March 19, 2004
ASU Baseball Links:
College Baseball Links:
California Baseball Links:
Mar. 19 vs. California, 7 p.m. MST CAL - Adam Gold, RHP (4-2, 1.39 ERA) ASU - Jeff Mousser, RHP (1-1, 3.06 ERA)Mar. 20 vs. California, 1 p.m. MST CAL - Mike Padgett, RHP (1-3, 3.89 ERA) ASU - Jason Urquidez, RHP (6-0, 1.77 ERA)
Mar. 21 vs. California, 1 p.m. MST CAL - Kyle Crist, RHP (2-3, 5.46 ERA) ASU - Zechry Zinicola, RHP (1-1, 5.25 ERA)
All-Time Series vs. California:
All-Time:...............91-50 Last Year:..............ASU 3-0 (11-3, 6-0, 10-1) Last Time in Tempe:.....1999 (ASU sweeps series)
National Rankings:
National Polls (Mar. 15, 2004)
Arizona State (19-3) enters the Pac-10 series opener against Cal as a consensus top 10 team in the nation in all four national polls. ASU ranks as high as No. 5 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 6 by Sports Weekly/ESPN. The Devils also moved up two spots to No. 8 by Baseball America and remained No. 7 by NCBWA. The Sun Devils have now been ranked in the national polls for 85 consecutive polls.
Media Exposure:
All three games of the California series will be broadcast on the radio with Tim Healey and Bob Eger calling all the action from Packard Stadium. Friday and Saturday will be on KDUS 1060 AM, and Sunday on 1440 AM. Friday's series opener will also be televised locally on AZ-TV with George Allen and Doug Gerlach calling the action. Every game during the 2004 season will also have the statistical GameTracker on www.TheSunDevils.com.
Did You Know:
The Sun Devils have won nine straight games against California in games played at Packard Stadium dating back to 1996... ASU has won four in a row and 13 of the last 14 games... the Devils are 6-3 in Pac-10 openers under head coach Pat Murphy and a combined 13-13 during the opening weekend of conference play dating back to 1995... ASU has opened Pac-10 play with California in four of Murphy's 10 seasons... Dustin Pedroia has a current four-game hitting streak, going 10-for-16 (.625)... Jeff Larish is 8-for-17 (.471) in his last four games to raise his season average to .292... Nick Walsh is a career .583 (7-for-12) hitter vs. Cal.
What's On Tap:
The Sun Devil Baseball team (19-3) continues their 25-game homestand this week with a busy schedule of eight games during a 10-day stretch. The Devils are off to a 2-0 start to the week, beating Oklahoma State in a pair of midweek games. ASU opens its 26th season in the Pacific-10 Conference this weekend with a three-game series against the California Golden Bears (12-14). After 22 games, the Devils are off to a torrid 19-3 start, rating as the second best start during the Pat Murphy era. After the Cal series, ASU will then host Washington (Mar. 26-28) and rival USC (Apr. 2-4).
Recapping The Midweek Tilts vs. Oklahoma State:
The Devils extended their winning streak to four games with a midweek sweep of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. ASU opened with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday behind the pitching of a trio of freshman. Pat Cassa, Quentin Andes and Pat Bresnehan combined to allow only eight hits and two unearned runs in the victory. The Devils erupted for 19 hits by 11 different players in Wednesday's 16-6 victory. Junior All-American Jeff Larish paced the ASU offense, going 6-for-9 with four RBI in the series. Junior shortstop Dustin Pedroia also hit .500 (5-for-10) with a pair of multi-hit performances.
Quick Hits:
Pedroia Off To Another Torrid Start:
Junior shortstop Dustin Pedroia is off to a solid start leading the team hitting .444 (40-for-90) with 35 runs scored, 13 doubles, four home runs and 22 RBI. He has hits in 19 of ASU's 22 games, including 12 multi-hit affairs and four games with two or more doubles. He also had a current four-game hitting streak in which he is 10-for-16 (.625). Pedroia earned his second career Pac-10 Player of the Week award after hitting .688 during a four-game stretch against Gonzaga, Lamar, Memphis and Rice. He recently ended a 0-for-10 slump by going 6-for-8 in the last two games of the series against the Green Wave, including a career-high five RBI while going 4-for-4 in Saturday's 11-3 victory. As a sophomore, Pedroia hit .404 (120-for-297) and was named the Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year. He led the NCAA with 34 doubles, setting the ASU and Pac-10 single-season record and tied for third all-time in the NCAA record books. With 12 doubles, he now has 59 in his career, ranking fifth in the ASU career record books. A career .388 (242-for-623) hitter, Pedroia ranks sixth in the ASU career record books. He has played and started all 148 games of his Sun Devil career and has recorded at least one hit in 126 games (86%). He has also recorded 80 career multi-hit games and is fifth all-time with 60 career doubles. Additionally, the 2003 Collegiate Baseball Defensive Player of the Year has made only 17 errors in 637 total chances in the field for a career. 973 FLD%. He was a two-year starter for the USA Baseball National Team and was named to the all-tournament team in the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Pedroia Times Two:
Junior shortstop Dustin Pedroia is a doubles machine. Through ASU's first 22 games, Pedroia has 13 doubles. He has picked up right where he left off in 2003, setting an ASU and Pac-10 record while leading the NCAA with 34 doubles. In 148 career games, the Woodland, Calif., native has 60 doubles to rank fifth in the ASU record books. He has averaged .41 doubles per game over his career.
Chasing Barry Bonds:
With 242 career hits in his career, junior shortstop Dustin Pedroia is inching his way towards the career top list in ASU history. He needs only six more hits to move into tenth place with Barry Bonds (1983-85), who had 247 during his three years in Tempe. The all-time school record is 322 set by Clay Westlake from 1973-76.
ASU in Pac-10 Openers:
Since joining the Pacific-10 Conference in 1979, ASU has an all-time 414-303 (.577) record in league counting games. The Sun Devils are 14-11 in Pac-10 openers and a combined 38-35 during the opening weekend of conference play. The Devils have won six of the nine Pac-10 openers under current head coach Pat Murphy, including a string of four straight.
Poll Mechanics:
Arizona State (19-3) remained the same in all three major college polls after going 2-1 to earn a series win over No. 11 Tulane. ASU improved to 19-3 with two midweek wins over Oklahoma State. The Devils are ranked No. 5 in the recent Collegiate Baseball poll, No. 8 by Baseball America and No. 6 by ESPN/Sports Weekly. With a 10-1 record against ranked opponents, ASU is in its third week as a consensus top 10 team. The Devils have now been ranked for 85 consecutive weeks dating back to the start of the 2000 season. ASU entered the 2004 season ranked in all four of the national preseason polls (#7 CB, #10 SW, #11 NCBWA, #18 BA). ASU finished the 2003 season with a 54-14 record and earned a consensus top 10 ranking in all four national polls.
Travis Buck Continues Torrid Streak:
Sophomore right fielder Travis Buck leads ASU in two of the three Triple Crown categories with six home runs and 32 RBI. Over his last 11 games, Buck is hitting .500 (20-for-40) with 15 runs scored, five doubles, five home runs, 22 RBI and a 1.000 slugging percentage. He had a stretch of hitting a home run in five straight games and earned back-to-back Pac-10 Player of the Week honors. During his torrid stretch he has raised his season batting average 140 points from .278 on Feb. 24 to its current mark of .395 (30-for-76). He also has three outfield assists and is 6-for-6 stealing bases. He was named Pac-10 Player of the Week and the Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week after going 10-for-12 (.833) with 13 RBI in the three-game series against UConn (2/27-29).
Buck Repeats As Pac-10 Player of the Week:
After going 5-for-10 with home runs in all three games against East Carolina, Travis Buck earned his second consecutive Pac-10 Player of the Week award. With his third career Pac-10 POW award, he became the 16th conference player and first since 1998 to repeat since Cal's Xavier Nady earned the award in consecutive weeks in 1998 (Apr. 27, May 4). He is the first Sun Devil since Oddibe McDowell in 1984 to earn back-to-back conference honors.
Five Times The Fun:
Travis Buck had a recent string of hitting a home run in five straight games dating back to the Sunday victory over Connecticut (2/29). He is the first Sun Devil to hit homers in five straight since single-season home run record holder Mitch Jones cleared the fences in five straight games during that save 2000 season against Florida State (2/6), Duke (2/11-13) and LSU (2/18).
Bresnehan Inching Towards Freshman Saves Record:
Only 22 games into his ASU career, freshman relief pitcher Pat Bresnehan is on the fast track to demolish the ASU freshman record for saves in a season. Bresnehan already has five saves to rank third in the freshman annals. He trails only Mitch Dean (8 in 1976) and Ryan Bradley (6 in 1995). The hard-throwing right-hander has been especially hot with two wins and five saves in his last seven appearances.
Urquidez Named To Clemens Award Watch List:
Arizona State starting pitcher Jason Urquidez is part of a list of 40 hurlers who are included in the first Roger Clemens Award Watch List. The list is comprised of all Division I pitchers who were named as preseason All-Americans by either Baseball America or Collegiate Baseball, in addition to those pitchers who have been honored so far this season as National Pitchers of the Week. Urquidez earned national POW honors from Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA, Sports Weekly and CollegeBaseballInsider.com. He was also named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week after his complete-game three-hitter against No. 1 and defending national champion Rice Owls at Reckling Park in Houston last weekend. A junior college transfer from Central Arizona College, Urquidez is off to a perfect 6-0 start with a 1.77 ERA. He has 33 strikeouts in 35.2 IP and opposing hitters are batting only .194 off him. In its inaugural year, The Roger Clemens Award will be presented to the nation's top college pitcher at the conclusion of a gala dinner in Houston on July 15.
A Perfect Start For Urquidez:
Junior starting pitcher Jason Urquidez is perfect in a Sun Devil uniform. The right-hander has won each of his five starts to build a 6-0 record with a 1.77 ERA. He is the first Sun Devil since 2001 to win the first six appearances in a Sun Devil uniform in the last 10 years. Andy Torres was the last Devil to win his first five appearances when he started 5-0 in 2001. Torres had four wins in starts and one win out of the bullpen to start his only year at ASU. The current Toronto Blue Jays minor leaguer finished the year 13-4 with a 4.30 ERA. Here is a look at Urquidez's six starts this season:
Date Opponent GS IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR WP BK HBP DP IBB Score W-L SV ERA Feb 08, 2004 Florida State * 5.0 6 1 1 3 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12-6 1-0 0 1.80 Feb 14, 2004 vs Utah * 6.0 3 0 0 2 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11-0 2-0 0 0.82 Feb 22, 2004 at Rice * 9.0 3 1 1 2 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3-1 3-0 0 0.90 Feb 29, 2004 Connecticut * 3.0 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 18-11 4-0 0 1.17 Mar 06, 2004 East Carolina * 7.0 5 4 3 3 4 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 6-4 5-0 0 1.80 Mar 13, 2004 Tulane * 5.2 4 1 1 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11-3 6-0 0 1.77 Totals 6 35.2 24 8 7 16 33 2 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 61-25 6-0 0 1.77
Tuff Behind the Plate:
Junior catcher Tuffy Gosewisch is the epitome of his named behind the dish... tough. In his second year as a full-time starter, Gosewisch has taken ASU's young pitching staff by the reigns to help lead the Devils to success with a 19-3 record and Pac-10 leading 3.29 ERA. Additionally, he is to a great start at the plate, hitting .325 (25-for-77) with 15 runs, six doubles, one home run and 13 RBI. He has recorded at least one hit in 16 of ASU's 22 games. The Johnny Bench Catcher of the Year candidate has thrown out eight of 18 attempted base stealers and has not recorded a passed ball this season.
Walsh Makes Most of Fifth Year:
Senior infielder Nick Walsh is making the most of his fifth year in the program. ASU's only true senior in the program arrived on campus during the 2000 Pac-10 Championship season and sat out as a redshirt. Walsh is hitting .310 (13-for-42) with three doubles and nine RBI while starting 12 games at second base. The career .294 hitter (93-for-316) has played in 160 games as a Sun Devil and is only seven hits away from the 100 mark for his career. He was fifth in the conference last year with a .410 batting average in Pac-10 games and enters this weekend's series against Cal as a career .320 (39-for-122) hitter in Pac-10 play. Walsh, a native of the Bay Area from Alamo, Calif., especially enjoys playing the Golden Bears, going 7-for-12 (.583) with five RBI in six games against Cal.
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