Arizona State’s baseball team opened its season with a three-game sweep of Omaha recently in front of a packed Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The field was nearly as crowded with locals.
ASU’s roster features 10 players who attended high schools in Arizona, including pitchers Cole Carlon, Kole Klecker and Derek Schaefer, along with outfielder Landon Hairston. That local pipeline is already paying off.
The 8-1 Sun Devils recently split a series at No. 13 Oklahoma. During the first game of that series, they run-ruled the Sooners, exploding for 15 runs in a 15-3 win.
ASU coach Willie Bloomquist sees the combination of wins, local recruits and crowded home stands feeding off one another.
“That’s one of our best recruiting tools, to have our fans come out and support us,” Bloomquist said. “It’s a pretty special place to play. When you look at all of Arizona State and what it has to offer, athletically, academically, socially.”
On the mound, Carlon and Klecker have started the season in dominant fashion, with each recording two wins in their first two starts.
Carlon has 12 strikeouts and a 1.64 sERA through 11 innings of work. He has given up a solo home run in each of his first two starts, which account for both of his earned runs. Outside of that, he has shown the ability to pitch his way out of danger with runners on base by getting a big strikeout when he needs it.
Klecker has had the hardest job of the year so far, going up against the then-unbeaten Sooners, but he stepped up and threw five strong innings, giving up three runs.
With the Sun Devils in control from the start of that contest Tuesday, he did his job by not letting the Sooners get back in the game and attacking the strike zone.
However, he has also struggled keeping the ball in the park, giving up three home runs through his first two starts, but like Carlon, Klecker has shown the ability to keep his composure and not let it affect the rest of his outing.
Carlon, a left-handed pitcher who only worked out of the bullpen last year, relied mostly on his fastball and slider. Now that he is a starter, he is leaning more on his secondary pitches to work through a lineup multiple times. He said he focused on mixing pitches and using both sides of the plate to improve his pitchability during the offseason.
Carlon, who played at Corona del Sol High School, is a third-generation Sun Devils student, with both his mother and father attending ASU as well as his grandfather.
“It was kind of my goal to be a Friday night pitcher at ASU,” Carlon said. “So I think just don’t take it for granted.”
Klecker, an Arizona native who played at Chandler High, transferred home after three seasons at Texas Christian University and was slotted into the Tuesday starter role after a strong fall.
“If you had asked me when I was 8 years old if I was to play college baseball where I’d play, I’d say ASU,” Klecker said.
Bloomquist said Klecker’s impact shows why keeping Arizona talent at home matters.
“Klecker could just as easily be our Friday night guy,” Bloomquist said. “He should have committed to us right out of the gate. I think he was eager to have the opportunity to come back home and finish it out here.”
Halvorson has been an unsung hero for the team this year. The Chaparral High product has been a key cog in the bullpen, pitching 6 ⅔ innings and only allowing one hit while getting seven strikeouts.
Hairston, a Casteel High graduate, has been on fire to start the season, and on Feb. 17, he came up big with the bases loaded twice, doubling his first time up before crushing a grand slam in his second chance.
“Landon’s going to have big days for us, he’s had big days in the past,” Bloomquist said. “That’s not going to be the last one he has.”
At the plate, Hairston said he’s grown more comfortable with each game.
“Just the scrawny freshman trying to keep up with the big guys, but now that I’ve seen a couple at-bats in there and gotten used to it, definitely more comfortable in my ability,” Hairston said.
Schaefer, who played at Cactus Shadows High, has slotted seamlessly into the closer role after Carlon made the switch from closer to starter.
“Talking to him, he enjoys it, he likes coming in and slamming the door and being that guy in the eighth and ninth inning,” Bloomquist said.
With so many Arizona products contributing early, the Sun Devils are proving that staying home can still make a big impact even in the changing landscape of college sports where NIL and the transfer portal have made loyalty less common.
The Sun Devils’ next challenge begins Friday at the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series that takes place at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Over the course of the weekend, the Sun Devils face three SEC opponents that all rank in the top 25 in No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 23 Texas A&M and No. 20 Tennessee.
Under the Texas sun, at a tournament featuring some of the nation’s most prestigious teams, it’s another chance for Arizona locals to shine.
“The local kids are hopefully starting to realize that and see the trajectory of the program and that it’s going in the right direction, and hopefully they’ll want to stay home,” Bloomquist said.
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