Baseball

Jan. 26, 1998

Sun Devils Head to Hawaii

Thurs., Jan. 29     Hawaii-Hilo         9 p.m. (MST)
Fri., Jan. 30       Hawaii-Hilo         9 p.m. (MST)
Sat., Jan. 31       Hawaii-Hilo (DH)    4 p.m. (MST)
Sun. Feb. 1         Hawaii-Hilo         4 p.m. (MST)

Arizona State (3-0, 0-0 Pac-10 Southern Division and ranked No. 6 Baseball America and No. 5 Collegiate Baseball in the preseason polls) travels to the islands to take on the University of Hawaii-Hilo for a five-game series Thursday, Januray 29 through Sunday, February 1.

THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO -- KMVP 860 AM, home of Sun Devil baseball, will broadcast four of the five games in Hawaii. The second game of the doubleheader on Saturday will not be broadcast. Kevin Ray and Bob Eger will provide the play-by-play and color commentary respectively. All four games will be broadcast live.

ABOUT THE VULCANS -- Arizona State holds a 1-0 edge in the all-time series record with the Vulcans ... Hawaii-Hilo is 1-7 overall entering this week ... they are coached by Joey Estrella (Hawaii '76) ... the Vulcans return five starters from last year's 17-30-1 team.

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). Beinbrink played summer ball for the Anchorage Bucs where he was named the Top Prospect by Baseball America. Through three games, Beinbrink is hitting a .273 clip with five runs scored and five RBI.

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). Through three games, he is batting .500 (5-of-10) with five runs scored.

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. Mills and Lowery have yet to give up an earned run this season. 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 484-235-3 over 13 seasons as a head coach. Murphy need just 16 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. Through three games, he is batting .364 with five RBI and four runs scored. He hit his first homerun of the season vs. FIU (1/24). 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.

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. Transfer Aaron Kramer (Grand Canyon U.) has also joined the ASU pitching staff. 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

BEHIND THE DISH -- Junior Greg Halvorson (Tucson, Ariz.) will anchor the Devils from behind the plate in 1998. Through three games, he is batting at a .250 clip with four runs scored and four RBI. 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 time as a designated hitter.

UP NEXT -- The Devils will host a three-game series with nationally ranked Florida State at Packard Stadium ... the Seminoles hold a 14-5 edge in the all-time series with ASU ... last year, in Tallahassee, FSU won two-of-three with Arizona State.

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    Pittsburgh 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? -- ASU has outscored its opponents 41-7 through three games ... The ASU pitching staff has a phenomenal 1.08 ERA and have yielded only three earned runs ... the Devils have not allowed a single stolen base ... Arizona State hitters have yet to hit into a double play ... Coach Murphy is averaging 42.6 wins per season at the Div. 1 level (429 wins over 10 years).

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