March 19, 2008

TEMPE, Ariz. -

Complete Release in PDF Format

Leading Off:

After a thrilling 6-5 win over #2 Arizona on Tuesday night, the Sun Devils host the Bob Schaefer Memorial Tournament at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. ASU welcomes Northern Colorado, Florida International and #5 UC Irvine to Tempe for the tournament, which begins Thursday night when Arizona State takes on Northern Colorado. UC Irvine will face FIU on Friday, with ASU/Northern Colorado after that. Saturday will see UC Irvine play Northern Colorado before the Devils and Panthers square off in a doubleheader. The Bears and Panthers will play on Sunday before ASU and UCI will close out the tournament Sunday evening.

 

Devils vs. Northern Colorado:

Arizona State is 15-0 in the all-time series against Northern Colorado, formerly known as Colorado State College. The two schools haven't faced each other since 1972,  but the series dates all the way back to 1960.

 

Devils vs. Florida International:

ASU is 2-0 against the Golden Panthers, beating them in the Coral Gables, Florida NCAA Regional in 1997 and in Tempe in 1998.

 

Devils vs. UC Irvine:

The Sun Devils are 8-5 all-time against the Anteaters, including a 1-1 mark last season in Omaha. ASU beat UC Irvine in the College World Series opener, but the Anteaters eliminated the Devils three days later. The last regular season meeting was in 2003.

 

Hot Start:

Arizona State's 18-0 start is the second best start in school history. The record for best start is held by the 1961 squad, who  started the year 21-0. The 18-0 start is the best start ever by a Murphy coached team.

 

Rankings:

Arizona State is ranked #1 in all five major polls, the first time this year there has been a unanimous #1 team.

 

Arizona Recap:

At the outset it looked like it would be another high scoring affair between the nation's top two teams, as 11 runs were scored in the first four innings with ASU up 6-5. But it turned into a battle of the bullpens, as neither team would score from that point on, giving #1 ASU the 6-5 win over #2 Arizona. Stephen Sauer pitched two innings of scoreless relief to earn the win, Reyes Dorado struck out five of the six batters he faced and Ike Davis pitched the ninth to pick up the save. Brett Wallace was 2-2 with two RBI and Davis knocked in two as well to lead the Sun Devils to victory.

 

Pac-10 Player of the Week (Again):

Ike Davis has been named the Pac-10 Player of the Week, the second straight week he has earned the award.  Davis becomes the first Devil to win the award in consecutive weeks since Travis Buck did it in 2004. It is the third time in his career he has won, and it's the third award for ASU this season. Brett Wallace won following the opening weekend.

 

Ike Ike Davis Davis:

Things have been coming in twos for junior Ike Davis. After recording his first career two-homer game against UMass last week, Davis did it again, twice, against Arkansas and Troy. Ike hit two solo blasts in Tuesday's win over the Razorbacks, including one that tied the game at 5. On Saturday he doubled up on two-run homers, giving him six in his last seven games. But the long ball isn't the only thing Ike does well. Davis has also totaled 11 doubles this season, tops in the Pac-10. He was named to the College Baseball Foundation's National All-Star Lineup last week and this week, and was named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week this week.

 

Walk This Way:

Petey Paramore led the Pac-10 in bases on balls last season, totaling 53 in 64 games. His good eye has continued so far in 2008, as he has already drawn 22 walks in 18 games. Paramore now has 109 walks in his career and is only the 22nd Sun Devil to ever draw over 100. The 109 walks is 14th most in school history. Alvin Davis (1979-82) is the all-time leader with 207.

 

Keeping A Weather Eye:

Arizona State is drawing a ton of walks as a team, drawing 130 so far this season. Last season they drew 319 free passes as a team. The school record for bases on balls in a season is 482, set in 1982. ASU drew five walks against Arizona on Tuesday. The Devils have also been hit by 18 pitches this year.

Sold Out:

Tuesday's game against Arizona packed 4,235 raucous fans into Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. It was the highest attendance for a regular season game since January 28, 2005, when 4,783 saw ASU face Long Beach State in the season opener. For the Arizona game, temporary bleachers were set up in the right field berm area and ticket brokers were asking for a reported $75 a ticket.

 

Welcome  Back, Big Guy:

Former ASU assistant coach Turtle Thomas will return to Tempe this weekend as the head coach of Florida International. Thomas, who spent last season with the Devils, is in his first season as a head coach after 30 years, 20 CWS trips and two national titles as an assistant coach.

 

Call To The Hall For Bane and Bannister:

Legendary Sun Devil pitchers Eddie Bane and Floyd Bannister have been named to the College Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2008. Bane pitched for ASU from 1971 to 1973, recording a 40-4 career record with a 1.64 ERA. He threw the only perfect game in Sun Devil history, striking out 19 in a 9-0 win over Cal State Northridge in 1973. Bane is the school's leader in career strikeouts, fanning 535 in his three seasons in Maroon and Gold. Floyd Bannister went 38-6 with a 1.88 ERA from 1974 to 1976, throwing 29 career complete games, second most in school history. He won 19 games in 1976, tied for the school single season record, and struck out an ASU record 217 in 1975. He was the #1 overall pick in the 1976 MLB draft. Bane and Bannister join Bobby Winkles, Jim Brock and Bob Horner as Sun Devils in the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

 

Family Matters:

Freshman OF/LHP Matt Newman has Maroon and Gold in his blood. His father, Randy, was a pitcher for the Sun Devils in 1981 and 1982, winning 15 career games and the 1981 National Championship. Freshman catcher Andrew Pollak is the brother of former Sun Devil football great Mike Pollak, who played center for the Devils from 2004 to 2007. Mike was a two-time All-Pac-10 performer. Andrew wears number 76, the same number Mike wore on the gridiron. UTL Mike Murphy is no relation to head coach Pat Murphy, although he is the first player named Murphy Pat Murphy has ever coached. New assistant coach Josh Holliday is the son of former Oklahoma State head baseball coach Tom Holliday and the brother of current Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday.

 

2008 Pre-Season Honors:

ASU has several pre-season All-Americans on its roster. Brett Wallace and Josh Satow were both named First Teamers by the NCBWA as well as Collegiate Baseball. Petey Paramore joined them on the NCBWA list. Mike Leake was named a Second Team selection by both the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball. Kiel Roling was named to the Second Team by the NCBWA. Ike Davis was a Third Team selection by both the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball. Wallace, Davis and Paramore were all named Second Teamers by Baseball America.

 

Pac-10 Picks:

The Sun Devils were picked to finish second in the Pac-10 in the annual preseason coaches poll. ASU got three first place votes, while Arizona was picked to win with six first place votes. Arizona State won the Pac-10 last season. Arizona finished second.

 

Golden Spikes Watch List:

Ike Davis, Petey Paramore and Brett Wallace have all been named to the 2008 Golden Spikes Award Watch List. ASU has had three Golden Spikes winners, Bob Horner, Odibe McDowell and Mike Kelly.

 

Wallace Award Watch List:

Arizona State has four players on the Wallace Award Watch List. Brett Wallace, Josh Satow, Mike Leake and Petey Paramore are all on the initial list. Wallace was Semi-Finalist for the award last season.

 

Captain and the Bench Award Watch List:

Head coach Pat Murphy has named junior catcher Petey Paramore as the captain of the 2008 Sun Devils. Paramore has also been named to the Watch List for the Johnny Bench Award, the third straight year he has made the list.

 

Home Sweet Home:

Arizona State is in the midst of a stretch that will see them play 22 consecutive home games. The Devils will play those 22 home contests in a span of 29 days. ASU will not hit the road until the series at Stanford that begins April 4, meaning that the Sun Devils will have played their first 29 games of the season in the state of Arizona.

 

Coach Murphy Honored:

Pat Murphy has been inducted into the Florida Atlantic University Baseball Hall of Fame. Murphy played for the Owls from 1981 to 1982, then coached three years at the school.

 

Schedule Strength:

Arizona State will once again face one of the toughest schedules in the country this season. ASU will play three teams (Oregon State, UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton) that went to Omaha last year, in addition to Super Regional teams Wichita State, Michigan and UCLA.

 

Inter-Conference Battles:

In addition to facing the schools in the Pac-10, the Devils will also take on teams from 11 different conferences in 2008. ASU will face two teams from the SEC (Arkansas, Vanderbilt), two from the Big West (Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine), two from the Sun Belt (Troy, Florida International), two from the Western Athletic (New Mexico, Hawai'i), two from the West Coast Conference (Portland, Loyola Marymount) and one each from the Big 12 (Kansas State), Atlantic 10 (UMass), Mid-American (Miami,Ohio), Big 10 (Michigan), Missouri Valley (Wichita State) and Southern (Wofford). ASU will also face Northern Colorado, who is an independent.

 

Honoring Pat Tillman:

Former ASU football player and American Hero Pat Tillman had strong ties to the ASU Baseball program. In addition to his brother Kevin playing for ASU, Pat became extremely close with head coach Pat Murphy. Murphy wears jersey #42 in honor of Tillman, and in January 2007, Murph donated $100,000 to the baseball program for the construction of the Tillman Training Room, a room that will honor both Pat and Kevin and their commitment to both Arizona State University and the United States of America. The team wears a memorial "PT*42" patch on their jerseys in honor of Pat.

 

Fandemonium:

Not only were the 2007 Devils dominant on the field at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark, but they were dominant at the turnstiles as well. The Devils went 35-3 at home and led the West Coast in attendance for the third straight season. 116,205 fans came out to see the Sun Devils in 2007, the highest attendance since 1984. ASU finished 17th nationally in average attendance, averaging 3,141 fans per game.

 

Tournaments:

This will be the last of three tournaments the Sun Devils will host in 2008. The DeMarini Invitational with Vanderbilt, Oregon State and Miami,OH was opening weekend, then the 6th Annual Coca-Cola Classic, featuring ASU, Hawai'i, Michigan, Portland and Northern Illinois, took place the following weekend, with games being played in both Surprise and Tempe.

 

Up Next:

Arizona State opens Pac-10 play, hosting USC for a three-game set beginning next Friday at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.