May 18, 2004
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College Baseball Links:
May 18 at New Mexico, 7 p.m. MST ASU - Pat Cassa (LHP) or Ty Marotz (RHP) UNM - Darren Coltrinari, RHP (1-2, 11.65 ERA)Media Exposure:May 19 at New Mexico State, 6 p.m. MST ASU - TBA NMSU - Dustin Cameron, RHP (6-6, 5.22 ERA)
National Rankings: National Polls (May 17, 2004) Sports Weekly/ESPN:............13 Baseball America:..............19 Collegiate Baseball:...........17 BoydsWorld RPI:................3
The New Mexico game will not be broadcast on the radio, but will have the statistical GameTracker on www.TheSunDevils.com. ASU returns to the airwaves for all three of the Arizona games on KDUS 1060 AM. Friday's game will be televised nationally on CSTV and locally on AZ-TV.
Did You Know?
ASU has won seven straight games and 12 of its last 14 overall... Travis Buck is in the midst of a career-high 11-game hitting streak... Player of the Year candidate Dustin Pedroia has hit safely in 41 of 48 games this year and leads the Pac-10 hitting .411... freshman closer Zechry Zinicola is 2-1 with five saves in his last 11 games... senior Nick Walsh is hitting .361 overall and ranks third in the league batting .442 in Pac-10 games... Jason Urquidez is tied for the league lead with 10 wins.
What's On Tap:
The Sun Devil Baseball team (35-13, 10-8 Pac-10) begins a regular-season ending eight-game road trip this week with a pair of non-conference games. ASU will travel to Albuquerque, N.M. to face the New Mexico Lobos on Tuesday (May 18) at 7 p.m. (MST) at Isotopes Park, the AAA home of the Albuquerque Isotopes (Florida Marlins affiliate). The Devils will then travel south to Las Cruces for a Wednesday match-up with New Mexico State (May 19) at 6 p.m. (MST) at Presley Askew Field. The Southwest tour will continue with the annual rivalry matchup against the University of Arizona this weekend at Kindall Field in Tucson (May 21-23). Following the series with UA, the Devils travel to Stanford to complete the regular season against the No. 2 Cardinal at Sunken Diamond. ASU is 10-4 on the road this season and 25-5 in non-conference action.
Devils Riding Seven-Game Win Streak:
The Devils head into the non-conference tilt with the New Mexico Lobos winners of seven straight games. After going through a tough stretch of losing four straight home series (Cal, Washington, USC, Oral Roberts), the Devils have rebounded by winning 12 of the last 14 games, including three straight Pac-10 series. The seven-game win streak started with the impressive two-game sweep of then No. 7 Wichita State on the road. ASU is hitting .333 during the streak and pitching for an impressive 3.00 ERA. Junior Josh Asanovich is hitting .455 (10-for-22) during the streak and starting pitchers Jeff Mousser and Jason Urquidez each have a pair of wins on the mound. The seven-game streak is second only to a nine-game streak earlier in the season.
Quick Hits:
- Freshman RHP Quentin Andes is a Albuquerque native, prepping at Cibola High School. - Undergraduate assistant coach Carlos Arguello, who pitched for ASU from 2002-03, is also an Albuquerque native. He attended St. Pius X High School and Cochise College. - Of ASU's 48 games this season, 27 have been played against teams that have been ranked or are currently ranked. - Junior shortstop Dustin Pedroia has hit safely in 41 of 48 games and leads the Pac-10 hitting .411 with 22 2B. - The Devils have used 42 different starting batting lineups and 31 different positional lineups this season. - Josh Asanovich is third on the team hitting .355 and is 15-for-33 (.455) in his last 10 games. - Jason Urquidez is tied for the league lead with 10 wins (10-2) and is also third with a 2.94 ERA (80 K, 80.2 IP). - The Devils have been ranked in 94 consecutive national polls dating back to the start of the 2000 season. - Freshman closer Zechry Zinicola has two wins and five saves in his last 11 outings (0.96 ERA, 22 K). - 10th year head coach Pat Murphy needs five (5) more wins to record his 400th as a Sun Devil. - Jeff Mousser is 4-0 in his last five starts to improve to 5-3 and is fourth in the Pac-10 with a 3.57 ERA. - Travis Buck is hitting .344 with eight home runs and was invited to the USA Baseball National Team Trials. - ASU holds the No. 3 projected RPI in the nation (www.BoydsWorld.com) and is 13-3 against top 25 teams. - Nick Walsh is third in the league batting .442 in Pac-10 play and is hitting .431 (28x65) in his last 18 games. - LHP Erik Averill is 4-1 with one save and a 3.99 ERA as a reliever (2-0, 1.38 ERA in last six relief app.). - ASU is 23-3 this season when the starting pitcher goes five or more innings. - The Devils have made one or less errors in 34 of 49 games and no errors in 15 games (.972 FLD%). - Junior catcher Tuffy Gosewisch is hitting .348 (56-for-161) and leads the team with seven GWRBI.
Pedroia For National Player of the Year:
Junior shortstop Dustin Pedroia is a leading candidate for Pac-10, National Player of the Year honors and the prestigious Golden Spikes Award. Through 48 games, Pedroia leads Pac-10 and is 22nd in the NCAA hitting .411 (81-for-197) with 63 runs scored, 22 doubles, eight home runs and 43 RBI. He has hit safely in 41 of ASU's 48 games, including 24 multi-hit affairs and four games with two or more doubles. Pedroia also leads the Pac-10 in runs scored (63), hits (81), doubles (22), on-base percentage (.514) and is third with a .655 slugging percentage. 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 22 doubles this season, Pedroia now has 69 in his career, ranking fourth in the ASU career record books. He also has recorded 283 hits to rank fifth and his career .388 batting average (283-for-730) ranks tied for sixth in the ASU record books. He has played and started all 174 games of his Sun Devil career and has recorded at least one hit in 148 games (85%). He has also recorded 92 career multi-hit games and is a .391 career hitter in 66 Pac-10 games (113-for-289). 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. Here is a look at Pedroia's season/career highlights and statistics:
- Hitting .411 overall (81-for-197) with 22 doubles, eight home runs, 43 RBI and a .514 on-base percentage. - Semifinalist for the Rotary Smith Player of the Year Award. Also on the Golden Spikes Award Watch List. - Leads the Pac-10 in several categories, including hitting (.411), runs (63), hits (81), doubles (22) and is second in assists (156). - Has hit safely in 41 of 48 games this season and leads the team with 31 extra base hits. - Has a pair of 10-game hitting streaks this season and seven career streaks of 10 or more games. - Tied for the team lead with eight home runs and has 13 in his career. Entered the season with only five career homers. - Has recorded 24 multi-hit games this season and 92 in his career. He has eight three-hit games and four, four-hit contests this season. - Rated as the No. 28 overall position player by Baseball America for the 2004 MLB Draft. - A career .388 (283-for-730) hitter to rank fifth in hits (283) and tied for sixth in batting average in the ASU record books. - Has recorded at least one hit in 148 of 174 career games (85%) and has started every game of his career. - Has hit 69 career doubles, ranking fourth in the ASU career record books. He needs two more doubles to rank third. - Set the ASU and Pac-10 single-season record with 34 doubles in 2003. Old ASU record was 30 by Chris Bando in 1978. - Named the 2003 Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year with Stanford's Ryan Garko and was a first-team All-American. - Played for the USA Baseball National Team in 2002 and 2003, leading Team USA to a bronze medal in the Pan Am Games. - Named the 2003 Defensive Player of the Year, he has a career .974 fielding percentage with only 20 errors in 781 total chances. - Played for the USA Baseball National Team in 2002 and 2003, leading Team USA to a bronze medal in the Pan Am Games. Year Avg GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-ATT 2002.... .347 58-58 236 51 82 13 2 1 45 24 19 5-9 2003.... .404 68-68 297 83 120 34 3 4 52 36 13 3-7 2004.... .411 48-48 197 63 81 22 1 8 43 39 10 6-11 TOTAL... .388 174-174 730 197 283 69 6 13 140 99 42 14-27Pedroia Times Two:
Junior shortstop Dustin Pedroia is a doubles machine. Through ASU's first 48 games, Pedroia has 22 doubles to lead the Pac-10 and ranks 11th in the nation (0.46 doubles per game). Pedroia set an ASU and Pac-10 record while leading the NCAA with 34 doubles in 2003. Pedroia ranks fourth in school history with 69 career doubles.
Pedroia Inching Towards 300:
With 283 career hits, junior shortstop Dustin Pedroia ranks fifth in school history and is only 17 hits short of the 300 mark. With 17 more hits, he will become only the fourth Sun Devil to reach 300 hits in a career and the first to do so in three ore less seasons. Pedroia is also ninth in the ASU record books with 720 career at-bats and has never missed a game in his Sun Devil career (174 games). The all-time school record is 322 set by Clay Westlake from 1973-76.
Devils Rated No. 3 in Projected RPI:
In the May 18 release of the projected RPI on www.Boydsworld.com, Arizona State remained No. 3 in the nation behind Miami, Fla. (37-11) and Texas (46-10). The Devils have been ranked as high as No. 1 (3/15) and moved up three spots from No. 6 after going 2-0 last week. The NCAA uses the rating system to help determine selections and seedings for postseason play. Boyd Nation has come up with an RPI index that has proven to be an accurate depiction of the same RPI the NCAA uses. The Devils are 35-13 this season and has played arguably the toughest schedule in the nation. ASU has 14 of the top 50 teams in this week's RPI ratings on the 2004 slate. Here is the top 10 in the latest pseudo RPI:
Division I Overall Rank Rating W L W L Team1 0.656 37 11 37 11 Miami, Florida 2 0.655 46 10 46 10 Texas 3 0.638 35 13 35 13 Arizona State 4 0.630 39 13 39 13 South Carolina 5 0.629 38 14 38 14 Louisiana State 6 0.625 37 16 37 16 Florida 7 0.624 38 15 38 15 Mississippi 8 0.623 38 9 38 9 Rice 9 0.617 40 11 40 11 Virginia 10 0.616 39 9 39 9 Stanford