Arizona State‘s hometown ace Cole Carlon is getting the nod.
A week after exiting a road trip to Houston as a precaution due to aches, Carlon will return to the mound at Surprise Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, for Friday night’s Big 12 baseball semifinal with No. 2 West Virginia. It’s likely the last local start for the highly-touted MLB prospect, too, as the No. 3 Sun Devils look to secure a seat in Saturday’s league tournament championship.
Carlon is 5-2 through 14 appearances this season, and the lefty’s 3.64 ERA ranks among the best in the league. Currently, the Tempe, Arizona, native is the No. 41 prospect in MLB’s 2026 Draft Class.
A LOOK BACK AT CARLON’S CAREER
Out of high school, Carlon was the No. 12 overall player in Arizona by Perfect Game, and stayed home to pitch 40.2 innings through 26 different games for Arizona State as a freshman. He’s been part of three 32-plus win seasons, and now, as Arizona State sits at 36-24 overall entering Friday’s game, will be making perhaps the final postseason push of his college career.
Entering this year’s league tournament, Carlon received an All-Big 12 First Team recognition for the second time. His 12.88 strikeouts per nine innings ranks 13th amongst all active Division I ballplayers.
Baseball America’s latest mock draft has the Los Angeles Angeles selecting Carlon at No. 12 overall.
