Sun Devils Open Pac-10 Play On The Road

March 21, 2000

TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State (24-6, 0-0 Pac-10 and ranked No. 6 Baseball America, No. 9 USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and No. 9 Collegiate Baseball) opens Pac-10 play on the road against California (11-14, 3-3 Pac-10) in Berkeley, Calif.

Friday, March 24	California	3 p.m. MT
Saturday, March 25	California	2 p.m. MT
Sunday, March 26	California	2 p.m. MT

fox sports bay area to broadcast sunday's game -- Fox Sports Bay Area will broadcast Sunday's game live at Berkeley. Glen Kupier will handle the play-by-play duties while the color commentator is listed as TBA.

on the radio -- This weekend's series with the Golden Bears can be heard on KGME 550 AM or via the internet at www.thesundevils.com. Tim Healey, Robby Robinson and Bob Eger will split play-by-play and color commentary duties.

EXTRA INNINGS -- Th e Devils are averaging 12.4 runs per game and as a team, are batting at a .361 clip ... Brooks Conrad takes a 18-game hitting streak into Friday's game with Cal ... ASU's three grand slams vs. Southern Utah (Feb. 25) ties the NCAA record for a single game ... five out of ASU's six losses have been by two runs or less ... the Devils have recorded an extra base hit in all 30 games to date ... Arizona State players have been hit 61 times this season (2.03 HBP per game) ... ASU head coach Pat Murphy ranks first in career wins among active Div. I baseball coaches 43 and younger (561-279-3) ... Arizona State has not been shutout in its last 284 games (last time shutout was a 0-9 loss to USC on April 7, 1995) ... the NCAA record for consecutive games played without being shutout is 349 (held by Coastal Carolina) ... ASU's current streak of 284 games without being shutout is the longest active Div. I streak ... the 284 games ranks fourth all time in NCAA Div. I history and is the Pac-10 record ... ASU has had more players drafted in the past two years than any other Pac-10 school ... the 1999 squad led the nation in batting average (.356) and runs per game (11.4) ... among current Pac-10 coaches, no one has led a team to the national championship game faster than ASU's Pat Murphy (four years).

ABOUT THE golden bears -- The Golden Bears are 11-14 overall, 3-0 Pac-10 heading into this weekend's matchup ... they are coached by first-year head coach David Esquer (Stanford '87) ... last week Cal continued conference play by taking 2-of-3 from Arizona in Tucson ... probable pitching rotation for the Golden Bears: Fri., Trevor Hutchinson (2-3, 4.66 ERA), Sat,. Brad Steele (3-3, 4.07 ERA), Sun., Jon Shirley or Kevin Johnson ... they are led by Xavier Nady (.343-8-27) and Clint Hoover (.323-6-17) ... in conference games, Nady is batting at a .423 clip ... last year ASU won all three game with Cal in Tempe ... ASU leads the all-time series 78-43 ... the Golden Bears have played in six extra inning games thsi season, including three straigh at one point in the year ... Nady was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for his performance vs. Arizona last week.

DUCan named national player of the week -- Junior centerfielder Jeff Duncan was named National Player of the Week for his performance last week. Duncan (Frankfort, Ill.) went 13-for-20 (.650) in five games with nine RBI and nine runs scored. The lefty notched two doubles, two triples and an inside-the-park homerun. He set career-highs with five hits, five RBI and four runs scored. Additionally, Duncan stole six bases for the Maine series to bring his season total to a team-leading 16. He was perfect in the field and had a 1.250 slugging percentage for the weekend. During the Maine series, Duncan put together a string of eight consecutive hits which ties him for second all-time in ASU history. At one point he reached base 10 consecutive times.

casey at bat -- Junior Casey Myers (Casa Grande) continues to lead the squad with an impressive 439 average at the plate. Versus Maine, he hit .421, going 8-for-19 with seven RBI and six runs socred. He also stole three bases for the series. He is leading the squad in RBI (55), hits (50), on-base percentage (.544) and doubles (12). The junior catcher also leads the team in multiple-RBI games with 16 and multiple-hit games with 16. The junior catcher is batting .500 with runners in scoring position and is currently riding a season-high 14-game hitting streak. He has hit safely in 27 of 30 games this season. Myers has notched 11 two-out RBI this year.

jones hits homers no. 16 & 17 -- Senior outfielder Mitch Jones (Orem, Utah) hit homeruns No.16 and 17 vs. Maine last weekend. For the series, he hit .471 (8-of-17) with eight runs scored and 11 RBI.His 17 homeruns is the most by a single ASU player since 1994 when Scott Shores hit 21. Jones is currently hitting at a .357 clip and leads the team in runs scored (49) and slugging percentage (.857). He leads the conference and nation with 17 homeruns. Over half of his hits (27) have been for extra bases. Jones has 13 multiple RBI and multiple hit games.

pennington and friedberg shut down maine -- Junior righthanded pitcher Chad Pennington pitched seven shutout innings to pick up win no. 5 as ASU defeated Maine 19-8 on Friday. He scattered five hits over seven innings, striking out 11 (tied his career high) while walking only one. He held the Black Bear batters to a .185 average at the plate. Junior Drew Friedberg also recorded a win as he pitched ASU to a 24-0 win over Maine on Saturday. The lefty allowed only one hit over six shutout innings while striking out seven with no walks. The Black Bears could only muster a .053 average against Friedberg who picked up his first win of the season.

PHELPS solid through first half of season -- Junior infielder Jeff Phelps has continued to be a model of consistency in 2000. He is batting at a .400 clip through 30 games and is tied for third on the squad with 44 hits. He has tallied 13 multiple-hit games as well as scoring 30 runs. Phelps has been hitting well against both lefties and righthanded pitchers (.417 vs. left and .395 vs. right). He is also batting .405 with runners in scoring position and has notched nine 2-out RBIs. He hit .375 for the Maine series, going 6-for-16 with six runs scored and three RBI. He was perfect in the field with 17 putouts and one assist.

esposito out for the year -- Freshman righthanded pitcher Mike Esposito (Las Vegas, Nev.) is scheduled to have "Tommy John" surgery on his right elbow on March 30 to repair the ulnar collateral ligament. The surgery will be performed by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Alabama. Andrews has also performed the same surgery on David Wells, Steve Karsay and Kerry Woods. Esposito had been the Devils Friday night starter at the beginning of the year.

AIN'T LOVE GRAND -- Righthanded pitcher Luke Field (Littleton, Co.) proposed to his girlfriend in a very unique way over the holidays. On New Year's Eve, Field and his girlfriend, Casse Watkins (Ellinwood, Kan.), went to Packard Stadium. None of the stadium lights were on as they made their way to the press box. Field had made arrangement with a manager to be there. When the couple got to the press box, the manager turned on the field lights. Spelled out in bats and baseballs were the words "Will you marry me?". Field's girlfriend said yes. No date has been set yet.

TWO-SPORT ATHLETE? A little known fact around the ballpark is that centerfielder Jeff Duncan is a big hockey fan. The native of Illinois played hockey as a kid growing up all the way through high school. What position you ask? Center, of course.

LAST HOMERUN --

Brooks Conrad	vs. Arizona (March 4, 2000)
Phil Downing	vs. Southern Utah (February 25, 2000)
Jeff Duncan	vs. Maine (March 17, 2000)
Brendan Hines	vs. LSU (February 19, 2000)
Mitch Jones	vs. Maine (March 18, 2000)
Mike Lopez	vs. Maine (March 18, 2000)
Jonah Martin	vs. Arizona (March 4, 2000)
Casey Myers	vs. Oklahoma (March 11, 2000)
Jeff Phelps	vs. Arizona (March 3, 2000)
Trent Pratt	vs. Arizona (March, 4, 2000)

THE DEVILS ON TV -- Arizona State baseball will be making many television appearances in 2000. The following is a list of appearances on COX Sports (local Ch. 9): Friday, Feb. 4 vs. Florida State, 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 5 vs. Florida State, 1 p.m., Friday, Feb. 11 vs. Duke, 7 p.m., Friday, March 3 vs. Arizona, 7 p.m., Sunday, March 5 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m., Saturday, March 11 vs. Oklahoma, 7 p.m., Friday, March 31 vs. Stanford, 7 p.m. FOX Sports Net will broadcast the April 15 game at Washington State live at 1 p.m. College Sports Southeast will broadcast the February 18 game at LSU live at 6 p.m. CT.

DRAFTED DEVILS -- A total of seventeen current players on the 2000 Arizona State squad have been taken in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Paul French	1998	Anaheim Angels	3rd	round
Mike Esposito	1999	Cincinnati Reds	5th	round
Robby Milner	1997	Texas Rangers	13th	round
Dennis Sarfate	1999	Texas Rangers	15th	round
Jason Fingers	1997	Boston Red Sox	23rd	round
Drew Friedberg	1997	Arizona Diamondbacks	25th	round
Mitch Jones	1999	Baltimore Orioles	25th	round
Jon Switzer	1998	Pittsburgh Pirates	26th	round
Mitch Jones	1997	Texas Rangers	33rd	round
Dennis Wyrick	1999	Detroit Tigers	35th	round
Jeff Phelps	1997	Pittsburgh Pirates	36th	round
Trent Pratt	1998	Texas Rangers	38th	round
Jeff Duncan	1997	Chicago Cubs	41st	round
Jason Fingers	1998	Boston Red Sox	41st	round
Ryan Coffin	1999	Boston Red Sox	43rd	round
John Gusich	1998	Chicago White Sox	45th	round
Jered Liebeck	1999	Arizona Diamondbacks	45th	round
Luke Field	1999	Minnesota Twins	47th	round
Mitch Jones	1998	Baltimore Orioles	49th	round
Mike Lopez	1996	Toronto Blue Jays	52nd	round

KGME TAKES OVER ASU BASEBALL ON THE AIRWAVES -- Last spring, ASU Athletics agreed to a five year partnership with a new multimedia rights holder, the Sun Devil Sports Network. This group, owned by Outdoor Systems Sports Marketing, will manage, produce and market ASU's radio and television network. The Sun Devil Sports Network signed a three year radio flagship deal with KGME (550 AM). The most powerful AM signal in Arizona. Tim Healey, Voice of the Sun Devils, and Bob Eger will provide play-by-play and color commentary respectively. KGME will broadcast all Pac-10 games as well as selected non-conference games. The games can also be heard via the internet at www.thesundevils.com

THE BEGINNING AND END OF IT -- Here are the pitching lines on ASU starters and relievers.

	IP	W-L	ERA	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Starters	146.2	16-2	4.00	127	79	65	57	156
Relievers	117.1	8-4	3.77	105	58	49	60	118
Total	264.0	24-6	3.89	232	137	114	117	274

PLAYER BIO

Jered Liebeck - Fr. - RHP - Glendale, Ariz. (Mountain Ridge)
High School: A 1999 graduate of Mountain Ridge High in Glendale, Ariz. ... all-conference selection in 1998 and '99 ... four-year letterwinner in baseball ... coached by Tony Cirrellie ... captained the baseball team his senior year ... pitched a no-hitter with 18 strikeouts against Lake Havasu HS ... participated in the Babe Ruth World Series ... holds the record for most strikeouts in school history ... 45th round draft pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Personal: Major is undecided ... parents are Michael Liebeck and Jere Hill ... has one sister, Michele (21) ...born on January 27, 1981 in Mission Viejo, Calif. ... likes to golf ... full name is Jered Michael Liebeck.

FOR THE RECORD -- A start-by-start breakdown of LHP Jon Switzer, RHP Chad Pennington an d LHP Will Waldrip:

Jon Switzer	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W/L
vs. Utah	7.0	3	1	1	0	9	W (1-0)
vs. FAU	5.0	5	1	1	2	3	W (2-0)
vs. #5 FSU	7.0	5	2	1	1	6	ND
vs. Duke	7.0	2	0	0	1	6	W (3-0)
vs. #4 LSU	9.0	4	2	1	5	5	W (4-0)
vs. New Mexico	5.0	5	5	5	3	9	ND
vs. #25 Arizona	3.1	8	7	5	1	6	ND
vs. Oklahoma	5.2	3	3	1	4	6	W (5-0)
vs. Maine	7.0	2	1	1	4	10	W (6-0)

Chad Pennington	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W/L
vs. Utah	4.0	4	2	2	0	2	ND
vs. BYU	6.0	6	2	1	2	7	W (1-0)
vs. #5 FSU	4.1	7	9	8	1	4	ND
vs. Duke	5.0	2	0	0	4	6	W (2-0)
vs. #4 LSU	4.1	5	5	5	7	2	ND
vs. SUU	3.1	1	2	2	4	4	W (3-0)
vs. #25 Arizona	5.0	6	3	3	2	5	W (4-0)
vs. Oklahoma	5.0	5	4	4	1	7	ND
vs. Maine	7.0	5	0	0	1	11	W (5-0)

Will Waldrip	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	W/L
vs. Duke	6.0	4	0	0	0	6	W (3-0)
vs. #4 LSU	4.0	5	3	3	2	2	ND
vs. Southern Utah	3.1	5	3	2	0	2	W (4-0)
vs. #25 Arizona	6.0	7	4	4	1	4	W (5-0)
vs. Oklahoma	5.0	9	4	4	1	2	L(5-1)
vs. Maine	2.1	2	2	2	1	5	ND

Note: Waldrip has two wins as a relief pitcher.

ASU BASEBALL TICKET INFORMATION -- Catch all the excitement of Sun Devil baseball in 2000. Single game ticket prices are $7 for field level, $5 for adult reserved, $4 for juniors/seniors reserved, $4 for adult general and $3 for juniors/seniors general seating. Group discount tickets are available for single games ($2 per ticket). For information on season tickets or single game tickets, please contact Mark Bruner, account executive, at 480-727-7022.

lAST WEEK VS. MAINE -- The Sun Devils swept a four-game series with the University of Maine last week ... as a team, ASU hit .445 and stole 16 bases for the series ... the pitchers notched a team ERA of 2.83 while holding the Black Bears to a 153 average at the plate ... Jeff Duncan had a stellar weekend batting .688 for the series with six stolen bases ... he also put together a string of eight consecutive hits (ties for second all-time at ASU) ... Mitch Jones hit homers #16 and 17 ... the Devils outscored Maine 71-14 for the series ... Mike Lopez went 9-for-16 (.563) with nine RBI vs. the Black Bears ... Maine was 0-for-1 in stolen bases.

ALL IN THE FAMILY -- Three father/son combinations have played at Arizona State including current Sun Devils Casey Myers and Brian Berger. Myers father Clint played at ASU from 1971-73 while Berger's father Bill played for the Devils from 1970-71-73. Father Eddie Bane (1971-73) and son Jaymie Bane (1997) round out the trio of father/son combos to don the Sun Devils uniform. Seven sets of brothers have graced the ASU rosters through the years: Chris (1975-78) and Sal (1964-65) Bando, Kevin (1978-81) and Pat (1980-82) Dukes, Byron (1979), Dale (1976-79) and Larry (1976-78) Eiler, Greg (1968) and Skip (1964) Hancock, Darrell (1974-77) and Dwayne (1979) Jackson, Jeff (1994) and Mike (1993) Rensmeyer, and John (1971-73) and Tom (1973-75) Sain. Of the seven sets, three sets played at least one year together at Arizona State.

thursdays at the ballpark -- Head coach Pat Murphy and the Sun Devil baseball team will host "Thursdays at the BallPark", a post-practice barbecue, February 3, March 2, April 6 and May 11 at Packard Stadium from 5-7 p.m. during the 2000 season. Meet the Arizona State baseball team and coaching staff to talk about the upcoming series, grab a bite to eat, get autographs and win raffle prizes. Food will be available for purchase or you can bring your own sack lunch. It's an event for the entire family. For more information, please contact the ASU baseball office at 480-965-6085.

iNJURY REPORT -- Freshman RHP Mike Esposito will have Tommy John surgery on March 30 and is out for the rest of the season.

2000 ASU Baseball Superlatives

Longest Win Streak	9 games (2/20-3/11)
Longest Losing Streak	2 (twice)
Most Runs, Game:
ASU	32 (Arizona, 3/4)
Opp.	11 (FSU, 2/4)
Most Runs, Inning:
ASU	10 (FAU, 1/28)
Opp.	8 (Maine, 3/17)
Most Hits, Game:
ASU	27 (Arizona, 3/4)
Opp.	16 (LSU, 2/18)
Most Hits, Inning:
ASU	7 (twice)
Opp.	6 (Maine, 3/17)
Most Doubles, Game:
ASU	7 (FAU, 1/28)
Opp.	4 (LSU, 2/19)
Most Triples, Game:
ASU	3 (Maine, 3/18)
Opp.	1 (four teams)
Most Home Runs, Game:
ASU	7 (Arizona, 3/4)
Opp.	4 (Arizona, 3/5)
Most Stolen Bases, Game:
ASU	6 (Arizona, 3/5)
Opp.	6 (BYU, 1/27)
Most Double Plays (turned), Game:
ASU	2 (three times)
Opp.	3 (LSU, 2/18)
Most Errors, Game:
ASU	3 (twice)
Opp.	6 (twice)
Most Strikeouts (pitching), 9-Inning Game:
ASU	15 (FAU, 1/28)
Opp.	12 (FSU, 2/4)
Most Walks (pitching), 9-Inning Game:
ASU	8 (three times)
Opp.	15 (Maine, 3/17)
Largest Win. Margin	29 (Arizona, 3/4)
Largest Loss Margin	4 (LSU, 2/18)
Largest Crowd, Home	4,312 (FSU, 2/6)
Smallest Crowd, Home	1,012 (FAU, 1/28)
Largest Crowd, Road	7,853 (LSU, 2/20)
Smallest Crowd, Road	7, 825 (LSU, 2/18)



Longest Hit Streak	18 (Conrad, 2/13-3/18)
Most Hits, Game	5 (Jones & Duncan)
Most Runs, Game	5 (Conrad & Myers)
Most Doubles, Game	2 (four players tied)
Most Triples, Game	1 (8 players tied)
Most HRs, Game	2 (four players)
Most RBIs, Game	7 (Jones, 2/25)
Most SBs, Game	2 (five players)



Most Strikeouts, Game:
ASU Pitcher	11 (Pennington, 3/17)
Opp. Pitcher	8 (Cherry, Okla.)
Fewest Hits Allowed (CG Effort)
ASU Pitcher	4 (Switzer, 2/20)
Opp. Pitcher	N/A
Most Walks, Game:
ASU Pitcher	7 (Pennington, LSU, 2/19)
Opp. Pitcher	8 (Johnson, Maine, 3/17)
Most Consecutive Scoreless Innings:
Starter	18.1 (Switzer, 2/4-2/20)
Reliever	6.1 (Doble, 1/27-2/18)

Head Coach Pat Murphy

Sixth season at Arizona State: 188-108
Div. I Record (12th year): 506-224-1
Career Record (15th year): 561-279-3

The Murphy team? Always plays hard, likes to play the tough schedule, disciplined, plays well in the postseason, plays the little game well - stolen bases, walks, no excuses.

Became the youngest coach to 500 wins (with 75% of wins coming from Div. I level) at age 39.

All but one player under Coach Murphy has been drafted higher in the MLB Draft.

Named Baseball America's Coach of the Year in 1998.

Murphy is averaging 42.2 wins per year as a coach at the Div. I level (.693 winning percentage).

Ten out of the last 12 years, his teams have finished in the top 30.

His last five squads to make playoff appearances have made it to the Sweet 16 or better.

The last five regionals a Pat Murphy team has played in, the squad has beaten the No. 1-ranked team on its home field.

Murphy has had a total of 80 Div. I players sign professional contracts after playing under him.

Murphy in the community: started the Guadalupe Project, hosts free baseball clinics with the Tempe Diablos, speaks to UNI 100 classes on the ASU campus, to name a few....

More Notes & Quotes
Murphy is the first coach in the era of aluminum bats to have his players practice exclusively with wood bats in practice.

Murphy has never had a player declared ineligble for a season.

"From those modest beginnings, Murphy has carved a unique college career, first as a player but most of all as a coach. ... And he's risen to the top of his profession."

John Manuel
Baseball America, 7/6-19/98