March 24, 1998
Tue., March 24 at Grand Canyon University (COX Sports) 7 p.m. MST
Fri., March 27 at #19 Washington 3 p.m. MST
Sat., March 28 at #19 Washington 2 p.m. MST
Sun., March 29 at #19 Washington 2 p.m. MST
ASU -- Arizona State (19-12, 8-6 Pac-10 Southern Division and ranked No. 16 Baseball America and No. 19 Collegiate Baseball in the polls) plays Grand Canyon University (17-11, 5-4 WAC) in a Tuesday mid-week matchupbefore heading to Seattle to take on Washington (ranked No. 19 by Baseball America and No. 23 by Collegiate Baseball) this weekend for a three-game nonconference series.
THIS WEEK ON TV and RADIO -- KMVP 860 AM, home of Sun Devil baseball, will broadcast the Grand Canyon game and the Washington series. Tom Dillon and Bob Eger will provide the play-by-play and color commentary respectively. COX Sports (Channel 22) will broadcast's Tuesday's game with Grand Canyon (3/24) live at 7 p.m. MST. George Allen and Doug Gerlach will handle the play-by-play and color commentary respectively.
DID YOU KNOW? -- Arizona State has not been shutout in its last 165 games (last time shutout was a 0-9 loss to USC on April 7, 1995) ... the Devils have allowed only 11 stolen base (11-27) through 31 games ... Coach Pat Murphy is averaging 42.6 wins per season at the Div. 1 level (429 wins over 10 years) ... ASU pitchers have thrown four two-hitters (one complete, three combined) and one one-hitter (combined) in 1998.
talk about tough -- Once again, Arizona State has arguably one of the toughest schedules in the nation this year. The Sun Devils will play 34 games versus Top 25 teams (preseason top 25 by Baseball America). Five Six-Pac teams were ranked in the preseason top 25. Currently four Six-Pac teams are ranked in the top 15 (according to Baseball America). Five Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top 25.
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. Beinbrink is is one of only three players to start every game this season. He leads the team with 13 doubles and 43 RBI and has batted safely in 13 of the last 15 games. He is third on the team in runs scored (30) and third in hits (37). 20 of his 37 hits have been for extra bases. Beinbrink leads the team in two-out RBIs with 18 and is 12-13 in stolen bases.
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 second base and as a righthanded starter for the Devils. He is currently batting .286 (22-for-77) with 17 runs scored and 11 RBI. He picked up a win in his first start of the season, going 6.1, allowing only one earned run vs. No. 1 Stanford. For his efforts, he was named Six-Pac Pitcher of the Week. Since then, however, Leon has received three no decisions in his last three starts. The senior has a 5.16 ERA in six appearances (22.2 IP) with 18 K's. He is holding opponent lefties to a .222 average. Leon hit his second homerun of the season with a solo shot vs. California (2/20).
MURPHY YOUNGEST TO REACH 500 WINS -- Arizona State head coach Pat Murphy reached the 500-win mark on Sunday with a 7-6 victory over California. His career record now stands at 500-242-3 over 13 seasons as a head coach. He becomes the youngest coach, at age 39, to reach the 500-win mark (with 75% of wins from Division 1 schools). Murphy joins the ranks of such greats as Ron Fraser, Miami (age 41), Cliff Gufstason, Texas (age 47), Bobby Winkles, ASU (age 41), Ron Polk, Mississippi State (age 41), Rod Dedeaux, USC (age 49), Jim Brock, ASU (age 45) and Gene Stephenson, Wichita State (age 52).
THE LAST HURRAH -- Senior outfielder Mikel Moreno will end a long and successful career at ASU after this season. Through 31 games, he is batting .316 with 27 RBI and 43 hits. He has also swiped 10 bases in the 1998 season and is batting well against righthanders (.354). The speedy rightfielder has started all 31 contests and put together a 21-game hitting streak dating back to the 1997 season before going 0-for-5 vs. FSU (2/7) earlier this year. Moreno, a two-year starter, should leave his mark in several Sun Devil career categories including career doubles, runs and hits.
pitchers corner -- A lot of new faces will grace the bullpen in 1998, including junior transfer Chuck Crumpton (Mesquite, Texas) who has been superb as ASU's No. 1 closer. Crumpton has pitched 39.2 innings of relief for the Devils in 1998 and was a part of both of ASU's combined shutout victories. He sports an impressive 1.13 ERA and a 2-1 record with three saves and a team-high 21 appearances. 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. Pennington (2-1, 3.56 ERA), picked up his second win of the season pitching 2.1 innings of relief in ASU's 7-6 win over Cal. Transfer Aaron Kramer (Grand Canyon U.) has also joined the ASU pitching staff and has been strong out of the bullpen. He picked up his first save of the year on Saturday, pitching three hitless and scoreless innings with five K's to close out ASU's 7-2 win over the Golden Bears. He is 2-2 overall with a 2.75 ERA in 12 appearances. All are expected to see time on the mound as well as sophomore Jay Gehrke (2-1, 8.31 ERA) and Colin Call (1-0, 6.52 ERA)..
UP NEXT -- Arizona State will host Grand Canyon University in a midweek game (4/1) at 7 p.m. at Packard Stadium before heading to Tucson for a three-game conference series with 10th-ranked Arizona (4/3-4/5).
INJURY REPORT -- Freshman Casey Myers has a strained left quad and is listed as probable for this week's games. Sophomore Kevin Tillman, who strained his left hamstring last month, is listed as probable as well.
THE HIT MAN -- Sophomore Willie Bloomquist (Port Orchard, Wash.) leads the Arizona State offense in '98. The infielder/outfielder is batting .409 (47-for-115) and leads the team in hits (47), runs scored (37), stolen bases (17) and walks (32). Bloomquist has drawn at least one walk in 23 of 31 games this season and had multiple-hit games in 15 of 31. He is batting .488 with runners in scoring position, .387 vs. lefties and .417 vs. righthanders. Last week, Bloomquist was invited to the summer camp for the 1998 USA Baseball National Team. Training camp is scheduled to open June 1 at Hi Corbett Field in Tuscon, Arizona.
THE DYNAMIC DUO -- The one-two punch of junior lefties Ryan Mills (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Phill Lowery (Petaluma, Calif.) have proven to be formidable in 1998. Mills and Lowery have combined fornine wins and a 4.20 ERA. Lowery (5-3, 3.74 ERA) picked up his fifth win of the season on Friday, going 7.0 innings, allowing two hits and one run while striking out a season-high 12 batters. Mills sports a 4.63 ERA through 10 starts and picked up his fourth win of the year on Saturday, going 6.0 innings allowing four hits, one earned run and striking out a season-high 13 batters. Lowery is holding batters to a .204 average (.194 vs. righthanded batters). Last year 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).
DRAFTED DEVILS -- Sixteen 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 Aaron Kramer 1996 New York Yankees 72nd round
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.
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 seven games that will not be broadcast by KMVP: Jan. 22 vs. CS Northridge, Jan. 24 vs. Florida International, Jan. 31 vs. Hawaii-Hilo (DH), Feb. 25 vs. Anaheim Angels (exhib.), Feb. 27 vs. Stanford and Mar. 7 at UCLA. You can also listen to the Sun Devils via audionet at www.audionet.com
1998 Devils in the Record Book
Most Runs 1. 224 - Gary Atwell, 1970-73 2. 216 - Rick Peter, 1974-77 3. 212 - Ken Landreaux, 1974-76 4. 198 - Mike Kelly, 1989-91 189 - Mikel Moreno, 1995- Most Doubles 1. 88 - Clay Westlake, 1973-76 2. 70 - Antone Williamson, 1992-94 3. 59 - Stan Holmes, 1978-81 4. 58 - Dan Rumsey, 1986-89 44 - Mikel Moreno, 1995- Most Hits 1. 322 - Clay Westlake, 1973-76 2. 289 - Stan Holmes, 1978-81 3. 286 - Gary Atwell, 1970-73 4. 264 - Antone Williamson, 1992-94 5. 262 - Bob Horner, 1976-78 223 - Mikel Moreno, 1995- Batting Average 1. .408 - Kevin Romine, 1981-82 2. .396 - Hubie Brooks, 1977-79 3. .389 - Mike Sodders, 1980-81 .389 - Dan McKinley, 1995-97 5. .388 - Chris Bando, 1975-78 9. .373 - Andrew Beinbrink, 1996- Individual, Single Game Most Doubles 1. 4 - Mike Devereaux, 1/31/85 vs. UCSB 4 - Gary Atwell, 4/23/71 vs. UTEP 3. 3 - 13 times, most recently by Mikel Moreno, 4/1/97 vs. GCU Most RBI 1. 9 - Tommy Adams, 5/2/90 vs. UNLV 2. 8 - five times, most recently by Scott Shores, 2/9/94 vs. SU 7. 7 - Willie Bloomquist, 2/16/97 vs. Southern Illinois 7 - Kevin Tillman, 2/2/97 vs. Eastern Michigan Most Stolen Bases T1. 4 - Willie Bloomquist, 3/14/98 vs. USC
Career Hitting