May 22, 2000
ARIZONA STATE junior catcher Casey Myers was named the 2000 Pacific-10 Conference Baseball Player of the Year, while USC junior right-hander Rik Currier and STANFORD junior right-hander Justin Wayne earned co-Pitcher of the Year honors in a vote of the conference baseball coaches. USC's Anthony Lunetta was named Freshman/Newcomer of the Year. ARIZONA STATE skipper Pat Murphy earned Coach of the Year after leading the Sun Devils to a share of their sixth conference title and first since 1993, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today.
Myers, a junior from Casa Grande, Ariz., led the Sun Devils in several offensive categories, including batting average (.414), hits (91), doubles (18), runs batted in (89), and on-base percentage (.511). Myers led the Pac-10 in runs batted in and on-base percentage. He also ranked among the Conference leaders in batting average (2nd), hits (3rd), slugging percentage (.714, 5th), total bases (157, 5th), runs scored (67, t6th), home runs (16, t8th), and doubles (t8th). Myers also does an excellent job behind the plate, calling the pitches himself. He has reached base safely (hit, walk, hit by pitch) in 51 of 55 games this year. Myers leads ASU in multiple-hit games (28) and multiple-RBI games (25). He currently has 198 career RBI, 10th-best in Pac-10 history.
Currier, a junior from Dana Point, Calif., led the Trojans with a 12-3 record, with a 3.26 ERA, second-best in the Pac-10. His 12 wins tie for the league-lead this season. He began the season as the No. 2 starter, but moved in to the No. 1 role on Apr. 7. Currier has struck out 122 batters in 102 innings pitched this season, walking just 51, and allowing only 47 earned runs. Currier's 122 strikeouts rank tied for fourth in the Pac-10 currently and are 10th in school history for a single season, and his 310 career strikeouts rank fifth all-time. He is holding opposing batters to a .239 average at the plate, sixth-best in the league. Currier struck out 11 or more batters on three occasions, including 12 twice. Currier threw his first career no-hitter and the school's sixth on Mar. 4, blanking Mississippi State over five innings of a rain-shortened game. He has won seven of his last eight starts.
Wayne, a junior from Honolulu, Hawai'i, has had another remarkable season, going 12-3 with a Pac-10-leading 3.02 ERA. He has set a new career-high with his 12 victories, which also co-leads the Pac-10 this season with Currier. Wayne is among the pitching leaders in several other categories, including strikeouts (128, 2nd), opposing batting average (.221, t2nd), and innings pitched (113.1, 2nd). He recently moved into second place all-time in school history with his 338th strikeout, passing Jack McDowell (337, 1985-87). That also puts him in fifth place in Pac-10 history. He has struck out 10 or more batters on six occasions this season, including 12 twice. Earlier this season, Wayne tied the Pac-10 record with his 16th consecutive victory on Mar. 17 vs. USC. It tied John Olerud of Washington State, who also won 16 straight from 1987-88. Wayne's Stanford record stands at 28-4 (.875), third-best in school history for percentage, and tied for fifth in wins.
Lunetta, a freshman from Riverside, Calif., has been named the Pac-10's inaugural Freshman/Newcomer of the Year. He was second on the team with a .355 batting average and 72 hits. He was third on the team with nine home runs and 41 RBI. Lunetta led USC and is currently second in the Pac-10 with 21 doubles, tied for sixth-most in school history. He became the first USC freshman since 1993 to hit 20 or more doubles in a season (26, Gabe Alvarez). Lunetta has a .591 slugging percentage and .452 on-base percentage this season. He had 21 multiple-hit games, third-best on the team.
Sun Devil skipper Murphy earned his first Coach of the Year award after leading his squad to their sixth Pac-10 Conference title and first since 1993. Arizona State earned the Pac-10's automatic NCAA berth by defeating both Stanford and USC, two games to one. This is Murphy's sixth year at ASU, and he has guided them to their third postseason appearance since he took over in 1995. Murphy has a career record of 603-292-3 (.673), 230-121 (.655) at ASU. The Sun Devils have been ranked all season and currently are No. 4 by Baseball America. In ASU's last appearance in 1998, Murphy led the team to the CWS title game.
The All-Pac-10 team as selected by the Conference coaches also was announced today.
UCLA led the way with five representatives on the all-conference team, ARIZONA and STANFORD checked in with three a piece. ARIZONA STATE, CALIFORNIA, OREGON STATE, and USC all had two representatives. WASHINGTON STATE had one and WASHINGTON zero. There were four three-time selections and six two-time selections. There were eight seniors, eight juniors, four sophomores, and zero freshman.
The complete list of Conference honors:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR Casey Myers, ARIZONA STATE
CO-PITCHERS OF THE YEAR Rik Currier, USC Justin Wayne, STANFORD
FRESHMAN/NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR Anthony Lunetta, USC
COACH OF THE YEAR Pat Murphy, ARIZONA STATE
ALL-PAC-10 TEAM Name School Pos Yr Ht Wt Hometown Garrett Atkins (3) UCLA IF Jr. 6-2 190 Irvine, Calif. Joe Borchard (2) STAN OF Jr. 6-4 225 Camarillo, Calif. Brooks Conrad ASU IF So. 5-11 175 Spring Valley, Calif. Beau Craig USC C So. 5-11 175 Santee, Calif. Keoni DeRenne (2) ARIZ IF Jr. 5-7 155 Honolulu, Hawai'i Ben Diggins ARIZ RHP/DH So. 6-6 230 Prescott Valley, Calif. John Gall (3) STAN IF Sr. 6-1 200 Portola Valley, Calif. Justin Gemoll USC IF Sr. 6-2 205 San Jose, Calif. Joe Gerber (3) OSU IF Sr. 6-1 210 Portland, Ore. Troy Gingrich ARIZ OF Sr. 5-10 180 Apache Jet, Ariz. Ray Hattenburg (2) WSU IF Sr. 6-1 195 Spokane, Wash. Drew Hedges OSU OF Sr. 6-4 200 Portland, Ore. Forrest Johnson UCLA C Jr. 6-1 190 Rialto, Calif. Mitch Jones ASU OF Sr. 6-2 210 Orem, Utah Josh Karp UCLA RHP So. 6-5 195 Bothell, Wash. Edmund Muth STAN OF Sr. 6-1 200 Long Beach, Calif. Xavier Nady (3) CAL IF Jr. 6-2 205 Salinas, Calif. Bill Scott (2) UCLA OF Jr. 6-1 210 Granada Hills, Calif. Mike Tonis (2) CAL C Jr. 6-3 220 Elk Grove, Calif. Chase Utley (2) UCLA IF Jr. 6-1 175 Long Beach, Calif.
HONORABLE MENTION: Damien Alvardo, Sr., STAN, Stefan Bailie, Fr., WSU, Brian Barden, Fr., OSU, Jon Brandt, Jr., UCLA, Jeff Bruksch, So., STAN, Eric Bruntlett, Sr., STAN, Ryan Carter, Jr., UCLA, Seth Davidson, Jr., USC, Tyler Davidson, Fr., WASH, Eric Doble, Jr., ASU, Ernie Durazo, Jr., ARIZ, Ed Erickson, Sr., WASH, Rob Garibaldi, So., USC, Mike Gosling, So., STAN, Jason Grove, Jr., WSU, Rob Henkel, Jr., UCLA, Clint Hoover, Jr., CAL, Andy Jarvis, Fr., OSU, Thad Johnson, Jr., OSU, Todd Linden, So., WASH, Scott Nicholson, Jr., OSU, Matt O'Brien, Sr., WSU, Chris O'Riordan, So., STAN, Josh Persell, Jr., USC, Jeff Phelps, Jr., ASU, Mark Prior, So., USC, Anthony Reyes, Fr., USC, Tila Reynolds, Fr., WASH, Bobby Roe, Jr., UCLA, Shawn Stevenson, Sr., WSU, Jon Switzer, So., ASU, Craig Thompson, Sr., STAN, David Weiner, Fr., CAL, Jason Young, Jr., STAN.
(2) - Two-time All-Conference selection (3) - Three-time All-Conference selection