Tonight [Thursday] was another night before a weekend series to relax and to do something fun. I went to the ASU basketball game against Washington. We got beat, but it was fun watching the game.

I haven't had time to fish lately, so I can't give a report this week. I did hear that a fisherman pulled a huge fish out of Tempe Town Lake last month. The lake is beginning to warm, and the fishing should get better in a few weeks so I'll toss the line in the water over spring break. Until then, it's going to be chicken and beef for dinner.

We came back from our trip against Baylor in Waco, Texas. We played well last weekend. Our game Friday was rained out, so we played two on Saturday. Our bats came alive on Saturday and helped us get two wins. Sunday was different; we lost in a close game that was won by a double down the right-field line that scored three.

Baylor was a good team, a lot like us. They were a scrappy team that depended on all their players like we do. The fans at Baylor were rowdy. They were yelling at us from the first inning of Game 1 to the last out of Game 3. I admit that I was laughing at some of the things they were saying. It was funny. I just laugh the stuff off that fans say; they are just having a good time.

Saturday morning before our games, our team had to be evacuated from our rooms because of a sink hole that occurred next to the hotel. The rain from Friday caused the huge sink hole, it was incredible. The hole broke a gas pipe and put our side of the hotel in danger. I didn't know what was going on when I got a knock on the door from a staff member telling me to evacuate the room. It was very strange.

On Tuesday, we had a game against Texas Tech. It was fun having a midweek game since we don't play a ton of them . The game started off with the Texas Tech 3-hole hitter hitting a two run bomb over the flag in left-center into the street.

We responded in the bottom of the inning with five runs. It was a great feeling to jump right back after giving up two runs in the first inning. Our team showed composure and proved our ability to play without momentum. We won 13-5 in very fun game for our squad.

Now we are gearing up for a weekend series against Auburn at home. I'm excited to play against them. I don't know what to expect, but I know that we are starting play well with a freedom and carefree attitude that good teams have.

Today at practice, there was a guy from some baseball company showing us a new machine that shoots out baseballs like a coach hitting a fungo. It was crazy! I walked out on the field, and there was a machine at home plate that looked like a pitching machine. This machine is called the "Fungoman." It hits ground balls and fly balls, with back spin and top spin. It hit the highest pop up I've ever seen. The ball had to have a hang time of at least 9 seconds. The machine also can be programmed to hit a complete infield/outfield without even touching it. It was amazing, and I believe the guy behind it is an ASU alum, Romy Cucjen, so of course it's gonna be good!

Well that's it for this week. Off to the yard for some early work and then we suit up to face Auburn. See you next week from Corpus Christi, Texas.

Joe Pa

(photo courtesy of Arizona State Media Relations Office)