(Phoenix, AZ) Sun Devil Baseball outfielder Landon Hairston was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and seven players were recognized overall as the Conference unveiled its 2026 All-Big 12 Baseball Awards. The honorees were selected in a vote by the league’s head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.
Hairston was joined by teammates infielder Nu’u Contrades and starting pitcher Cole Carlon as Big 12 First Team selections while infielder Dominic Smaldino earned Second Team honors. Relief pitchers Sean Fitzpatrick Taylor Penn along with outfielder Dean Toigo were recognized as well with Honorable Mention accolades.
Hairston became ASU’s first conference Player of the Year since 2010 when Zack MacPheeearned Arizona State’s fourth consecutive honor from the Pac 10 (Brett Wallace in 2007 and 2008, Jason Kipnis in 2009). He is the 16th Sun Devil overall to be recognized as a conference Player of the Year. ASU has also won five Pitcher of the Year honors – last by Seth Blair in 2010 – and four Newcomer/Freshman of the Year recognitions, last by Matt King last season. The program also has three Defensive Player of the Year honors, though the Big 12 does not present such an award.
Hairston earned Player of the Year recognition and was one of just two unanimous conference First Team picks after leading the Big 12 in batting average (.421), on-base percentage (.526), slugging percentage (.911), total bases (195), hits (90) and runs (77). The sophomore also recorded the fifth-most home runs in the country and third-most in the Big 12 with 27 – tying the ASU school record in the process – and added 77 RBIs (the second-most in the Conference and the fourth-most nationally).
He adds to his growing list of postseason accolades, also being named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy – the latter of which also saw Contrades named as a semifinalist as well.
Complete season recaps/bios of all Sun Devils recognized in the Big 12 honors can be found below.
The Sun Devils kick off the postseason this week in the valley at the Big 12 Tournament, which will begin Tuesday, May 19. Arizona State is the three-seed in this year’s bracket, earning a double-bye and will face off with sixth-seeded Cincinnati on Thursday, May 21 at 8 p.m. AZT for a chance to advance to the semifinals. The 2026 Tournament will be played at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona for the first time and will be a single-elimination format. All-session and single-session tickets for the 2026 Big 12 Baseball Tournament presented by Allstate can be purchased here.
Landon Hairston
So. /// Outfielder /// Queen Creek, Ariz.
Postseason Honors
Big 12 Player of the Year
Big 12 All-Conference – First Team (OF)*
*Unanimous Selection
Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist
Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist
Landon Hairston has not experienced any sort of sophomore slump in Year Two with the program, quickly establishing himself as one of the elite pure AND power hitters in the country.
Hairston was named the Big 12 Player of the Year – ASU’s first since 2010 – and is a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.
Hairston enters the weekend 27 home runs, a total that is fourth in nation and tied with Mitch Jones (2000) for ASU’s single school record.
Hairston is four in the nation with his .421 batting average. He had a 28-game hitting streak ended at UCF earlier in May, which was tied for the fifth-longest in Sun Devil school history.
His 20 doubles this season are tied for 20th the country and second in the Big 12. In doing so, he joins Bob Horner’s 1978 season as the only other player to reach the 20/20 club at ASU. Should Hairston reach 25 doubles, he would be come just the first player in the NCAA since at least 2000 to reach 25 in both.
Hairston’s leads the entire nation with his 1.438 OPS (min. 3 PA per game) – over 50 points higher than the next closest player. His .911 slugging percentage is also tops in the nation.
Of his 90 hits this season, 49 have gone for extra bases (20 doubles, 27 homers, 2 triples) – four more than any other player.
Hairston had just one extra-base hit through his first 27 games as a Sun Devil. In his 81 games since, he has 65 extra-base hits.
He has had just 18 games this season WITHOUT an extra base hit. He had a streak of 13 consecutive games with an extra-base hit ended against Arizona on April 13.
Hairston is the national leader with his four grand slams this season – also tying the ASU school record in the process. The NCAA single season record is six.
His 405.38 average distance on his homers is 22nd among D1 players with 15+ home runs this season (137 total). Hairston’s 94.3 average exit velocity is 39th in the nation.
Hairston’s WAR of 5.18 is second in the country while his 67.49 total Offensive Runs over Replacement is also first – three more than any other player
Landon Hairston has 77 RBIs this season, good for fourth in the country. HOWEVER, all 77 RBIs have come while hitting as the leadoff batter in the Sun Devil lineup, which is easily the most of any Division I player – 19 more than Graham Grahovac at Texas A&M.
For perspective, that total is already for most for ANY leadoff hitter in Division I RBIs for an entire season since at least 2019, surpassing Christian Moore’s 71 over 65 games in 2024.
Other teams have continuously tried to keep Landon Hairston off guard as 63 times this season an opponent has made a pitching change either directly before facing the lefty or within two batters of facing him. And continuously, Hairston has shown that it doesn’t make a difference.
His 11 home runs as one of the first three batters an opponent reliever has faced are 1st in the country. He has 25 hits and 32 RBIs in that scenario, ranking first in both categories. He is batting .510 off new pitchers that face him within their first three batters faced – ninth-best in the country. His absurd 1.966 OPS off those new pitchers is first in the country. In fact, that’s the highest of any player in the country since AT LEAST 2019.
Hairston has been equally a pest as the very first batter of a game, having recorded a hit to leadoff a game 24 times (in 54 games) – the second-highest total in the country (UT Martin’s TJ Grimes, 26). His four game leading homers are third in the country.
His .480 average to lead off games is eighth among all players with at least 30 games led off. He has a hit on the FIRST PITCH of a game nine times – two more than anyone else in the nation.
Hairston is first in the country with his 77 runs scored.
Opponents have intentionally walked Hairston 12 times this season, the third-highest total in the country.
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Nu’u Contrades
R-Jr. /// Infielder /// Ewa Beach, Hawai’i
Postseason Honors
Big 12 All-Conference – First Team (IF)
Dick Howser Trophy – Semifinalist
Nu Contrades is ASU’s most veteran presence as he enters his fourth year with the program – a rarity in the modern age of college baseball. Contrades was selected by his teammates as a Co-Captain of the 2026 squad entering the year.
Since the start of April, Contrades has at least one extra-base hit in 16 of 24 games. His 20 extra-base hits in that time are 15th in the country as he vaulted to the No. 2 ranking among second basemen by D1Baseball in their Week 12 update.
Contrades’ 17 homers are seventh in the conference and Top-50 nationally despite missing a decent chunk of time this season and batting off one leg for the majority of the season.
Contrades’ 408.68 average distance on his homers is 13th in the nation among players with at least 15 homers this season.
Contrades has homered four times off relievers entering the game as the first batter they have faced, tied for fourth-most in the country. His 11 RBIs in that scenario are tied for 19th in the country.
Contrades has struck out just 25 times this season (14.0 percent on 178 ABs). Last season, he notably struck out just 30 times – compared to 28 walks – on 181 ABs on the year (16.6 percent) after striking out 51 times with just 9 walks his freshman season on 217 ABs (23.5 percent).
Unfortunately the veteran was down a couple games while dealing with a hamstring injury sustained in the finale against LMU, missing nearly three weeks and the first two weekends of Big 12 action. Even with returning to the lineup, Contrades has operated mostly under 100 percent with the injury lingering.
Prior to his injury, Contrades was credited with saving 3.09 runs on infield ground balls this season, good for 34th in the nation but third among all second basemen.
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Cole Carlon
Jr. /// Left-Handed Pitcher /// Tempe, Ariz.
Postseason Honors
Big 12 All-Conference – First Team (SP)
Cole Carlon has shown no signs that moving to a starting role has fazed him this season, entering this weekend ranked fourth in the nation with his 118 strikeouts and also fourth with his with his 14.82 strikeouts per nine innings.
Carlon earned Big 12 First Team All-Conference honors for his regular season efforts.
Carlon’s 12.88 career K/9 is 13th among active Division I players. Carlon’s 238 career strikeouts are 29th-most at ASU since the 1999 season. His 118 strikeouts this season are the eighth-most at ASU for a single season since 1999.
Carlon picked up a winning decision in each of his first two appearances of the season but didn’t pick up his third until April 17 at BYU – and has since earned three Friday-night victories in his last five starts.
Carlon has been at his best with traffic on the bases as he has allowed just a .129 batting average against (9-for-70) with runners in scoring position – the sixth-lowest tally in the nation (min. 60 innings). He has allowed just one extra-base hit with a runner in scoring position, tied for third-lowest.
With a runner in scoring position and two outs on the board, Carlon’s 20-inning ending strikeouts are second-most in the country (min. 60 innings).
Carlon has stranded approximately 82.0 percent of his baserunners this season, good for 29th among D1 players with at least 40 innings of work.
Carlon’s 96. MPH fastball/sinker average velocity is fifth-best among pitchers with 60.0+ innings of action this season. His fastest velo of the season of 100.7 is third-best as an individual with at least 60.0 innings of work this season.
Only 26.7 percent of Carlon’s pitches have ended up in play this season, the second-lowest total nationally (min. 60 innings).
Opponents have swung and missed on 258 of Carlon’s pitches this season, the highest total in the country – despite only playing 1.2 innings at Houston last week.
Carlon’s overall whiff rate on pitches in the zone of 34.6 percent is tops among all pitchers with 60+ innings of work (485 total). His 45.7 overall miss percentage is first in the nation – four points higher than USC’s Mason Edwards. Among pitchers with at least 350 sliders thrown this season, Carlon’s .192 average against on the pitch is the 27th-lowest in the country.
He has induced an in-zone whiff percentage of 42.5 percent on the slider that is highest of any pitcher in the country that has thrown it at least 350 times this season and sixth-lowest among ALL pitchers with 60+ innings of work, regardless of total sliders thrown.
Batters are making contact in the zone on the slider just 59.9 percent of the time, which is the the second-lowest total in the country (min. 350 sliders).
Carlon is getting batters to swing on the slider 53.7 percent of the time, which is eighth-most in the country (min. 350 sliders).
His 57.2 overall slider whiff percentage (including sliders out of the zone) is most in the country among those with 350+ thrown. He has gotten batters to chase out of the zone 40.4 percent of the time, seventh-best in the country.
His 86.7 MPH average velo on the slider is third in the nation among pitchers with at least 350 sliders thrown.
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Dominic Smaldino
Jr. /// Infielder /// Ladera Ranch, Calif.
Postseason Honors
Big 12 All-Conference – Second Team (IF)
Sun Devil infielder Dominic Smaldino is anything but small, giving his teammates a 6-6, 230-pound target over at first base.
Since starting the game on the bench in ASU’s series finale at BYU (April 18). Smaldino has recorded multiple hits in eight of the last 11 games, homering in six of those.
His 15 extra base hits in that span are ninth in the country and his nine homers are ninth. He has 24 RBIs is that stretch, which are 24th in the nation.
His three-home run effort in the finale against Oklahoma State tied an ASU school record and marked him as the first ASU player to achieve the feat in the BBCOR era. His five homers in the series garnered him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week recognition.
Of the D1 baseball players averaging 3+ plate appearances per game this season (2,135 total), Smaldino’s 94.8 average exit velocity is 27th in the country and his 414.59 average home run distance is third in the country among players with at least 15 homers this year.
Smaldino’ mammoth blast against Mississippi State at Globe Life Field was officially logged at 480.74 feet RECORDED homer by any Division I player this season and the longest recorded by a Sun Devil since 2019.
Smaldino’s 11 homers since the start of April are 28th-most in the country.
Smaldino has seen his line drive percentage jump to 31.3 percent this season, which is the 37th-highest rate in the nation. That total is especially notable as it sat at just 14.8 percent as a freshman and 24.8 last season. His 50 total line drives are Top-50 in the country.
Conversely he has watched his groundball rate drop from nearly 45 percent in 2024 to 33.1 percent this season.
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Dean Toigo
Fifth Year /// Outfielder /// Yorba Linda, Calif.
Postseason Honors
Big 12 All-Conference – Honorable Mention (OF)
Dean Toigo was voted by the Big 12 coaches as the conference’s Preseason Newcomer of the Year and has been one of the most prolific offensive threats in the conference thus season.
Toigo’s 16 homers this year are Top-75 in the country and 10th in the Big 12. His 405.91 average distance on his homers is 20th among those with at least 15 homers.
Toigo has at least one RBI in 25 of his last 39 games. He had nine RBIs through his first 13 games this season and has 39 since then.
After having just eight hits in the first 10 games of the season, Toigo has 57 in the last 44 to bring his season average to .319.
Toigo’s OBP is over 100 points higher than his average at .430, due in large part to being a magnet for the baseball as his 17 HBPs this season are third in the Big 12.
The transfer from UNLV was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on March 16 for his efforts against TCU and named to Baseball American’s National Team of the Week as well.
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Sean Fitzpatrick
Senior /// Left-Handed Pitcher /// Spring, Texas
Postseason Honors
Big 12 All-Conference – Honorable Mention (RP)
Sean Fitzpatrick enters his fourth season of college baseball and third season with the Sun Devils and was elected a team captain by his teammates entering this season. The southpaw bulked up over the offseason and it has resulted in a noticeable uptick in velocity.
Fitzpatrick has appeared in 82 games over his career in relief (79 at ASU), which currently ranks 10th among active Division I players.
Fitzpatrick has recorded 70 outs this season and 40 of those have come by way of strikeout. Among pitchers with 20.0+ innings of work, his 15.43 K/9 is eighth-best in the country.
He has inherited a team-high 36 baserunners this season – the seventh-most in the country – and just 12 have scored. Among all players with at least 30 inherited runners this season (57), his 33.3 runs allowed rate is 12th.
Out of all D1 pitchers with at least 20 appearances this season (462 total), Fitzpatrick has given up just one base hit to the first batter he has seen in an appearance, tied for the second-lowest total in the country (out of 27 appearances/Louisiana’s S. Pruitt with 0 in 20 appearances).
He has struck out the first batter he has seen 12 times, which is the fifth-most in the country (min. 20 appearances).
Fitzpatrick is getting a called strike 45.7 percent of the time he throws his slider, the third-best percentage in the country among pitchers with at least 200 sliders thrown.
Conversely, Fitzpatrick gets a swinging strike on 17.5 percent of his fastballs thrown, the 10th-highest percentage in the country among pitchers with at least 20 innings of work. Opponents put Fitzpatrick’s fastball into play just 11.1 percent of the time – the lowest percentage in the country among those with at least 20 innings – 10 points lower than any other player in the nation.
The 57.1 contact rate on Fitzpatrick’s fastball is the second-lowest among all pitchers with at least 20 innings of work.
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Taylor Penn
So. /// Right-Handed Pitcher /// Versailles, Ky.
Postseason Honors
Big 12 All-Conference – Honorable Mention (RP)
Taylor Penn has ate up valuable middle relief innings, posting a 5-0 record over his 27.1 innings out of the pen, striking out 30 and posting a 2.30 ERA.
Taylor Penn is getting a swing and miss rate (miss/swings) of 39.8 on his changeup – Top-50 among pitchers that have thrown at least 150 changeups this year. His swinging strike rate (miss/pitches) on the pitch of 20.5 percent is also Top-50 among those pitchers.
Penn has stranded approximately 87.1 percent of his baserunners, a total good for fourth in the nation among players with at least 40 innings of work.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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