May 30, 2003

Tempe Regional Capsules

1. Arizona State Sun Devils

Tempe, Arizona

At-large bid from Pacific-10 Conference

2003 record – 16-8, 50-12 (second in Pac-10)

Coach:  Pat Murphy (Florida Atlantic, 1982)

Record at school: 356-176-1, nine years

Overall record: 738-347-4, 19^th year

Assistant coaches: Jay Sferra, Mike Rooney, Chris Sinacori

Team offense: .350 BA, 628 R, 77 HR, .540 SLG%, .452 OB%, 68/94 SB

Team pitching: 3.30 ERA, 550.2 IP, 519 H, 212 BB, 487 K

Top hitters: Dustin Pedroia (.418/4/49/32 2B), Jeff Larish (.377/16/86/72 BB), Andre Ethier (.369/9/61), Frank Mesa (.363/1/23), Jeremy West (.366/17/64), Mike Guerrero (.359/2/27), Steve Garrabrants (.349/8/57/23 SB), Travis Buck (.349/4/43)

Top pitchers: Ryan Schroyer (5-2, 8 saves, 1.45, 43.1 IP, 36 H, 19 BB, 48 K), Mark Sopko (3-2, 2.39, 49 IP, 45 H, 10 BB, 38 K), Jared Liebeck (7-0, 2.64, 75 IP, 73 H, 22 BB, 50 K), Ben Thurmond (6-0, 2.87, 69 IP, 68 H, 21 BB, 55 K), Robbie McClellan (7-0, 3.44, 55 IP, 49 H, 32 BB, 54 K), Erik Averill (8-1, 3.48, 77.2 IP, 77 H, 18 BB, 52 K), Beau Vaughan (9-5, 4.66, 85 IP, 80 H, 29 BB, 97 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2002 (2-2 at Tempe Regional)

Notes: This will be ASU’s 27^th regional appearance. The Sun Devils have been to the College World Series 18 times with five national championships. ASU has not been shut out in 495 consecutive games, an NCAA record. The last time the Sun Devils did not score was April 7, 1995, at Southern Cal. ASU had hit an NCAA-record 14 grand slams this season. The Sun Devils are averaging 10.1 runs per game, the second-best total in the nation.

2. UNLV Rebels

Las Vegas, Nev.

Automatic bid - won Mountain West Conference Tournament

2003 record – 27-6, 45-15 (first in Mountain West)

Coach: Jim Schlossnagle (Elon, 1992)

Record at school: 75-45, two years

Overall record: Same

Assistant coaches: Buddy Gouldsmith, Kevin Smoot, Matt Siegel

Team offense: .321 BA, 537 R, 85 HR, .525 SLG%, .414 OBA%, 66-91 SB

Team pitching: 5.46 ERA, 531 IP, 610 H, 241 BB, 486 K

Top hitters: Patrick Dobson (.363/12/63/18 2B), Brent Johnson (.354/6/51/12 SB), Eric Nielsen (.350/7/36), Fernando Valenzuela (.348/14/73/18 2B), Eddie Gill (.331/8/51), Peter White (.326/10/46), Garett Shitanishi (.305/3/25/16 SB), Ryan Ruiz (.292/9/38), Robert VanKirk (.260/8/36)

Top pitchers: Ryan Braun (5-2, 7 saves, 3.34, 29.2 IP, 28 H, 15 BB, 48 K), Matthew Luca (5-0, 3.88, 58 IP, 54 H, 24 BB, 48 K), Robbie Van (8-4, 1 save, 4.47, 98.2 IP, 97 H, 65 BB, 96 K), Jake Vose (8-4, 5.23, 93 IP, 111 H, 30 BB, 85 K)

Last time in tournament:  ( at Columbia Regional)

Notes: Coach Jim Schlossnagle was associate head coach at Tulane for eight years before coming to UNLV. The Rebels won their first Mountain West tournament championship and first tournament title since winning the Big West tournament in 1996. In four tourney games, UNLV outscored its opponents 49-16, First baseman Fernando Valenzuela is the son of the former major league pitcher.

3. New Mexico State Aggies

Las Cruces, New Mexico

At-large bid from Sun Belt Conference

2003 record: 15-9, 42-16 (second in Sun Belt)

Coach: Rocky Ward (Oklahoma State, 1988)

Record at school: 123-152, five years

Overall record: same

Assistant coaches: Brad Dolejsi, Chad Wolff, Mike Pietrack

Team offense: .332 BA, 578 R, 103 HR, .578 SLG%, .443 OB%, 42/55 SB

Team pitching: 5.78 ERA, 482.2 IP, 576 H, 224 BB, 388 K

Top hitters: Billy Becher (.421/31/110), Brad Ditter (.394/6/64/13 SB), Alex Borgo (.363/17/69), Gavin Monjaras (.322/8/34), Keith Jenkins (.312/4/22), Hal Bisnett (.305/8/42)

Top pitchers: Andrew Garretson (7-2, 3 saves, 2.22, 48.2 IP, 43 H, 10 BB, 43 K), Rory Coppinger (4-0, 1 save, 4.95, 43.2 IP, 42 H, 32 BB, 42 K), Dustin Cameron (8-3, 1 save, 5.12, 89.2 IP, 107 H, 35 BB, 66 K), Mike Smith (5-1, 5 saves, 5.13, 33.1 IP, 40 H, 16 BB, 37 K), Jason Williams (7-5, 5.85, 84.2 IP, 94 H, 43 BB, 76 K), Christian Jackson (5-1, 7.65, 84.2 IP, 122 H, 38 BB, 57 K)

Last NCAA appearance: 2002 (0-2 at Tempe Regional)

Notes: Billy Becher leads the nation with 31 home runs and 110 RBI. He is 10^th in batting at .421. Becher is a semifinalist for the Rotary Smith Award. The Aggies are third in the country in scoring, averaging 10 runs per contest. Rocky Ward returned as head coach after serving as an assistant for his father, Gary, for the past two seasons. Rocky Ward was a catcher and third baseman for Oklahoma State from 1986-88. In 1987, the Cowboys were runners-up to Stanford at the College World Series. In 1988, OSU was 61-8. Ward was a two-time academic all-Big 8 selection.

4. Central Connecticut State Blue Devils

New Britain, Conn.

Automatic bid – won Northeast Conference Tournament

2003 Record: 31-15-2 overall, 19-6 in NEC (first)

Coach: Charlie Hickey (Connecticut)

Record at school: 112-91-3, 4 years

Overall record: 218-152-3, 7 years

Assistant coaches: Paul LaBella, Jim Ziogas

Team offense: .328 BA, 317 R, 23 HR, .442 SLG%, .397 OB%, 52/69 SB

Team pitching: 3.53 ERA, 374.1 IP, 383 H, 140 BB, 250 SO

Top hitters: Tim D’Aquila (.427/2/38), Keith Stegbauer (.364/3/35), Nick Macellaro (.361/0/25), Phil Rothkugel (.356/8/44), Robert Hosgood (.345/6/41/15 SB), Brad Muldoon (.328/0/21/16 SB), Tom Pezzello (.324/1/31)

Top pitchers: Barry Hertzler (9-2, 1.52, 83 IP, 57 H, 15 BB, 72 SO), Zachary Herrick (6-3, 2.99, 69.1 IP, 63 H, 34 BB, 33 SO), Jake Ruder (3-1, 1 save, 46.1 IP, 51 H, 13 BB, 24 SO), Lewis Pappariella (7-3, 3.42, 68.1 IP, 66 H, 28 BB, 46 SO)

Last NCAA appearance: 2002 (0-2 at Austin Regional)

Notes: Central Connecticut won its second consecutive Northeast Conference Tournament title. Coach Charlie Hickey took Providence to the NCAA Regionals in 1999 before the school discontinued the program.