(Photo: Nickolas Montei)
For the first time this season, the Arizona State baseball team opened up to the public for a split-squad scrimmage. With the team cut in half between black and grey, it was the first chance for fans to get a look at the team for the 2026 season.
On the pitching side, junior lefty Cole Carlon started on the bump for the Grey side with sophomore lefty Easton Barrett starting for the Black.
Both pitchers found themselves in trouble right out of the gate, with each team putting up at least three runs in the first inning, as the scoring did not stop for the rest of the game.
One of the top performers of the day was the only returning player to play over 50 games in 2025: freshman outfielder Landon Hairston.
After ending a 2025 campaign that saw him hit .333 with an OPS over .900 that earned him All-Big 12 First Team and All-Freshman Team honors, Hairston continues to show out after tallying three hits, including the first one of the day, and adding on two runs scored and multiple RBI.
A good thing that was on display today was the offensive side of the ball. While power wasn’t put on display that often, the Sun Devils showed a lot of poise in small-ball play, especially the bunt. Throughout the game, multiple players on both teams were able to lay down successful bunts when needed, with skills of bunting to either side of the field.
A perfect example was when fifth-year outfielder Dean Toigo laid down a perfect bunt for a single, stole second and third, and scored on another bunt from graduate student Matt Polk.
Speed was another big factor in today’s scrimmage, not only on the bunts, but on the base paths, too. Tons of successful steals and stretching out hits for extra bases were something both teams used.
One show of this was on an RBI-triple from freshman Ryan Darrah, who legged a stand-up double into a triple and scored himself on a throwing error by the right fielder.
The Sun Devils didn’t show much power during the scrimmage, with more of an emphasis on speed, but redshirt junior Garrett Michel did not seem to receive that message.
After taking a fastball to the head in his last at-bat and not being able to run the bases for himself, Michel came in his next at-bat and took a ball 436 ft the opposite way over the left-field fence for the first home run of the day.
The team didn’t just impress at the plate and on the bases, though. Thanks to the sheer size of the team as a whole, they were able to help their pitchers out with solid defense as well. When a ball was smoked to the right side, 6’6 first baseman, junior Dominic Smaldino, was able to jump up and make the snag, saving at least one run from scoring.
The biggest downside from today’s scrimmage was the pitching.
After Carlon and Barrett were both taken out, both teams started going to their bullpens, and no pitcher was able to find any success throughout the day.
Between the eight pitchers that took the mound between the two teams, only two innings saw no one cross the plate for either side. While that was a positive for ASU’s offense, it looks equally bad for its pitching staff as a whole.
In just one inning of work, one of the Sun Devil pitchers started off his day throwing just six strikes in his first 20 pitches.
The best day on the mound came from the final pitcher for the grey side, sophomore Eli Buxton, who pitched a clean inning, allowing just one base runner.
ASU will continue to get ready for the season, next week playing a scrimmage against GCU at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
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