May 6, 2001

Last Week In Arizona State Baseball

Record Entering Week: 30-15-1
Record Last Week: 1-1 at #19 Tennessee
Current 2001 Record: 31-16-1
Streak: Won 1 (Won 9 of last 12 overall)
Upcoming Games:

At Washington (May 12-14 at Husky Ballpark

1 p.m. (Radio), 1 p.m. (Radio), 1 p.m. (Radio)

National/Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week Nomination:
Nick Walsh, RS-Fr., DH, Alamo, Calif.
Redshirt freshman designated hitter Nick Walsh continued to be a sparkplug at the top of the lineup for the Sun Devils. The left-handed swinger was 5-for-10 in the two games vs. Tennessee, scoring four runs, tabbing two doubles and three RBI. He matched a season high with three hits in Wednesday's 15-1 crushing of the Volunteers. Walsh is now hitting .333 (20x60) on the year with three doubles and 13 RBI. Over his last three games Walsh is 8-for-15 (.533) with three consecutive multi-hit games. ASU is 7-2-1 this year when Walsh starts a game and bats leadoff.

National/Pac-10 Pitcher Player of the Week Nomination:
Mike Esposito, RS-Fr., RHP, Las Vegas, Nev.
Making his 10th start of the year on the day that he was actually supposed to make his 2001 debut after coming off Tommy John surgery, ASU redshirt freshman right-handed starter Mike Esposito picked up the win in a 15-1 defeat of No. 19 Tennessee last Wednesday. Esposito carved up the Volunteer offense to allow only two infield singles in his six-inning outing. Throwing 88 pitches, Esposito improved to 4-2 on the year with his six-strikeout performance. The hard-throwing right-hander lowered his ERA to 3.64.

News and Notes on ASU Baseball:
Sun Devils Looking For Big Finish To Secure NCAA Tournament Seed: ASU has won nine of its last 12 games overall... Senior All-American catcher Casey Myers was 4-for-6 with six RBI in the Tennessee series to continue his assault on the Pac-10 and ASU record books.... Myers now has 62 RBI on the season and now has 268 in his career... he is just 15 short of the Pac-10 and ASU record for career RBI (283) set by former Sun Devil third baseman Andrew Beinbrink (1996-99)... Myers also became only the third Sun Devil in history to reach 300 hits in a career, joining Beinbrink and Clay Westlake... with 303 in his career is now 19 away from the school record of 322 set by Westlake (1973-76)... ASU head coach Pat Murphy will be looking for his 100th career Pac-10 win when the Devils take to the field vs. the Washington Huskies Saturday... junior center fielder Chris Duffy continues to be one of ASU's most consistent hitters in 2001, with a current nine-game hitting streak currently in-tact... Duffy is batting .425 over those nine games with seven multi-hit games... the junior also had a team-high 19-game streak earlier in the year in which he hit .378 (28x74)... on the year Duffy is third on the team with a .365 batting average... freshman left fielder Rod Allen has saw his hot bat cool off a little as of late with a current 0-for-9 slump, but has still put up impressive numbers in his rookie campaign in Tempe (.396-4-39) and is a strong candidate for Pac-10 and National Freshman of the Year... freshman outfielder Ryan McKenna (Elgin, Ill.) made only his fourth start of the year in the 15-1 win over Tennessee, and contributed his second-career multi-hit game in the effort... senior third baseman Mike Lopez is hot after earning his first Pac-10 Player of the Week award, going 12-for-25 (.480) during his current seven-game hitting streak... Myers leads ASU with 27 multi-hit games and has 93 in his illustrious career... the Sun Devils have seven remaining regular season games, six of which are Pac-10 contests against Washington and UCLA... ASU is currently tied for fourth in the Pac-10 with Oregon State at 9-9 in league play... Cal is the only conference school to finish their its league slate, sweeping UCLA this past weekend to finish at 14-10 (3rd)... senior first baseman Jeff Phelps inched his way onto the career doubles list at ASU, moving into eighth place with 52 career two-baggers... junior infielder Brooks Conrad can officially be labeled a utility man for the Sun Devils, now having started every infield position (1B-2B-SS-3B) this year... Myers has been named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy... junior Andy Torres contributed 5.1 solid innings vs. Tennessee and is an All-American candidate with his 11-3, 3.97 record... out of the bullpen Torres has been stellar with a perfect 5-0, 2.84 record... senior All-America candidate Drew Friedberg continues to lead ASU out of the bullpen with a 4-1 record and 2.08 ERA... after the Washington series (played Saturday through Monday to accommodate ASU's final exams), the Sun Devils will travel to Nevada-Reno to play a single game with the Wolfpack on May 16... ASU has played four extra-inning contests in the last nine games, going 3-1 during that stretch... the last time ASU played four extra-inning affairs in a season was in 1998 when they went 2-2.

Last Week's Line Scores:

Tennessee 9, Arizona State 5 (May 01, 2001 at Knoxville, Tenn.)
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Arizona State....... 003 110 000 0 -  5 10  2      (30-16-1)
Tennessee........... 002 001 011 4 -  9 14  2      (35-13)
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Pitchers: Arizona State - Kartler, Torres(4), Friedberg(9), Pezely(9).
Tennessee - Johnson, Samuels(5), Curtiss(10).
Win-Curtiss(4-1)  Loss-Pezely(3-1)  T-3:56  A-726
HR TENN - Burke (15).

Game notes: Conrad has now started a game at 1B, 2B, SS and 3B this year. Myers becomes only third Sun Devil in history with 300 career hits. Rain Delay at 7:05. Game resumed at 9:46 (2:40 minute rain delay)

Arizona State 15, Tennessee 1 (May 02, 2001 at Knoxville, Tenn.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona State....... 120 831 000 - 15 16 2 (31-16-1) Tennessee........... 000 000 100 - 1 2 2 (35-14) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Arizona State - Esposito, Johnson(7), Switzer(8), Doble(9). Tennessee - Gomez, Massey(4), Filsinger(4), Bertolino(4), Powell(6), Curtiss(6), Wilson(8). Win-Esposito(4-2) Loss-Gomez(0-1) T-3:13 A-1480

Game notes: ASU now 7-1 all-time vs. Tennessee. ASU Next Game: May 12 (1 p.m.) at Washington