May 20, 2002
Current 2002 Record: 32-19 (12-9 Pac-10, 4th place)
Record Entering Week: 28-18 (10-8 Pac-10, 4th place)
Record Last Week: 4-1 (2-1 Pac-10)
Current Streak: Won 1 (won 4 of 5, 5 of 7)
Record vs. Ranked Opponents: 8-8
Last Week's Results (4-1 vs. Portland and USC):
Tuesday (May 14) - 14-2 win over Portland
Wednesday (May 15) - 16-7 win over Portland
Friday (May 17) - 3-1 win over #19 USC
Saturday (May 18) - 5-9 loss to #19 USC
Sunday (May 19) - 17-8 win over #19 USC
This Week's Games:
Friday, May 24 - Oregon State, 6 p.m. (Hohokam Park; Mesa, Ariz.)
Saturday, May 25 - Oregon State, 6 p.m. (Hohokam Park, Mesa, Ariz.)
Sunday, May 26 - Oregon State, 1 p.m. (Hohokam Park; Mesa, Ariz.)
Pitcher of the Week Nominee:
Jered Liebeck, Jr., RHP, Glendale, Ariz.
Junior RHP Jered Liebeck did not allow run in nine innings of work last week and picked up two of ASU's four wins. He pitched two strong innings out of the bullpen in a midweek game vs. Portland and then had a career night in helping lead the Sun Devils to a series-opening 3-1 win over #19 USC Friday night. Liebeck struck out a career-high eight batters in seven shutout innings against the Trojans and did not walk a batter. For the season the junior product of Mountain Ridge High School is now 2-1 with one save and a 4.50 ERA. He has struck out 36 and walked only 11 in 40.0 innings pitched.
Offensive Player of the Week Nominee:
Jeremy West, So., 1B, Las Vegas, Nev.
After enduring a month-long slump that resulted in a 6-for-33 (.182) slump, sophomore Jeremy West caught fire in a big way this past week. While playing in only four of the five games (dnp Sunday due to flu virus), West hit .562 (9x16) with eight runs scored, two doubles, a triple, one home run and 11 RBI. West had one of the best run-producing performances in school history in Wednesday's midweek win over Portland, going 4-for-6 with eight RBI and a grand slam home run. The eight RBI were the second most in ASU single-game history. For the season the Baseball America Midseason All-American is leading the team in several categories, including batting average (.365), runs scored (50), doubles (18), home runs (12), RBI (63), slugging percentage (.707) and extra base hits (34). He has recorded a hit in 36 of 49 games this year and at least one RBI in 28 games.
Notes on ASU Baseball:
Arizona State continues to play well down the stretch despite being without several top players... Andre Ethier (.362-4 HR-42 RBI) remains out with a broken thumb, but may see action this weekend vs. Oregon State... the Devils recorded their highest offensive production in Pac-10 play Sunday with 19 hits and 17 runs vs. 19th-ranked USC without its top three hitters... the Sunday lineup featured an infield with every player not playing their natural position... in going 4-1 last week, ASU out-scored its opponent 55-27 and hit .370 as a team... sophomore first baseman Jeremy West continues to heat it up with a current six-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .565 (13x23) with 10 runs scored and 14 RBI... his eight RBI vs. Portland (5/15) were the second most in ASU single-game history... senior infielder Sergio Garcia has also been swinging a hot bat with a .562 (9x16) batting average over the last five games... he became the first Sun Devil since 2000 (Brooks Conrad) to record five hits in a game... his 5-for-5 performance Sunday vs. USC raised his season batting average 29 points from .321 to .360 (fourth best on ASU)... Garcia is 8-for-10 (.800) with four RBI in his last two Sunday starts (insert golf joke here!)... true freshman Nick Cadena recorded his second multi-home run game of the year in Sunday's crushing of USC... setting a career high with five RBI, Cadena is now tied for fifth with current teammates Jeremy West and Rod Allen in the ASU freshman record books with six home runs... Cadena was hitting just .097 before moving into a starting role after Ethier's injury, but has since caught fire to hit five home runs in his last 36 at-bats and in his last nine starts is batting .333 with 15 RBI... freshman shortstop Dustin Pedroia continues to play flawless defense, not committing an error in the last 20 games and has made only two errors all season long in 190 total chances (.989 FLD %)... Pedroia is hitting .385 in Pac-10 play and is second on the team with 22 multi-hit games... freshman walk-on Garrett Schoenberger recorded his first career hit vs. Portland (5/14)... ASU extended its NCAA record consecutive games scoring streak to 426 games and are now 274-151-1 during that stretch dating back to April 7, 1995 (USC)... the Sun Devils have scored in the first inning in 28 of 51 games this year (55%) and are 22-6 when scoring in the first inning... the eight-run first inning vs. USC Sunday was the biggest first inning of the year... ASU head coach Pat Murphy picked up his 300th and 301st wins as a Sun Devil this past weekend... ASU improved to 17-1 when scoring 10 or more runs and have put up double-digits in runs in four of the past seven games... ASU continues to juggle lineups, now having used 40 different combinations in the starting batting order... ASU is 4-2 in Pac-10 rubber matches this year... the Devils wore black socks and a black hat in Friday's and Saturday's games in honor of former Major League and Negro League star Joe Black.