May 28, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- For the second straight year, Arizona State shortstop Dustin Pedroia has been named a first-team selection on the 2004 Sports Weekly All-America team.
Pedroia, who is one of five finalists for the prestigious Golden Spikes Award, is hitting .409 (90-for-220) with 23 doubles, nine home runs and 48 RBI. He also leads the Pac-10 with 74 runs scored and a .515 on-base percentage. He has hit safely in 45 of ASU's 53 games and is widely considered the top defensive player in the nation with a .968 fielding percentage.
The junior from Woodland, Calif., was the 2003 Pac-10 co-Player of the Year and the Collegiate Baseball/Easton National Defensive Player of the Year. He has played and started all 179 games of his Arizona State career since arriving on the Tempe campus in 2002. He ranks tied for sixth in the school record books with a career .388 (292-for-753) batting average. He needs only eight more hits to become the fourth player in ASU history and first as a three-year player to reach 300 career hits. He also needs 10 more hits to become only the third Sun Devil to reach 100 hits two seasons in a row. In addition, Pedroia is third with 70 career doubles and seventh with 208 runs scored.
Pedroia and the No. 8 Sun Devils (39-14, 12-9 Pac-10) complete the regular season this weekend with a crucial three-game series at Stanford (May 28-30). ASU is currently tied for third place in the conference, but are only 1.5 games back of the league-leading Cardinal and can earn a share of the Pac-10 title with a sweep this weekend. The NCAA Tournament Field of 64 will be announced Monday morning (May 31) at 9 a.m. (PT) on ESPN2.
2004 Awards and Honors: * Golden Spikes Award Finalist. * Dick Howser Award Semifinalist. * Baseball America Player of the Year Watch. * ESPN/Sports Weekly First-Team All-American. * Pac-10 Player of the Week (Feb. 24) * No. 53 prospect for 2004 draft (Baseball America). * Midseason All-American/Top Junior (Baseball America). * Preseason Pac-10 Player of the Year (Baseball America). * First-Team Preseason All-American.