is 1-0 in midweeks this season.
• 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.
• Jonah Giblin was one of ASU's best options out of the pen and one of the only pitchers returning from last year's roster. Giblin posted a 3.43 ERA in 21.0 innings over 11 appearances out of then pen - the best ERA on the team - and holding opponents to a .237 average.
• ASU's other returning option out of the pen, Matt Tieding, posted a 4-1 record in relief last season and held opponents to a .250 average on the year.

HEADED TO THE GAP

• The Sun Devils are 27th in the country and tops in the Pac-12 with 21 doubles this year - notable as they had 13 total through the first 11 games of last year. Brandon Compton leads the way with fouyr while three others have three.
• Eight different Sun Devils have multiple doubles this season - the most of any school in the Pac-12.
• 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 22nd in the nation with 16 homers this season while Isaiah Jackson sits 33rd with his four.
• Nine of the team's 16 homers have come with at least one runner on base, including two grand slams. Of the teams seven solo homers, however, four were of the leadoff variety and didn't give anyone a chance to be on base.
• Already, five different Sun Devils have multiple homers and seven players have homered overall.
• The Sun Devils hit 19 more homers during the 2023 season than it did the prior year. 12 different players logged a home run last season for ASU and 10 had multiple home runs
• ASU had eight different players with at least six homers - more than any other team in the Pac-12.
• The Sun Devils had seven players with at least seven homers last year - two more than any other team at ASU has had since at least the 1998 season. ASU had five players with at least seven homers in 2022, tied for the second-most at ASU since 1998.
• ASU's 83 homers were 56th in the country prior to the NCAA Tournament.
• The better news was ASU finally started the get pumps with runners on base. 37 of the team's last 66 Sun Devil home runs last year came with runners on base after 14 of the first 17 this season were solo shots. Of the 26 solo shots, 17 were leadoff homers and thus not given the opportunity to happen with runners on base.
• The timing of the home runs improved immensely over the second half of the 2022 season as well. On 24 of the final 37 homers on the year, ASU had at least one runner on base. That was notable as ASU had runners on base just eight times on the teams first 27 homers.
• Of the nine position players with at least 30 starts in 2022, all nine had multiple home runs. ASU had ten total players with multiple homers.

COMING IN HOT

• The Sun Devils thrived in the big innings, 12 times last season recording five or more runs in an inning. The team recorded 51 innings with three or more runs scored.
• This season, ASU has already posted 13 3+ run innings and seven 4+ run innings this season.
• ASU is 32nd nationally in scoring (9.9 per game) and 39th in total runs this season (79). The team has scored double digits in five of eight games thus far.
• The team is batting .354 as a squad overall this year, good for 14th nationally and tops in the Pac-12. The squad's .609 team slugging percentage is 17th in the country and second in the Pac-12.
• The Sun Devils owned opponent bullpens last season, as other teams had a miserable 7.36 ERA against the ASU offense and a 8-13 record in decisions. ASU bat .302 off opponent 'pens with 40 homers, 54 doubles and 9 triples over 239.2 innings. ASU worked a 118 walks to 206 strikeouts against opponent bullpens.
• This has continued through four games this year with ASU logging a 9.45 ERA against opponent bullpens while batting .330. ASU scored two runs of Kansas State All-American closer Tyson Neighbors in 1.1 innings after he did not give up more than a run in any sub 2.0-inning effort last season and just one single time previously in his career.
• Santa CLara All-WCC closer August Souza posted a 1.69 ERA in 32.0 innings pitched in 2023, leading the Broncos with five saves. Arizona State plated three earned runs off of him in 4.1 innings. He did not allow more than two earned runs in 12 appearances a season ago.
• The team posted 52 runs in the eighth inning of games last season, just under a run per game. The team bat .326 in the eighth inning of games with a .526 slugging percentage. The squad had 25 home runs total in innings 7-9 - easily surpassing its total of 17 from the previous season.
• ASU has scored 11 runs in the 7-9th innings this 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 (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. ASU is 1-0 in such games this season.
• ASU trailed at one point in 21 of its last 26 victories dating abck to last season. It has trailed in four of the five wins this year.
• Last season, ASU was incredibly efficient at closing games out, going 24-4 when leading after six, 27-1 when leading after seven and 29-0 when leading after eight. ASU is 5-1 when leading after six, 5-0 after seven and 4-0 after eight this season.
• In two 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 already has one win this season when trailing by three or more and erased several four-run deficits against Santa Clara before finally succumbing in the finale.
• 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.

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.

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.