Seven sets of brothers have suited up for ASU baseball in the history of the team.
Mitchell and Mark Lambson are the newest members to the illustrious list.
Younger brother Mark made his Sun Devil debut Friday night, pitching five hitless innings in relief.
“I tried not to look at the crowd when I went out there,” the freshman said. “I figured if I focus on the glove, I’d be nice and zoned in so I could pound the strike zone and get ahead early.”
Mitchell, a junior, made his season debut Saturday pitching an inning and a third and striking out two.
“There are a lot of similarities between the two,” ASU coach Tim Esmay said. “Mark pitches with no fear, he pounds the strike zone and he can command both sides of the plate. He’s a right-handed Mitchell Lambson and that’s a good thing to have.”
Mark admitted his older brother had a small influence in his college choice, but the freshman said Tempe was always high on his list.
“Even before [Mitchell] I always kind of knew I wanted to be a Sun Devil,” Mark said. “It’s a great program with great tradition and I kind of want to play in the pros when I get older so the best way to get there is through ASU.”
Tremendous transfers
Coming into the 2010 season, starting pitching was a question mark for the No. 10 Sun Devils (6-1).
Who would replace Merrill Kelly, Jake Borup and reigning Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year Seth Blair?
All three signed professional contracts.
Well, two weeks into the season, two newcomers have stepped up to the challenge and more.
Junior transfers Kyle Ottoson and Kramer Champlin are a combined 4-0 on the young season.
“We’re going to need them,” Esmay said. “We’re going to need those quality starts. They’ve been getting us into the seventh innings and that’s what we are looking for from our starting pitching.”
Ottoson, from South Mountain Community College, has a 1.38 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 13 innings of work while Champlin, from Western Nevada, has a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings.
Opposing batters are hitting just .152 off Ottoson and .214 off Champlin.
Speedy Devils
Last year the Sun Devils stole 136 bases, ranking them eighth in the nation.
Through just seven games in 2011, ASU has 27.
More impressively, the Sun Devils have only been caught four times in their 31 attempts.
“We always plan to run, it just depends on what the other team does and what they give you,” Esmay said. “We’re always going to try to stay active on the bases. However we can get runners in motion, we are going to do that.”
Junior outfielder Johnny Ruettiger is currently leading the team in the category with nine stolen bases.
Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu
