Jan. 19, 1998
Sun Devils to Host Louisville Slugger Classic
Thurs., Jan. 22 Cal State Northridge 7 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 23 New Mexico State 7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 24 #33 Florida International 7 p.m.
ASU -- Arizona State (0-0, 0-0 Pac-10 Southern Division and ranked No. 6 Baseball America and No. 5 Collegiate Baseball in the preseason polls) kicks off the 1998 regular season with the Louisville Slugger Classic this weekend at Packard Stadium in Tempe. Here are the five participants in the Classic: Arizona State, Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly SLO, No. 33 Florida International and New Mexico State. The following is a complete listing of games to be played this weekend:
Thursday, Jan. 22 Friday, Jan. 23 Saturday, Jan. 24 11 a.m. FIU vs. NMS 11 a.m. CPSLO vs. FIU 3 p.m. CSN vs. CPSLO 3 p.m. CSN vs. FIU 1 p.m. CPSLO vs. NMS 7 p.m. ASU vs. CSN 7 p.m. ASU vs. NMS 7 p.m. ASU vs. FIU
THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO -- KMVP 860 AM, home of Sun Devil baseball, will broadcast the January 23rd game vs. New Mexico State live. Tom Dillon and Bob Eger will provide the play-by-play and color commentary respectively.
SERIES INFORMATION -- Arizona State holds a 40-15 edge in the all-time series record with CS-Northridge ... ASU won the last meeting between the two team, 9-0, in 1993 at Packard Stadium in the NCAA West Regional ... The Devils lead the all-time series with New Mexico State 18-0 ... ASU won the last meeting between the two teams, 4-3 in 1994 at Packard Stadium ... Arizona State played Florida International for the first time, last season in the NCAA Atlantic Regional in Coral Gables, Florida ... ASU won the meeting with FIU, 10-2.
TALK ABOUT TOUGH -- Once again, Arizona State has arguably one of the toughest schedules in the nation this year. The Sun Devils will play 35 games versus Top 25 teams (preseason top 25 by Baseball America). Five Six-Pac teams are currently ranked in the preseason top 25.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES -- Two Sun Devils received multiple preseason honors by several publications to kick off the 1998 season: LHP Ryan Mills, first-team All-American (Baseball America), first-team All-American (The Sporting News) and second-team All-American (Collegiate Baseball); 3B Andrew Beinbrink, first-team All-American (The Sporting News), second-team All-American (Baseball America) and second-team All-American (Collegiate Baseball).
ON THE BRINK-- Junior Andrew Beinbrink (San Diego, Calif.), who has already picked up some preseason accolades, will anchor ASU's infield from third base in 1998. The 6-3 infielder batted .380 last year with 92 hits, 72 RBI, 60 runs scored, nine homeruns and 23 doubles. He was honored as a 1997 All-Pac-10 Southern Division selection and ABCA All-West Region pick (second team). He was named Six-Pac Player of the Week (Mar. 18). Beinbrink played summer ball for the Anchorage Bucs where he was named the Top Prospect by Baseball America.
LEON PULLS DOUBLE-DUTY -- Senior Richy Leon (San Luis, Ariz.) will once again split his time in the field and on the mound in 1998. Leon will see time at shortstop and as a righthanded middle reliever/closer for the Devils. He pitched 30.1 innings with a 1-1 record, two saves with a 2.08 ERA in 16 appearances last season. The shortstop batted .364 with 60 hits, 34 runs scored and 25 RBI. Leon was named Pac-10 Player of the Week (4/17/97). He hit a .417 clip (40-for-96) in conference games last season to lead the team and was an All-Pacific-10 Conference honorable mention selection.
THE DYNAMIC DUO -- The one-two punch of junior lefties Ryan Mills (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Phill Lowery (Petaluma, Calif.) should prove to be formidable in 1998. The two returning starters accounted for 12 wins last season and 182 strikeouts. They also piled up 182.0 innings pitched between the two. Both were among the conference leaders in ERA (Mills, 2.88 ERA ranked 1st and Lowery's 4.13 ERA ranked 7th) and hits per nine inning (Mills, 7.61 hits ranked 1st and Lowery's 8.26 hits ranked 4th).
COUNTDOWN TO 500 - Arizona State head coach Pat Murphy should reach the 500-win mark during the 1998 season. His career record stands at 481-235-3 over 13 seasons as a head coach. Murphy need just 19 victories to reach the 500-win plateau.
THE LAST HURRAH -- Senior outfielder Mikel Moreno will end a long and successful career at ASU after this season. Moreno should leave his mark in several Sun Devil career categories including career doubles, runs and hits. Moreno is a two-year starter for ASU and batted .313 last season with 67 runs scored 10 stolen bases. He has a career batting average of .340 over three seasons.
PITCHERS CORNER -- Sophomores Jay Gehrke (Fargo, N. Dakota) and Eric Valenzuela (Covina, Calif.) have a year of experience under their belts and should contribute as mid-week starters and middle relievers. Gehrke came on strong at the end of 1997 to earn two starts - one at the NCAA Atlantic regional (a no-decision). He finished last season with a 4.41 ERA in six appearances with 19 K's. A lot of new faces will grace the bullpen in 1998, including junior transfer Chuck Crumpton (Mesquite, Texas) who has been tabbed as ASU's setup man. The 6-4 righthanded pitcher helped lead Northeast Texas CC to the '96 Junior College National Championship and was the winning pitcher in the championship game over Meridian JC. Freshman pitchers joining the roster are LHP Drew Friedberg, RHP Robby Milner and RHP Chad Pennington. All are expected to see time on the mound.
PACKARD STADIUM TABBED AS ONE OF NATION'S FINEST -- Baseball America recently ranked the top 15 college baseball stadiums in the country and ASU's own Packard Stadium checked in as the 10th best collegiate ballpark. Packard Stadium was the only Six-Pac facility to make the publications list and one of only five West coast ballparks.
PRESEASON PAC-10 COACHES POLL -- Arizona State is picked to finish second in the 1998 Pac-10 Coaches Preseason Poll as voted on by the six head coaches from each of the Six-Pac schools. Here is the complete poll:
1. Stanford (4) 2. Arizona State (2) 3. USC 4. Arizona 5. UCLA 6. California ( ) - denoted first place votes
ASU BASEBALL ON THE INTERNET -- Fans can catch-up on the latest news in Sun Devil Baseball on the internet at the official Arizona State Athletics homepage - http://www.thesundevils.com
SUN DEVILS ON THE RADIO -- KMVP 860 AM continues its association with Arizona State baseball with a package of 56 home and away games to be broadcast this season. Tom Dillon calls the play-by-play while Bob Eger will handle color commentary duties. The following is a list of the four games that will not be broadcast by KMVP: Jan. 22 vs. CS Northridge, Jan. 24 vs. Florida International, Jan. 31-the second game of the doubleheader and Feb. 25 vs. Anaheim Angels (exhib.). You can also listen to the Sun Devils via audionet at www.audionet.com/schools/asu
BEHIND THE DISH -- Junior Greg Halvorson (Tucson, Ariz.) will anchor the Devils from behind the plate in 1998. The 6-4 catcher ended the '97 season strong, finishing with a .295 batting average and a team-leading 23 doubles. Backing up Halvorson will be junior transfer Jeremy Jones (Raymore, Mo.), an outstanding defensive catcher from Mesa CC, and freshman Casey Myers (Casa Grande, Ariz.) who will also see some time as a designated hitter.
UP NEXT -- The Devils travel to Hawaii to face Hawaii-Hilo, January 29-February1 ... ASU will play five games vs. the Vulcans over four days ... Arizona State is 1-0 vs. Hawaii-Hilo all-time.
USA NATIONAL TRIALS -- Sophomore Willie Bloomquist (Port Orchard, Wash.) was invited to the USA National Team Trials held in Tucson, Ariz. in November. While at the trials, the middle infielder hit .556 (five-for-nine) with three runs scored and one RBI. Bloomquist will be evaluated throughout the 1998 season and if all goes well, receive another invitation to the trials in the summer.
DRAFTED DEVILS -- Fifteen current players on the 1998 Arizona State squad have been taken in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft:
Phill Lowery 1995 Texas Rangers 2nd round Willie Bloomquist 1996 Seattle Mariners 8th round Mark Ernster 1996 Chicago Cubs 12th round Ryan Mills 1995 New York Yankees 13th round Robby Milner 1997 Texas Rangers 13th round Andrew Beinbrink 1995 Boston Red Sox 14th round Jay Gehrke 1996 Baltimore Orioles 24th round Drew Friedberg 1997 Arizona Diamondbacks 25th round Kevin Tillman 1996 Houston Astros 30th round Dan Meier 1996 Texas Rangers 32nd round Jeremy Jones 1995 Colorado Rockies 36th round Jeff Phelps 1997 Pittsburg Pirates 36th round Jay Sitzman 1996 Milwaukee Brewers 37th round Greg Halvorson 1995 Oakland A's 38th round Jeremy Jones 1996 Cleveland Indians 38th round Chuck Crumpton 1995 San Diego Padres 39th round Chuck Crumpton 1996 Philadelphia Phillies 49th round
DID YOU KNOW? -- Righthanded sophomore pitcher Jay Gehrke (Fargo, N.D.) is not the first player from Fargo to grace the Arizona State roster. Kent Jacobson (1970-72) also hailed from Fargo, North Dakota and even attended the same high school as Gehrke (Fargo North) ... Coach Murphy is averaging 42.6 wins per season at the Div. 1 level (426 wins over 10 years).
A LOOK BACK AT 1997 -- The Arizona State Sun Devils finished with a 39-22 record (16-14 in the Six-Pac) ... the squad went 3-2 in the NCAA Atlantic Regional (Coral Gables, Fl.), losing to host-Miami, 5-6, in the championship game ... ASU finished ranked 11th (Baseball America) and 14th (Collegiate Baseball).
INTERVIEW POLICY -- Members of the media who wish to interview Arizona State players or coaches should direct their requests to Aimee Dombroski, Assistant Sports Information Director. Coach Murphy will be available shortly after the conclusion of the game, and players are available upon request. Please direct player requests to Dombroski in the press box before going down to the field.
Sun Devils By Position C Greg Halvorson, Jr. .295, 54 H, 23 2B, 10 HR 1B Dan Meier, Jr. or Jeff Phelps, Fr. 2B Chip Gosewisch, Jr. .348, 39 H, 21 R, 10 2B 3B Andrew Beinbrink, Jr. .380, 92 H, 60 R, 72 RBI SS Richy Leon, Sr. or Wllie Bloomquist, So. LF Willie Bloomquist, So. or Dustin Delucchi, So. CF Rudy Arguelles, Sr. .301, 55 H, 10 SB RF Mikel Moreno, Sr. .313, 70 H, 67 R, 38 RBI DH Casey Myers, Fr. or Dan Meier, Jr. P Phill Lowery, Jr. 6-2, 4.13 ERA, 79 K's P Ryan Mills, Jr. 6-3, 2.88 ERA, 103 K's Colin Call, Jr. or Jay Gehrke, So.
1998 National Rankings
(Six-Pac Schools)
School BA CB SN
(Pre) (Pre) (Pre)
Stanford 1 1 1
USC 5 6 5
Arizona State 6 5 4
UCLA 18 21 20
Arizona 24 34 24
BA- Baseball America
CB- Collegiate Baseball
SN- The Sporting News