June 20, 2000

2000 SEASON IN REVIEW

The 2000 season made history as the first time in the 85 years of Pac-10 baseball that three teams shared the Pac-10 Championship. ARIZONA STATE, STANFORD, and UCLA all finished at 17-7 in Conference play. The Pac-10 sent four teams to postseason play for the eighth time in history and the Conference made its 50th appearance at the College World Series, 25th time with multiple teams.

The Cardinal made its 12th appearance at the College World Series and swept through their bracket with three victories. However, they fell to LSU, 6-5, in the National Championship Game. It was Stanford's first loss in the championship game, having won titles in 1987 and '88. USC made their 20th appearance in the World Series, going 1-2. Arizona State was the Pac-10's automatic qualifier, but was upset by Texas in the regionals. UCLA swept through their regional, but was then eliminated by LSU as well, in the Super Regionals.

ASU's Casey Myers was honored as the Pac-10 Player of the Year and USC's Rik Currier and STAN's Justin Wayne were named co-Pitchers of the Year. USC's Anthony Lunetta earned the inaugural Pac-10 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year award. ARIZONA STATE'S Pat Murphy was honored with his first Coach of the Year award.

Pac-10 Championship

For Arizona State, it is their sixth title and first since 1993...STANFORD wins its fourth consecutive title, the first time in school history that has been accomplished, and 16th overall...UCLA wins its first title since 1986, sixth overall.

Pac-10 in the NCAA Tournament

The Pac-10 sent five teams to the NCAA Tournament in both 1990 and 1997 and six teams in 1992. Four teams have been sent to the tourney eight times including this year. Since 1983, the Pac-10 has sent at least three teams to postseason play. All four of this year's tournament teams finished with 30 or more wins and three teams have won over 40 (ASU, STAN, USC). The Pac-10's four entrants in this year's NCAA Tournament posted a 78-33 (.703) record vs.non-conference opponents.

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES NOTES

The Pac-10 sent two teams to the College World Series for the 23rd time, last being in 1998 when USC defeated Arizona State in the title game. It also marked the 25th year there have been multiple teams from the Pac-10, having sent three teams to the CWS on two occasions (1988, 1976)...Both times there were three teams, a Pac-10 team won the National Championship &endash, Stanford over Arizona State in '88 and Arizona over Eastern Michigan in '76...This is the 50thyear (of possible 54) that the Pac-10 has sent a team to the CWS...Since the CWS began in 1947, the Pac-10 has not been represented only four times (1996, 1991, 1989, 1962)...The Pac-10 has won 24 national championships, three times as many as the next conference (Big-12, eight)...USC has won 12 titles, the most of any school all-time...In 31 of the 54 championships, a Pac-10 team has finished either first or second.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Casey Myers, ARIZONA STATE

CO-PITCHERS OF THE YEAR

Rik Currier, USC

Justin Wayne, STANFORD

FRESHMAN/NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Anthony Lunetta, USC

COACH OF THE YEAR

Pat Murphy, ARIZONA STATE

FINAL TEAM NOTES

STANFORD (50-16 Overall, CWS Runner-Up, 17-7 Pac-10, tie 1st place)

Stanford advanced to its 12th College World Series, second consecutive, and third in the last four years . . . Stanford's 50 victories marks the first time inschool history they have posted back-to-back 50-win seasons and it's their fourth season with 50-plus, six consecutive seasons with 40-plus . . . Pac-10Co-Pitcher of the Year Jr. RHP Justin Wayne led the league in complete games (tie, 6), ERA (3.21), wins (tie, 15), strikeouts (153), innings pitched (143.0),and games started (tie, 19). He broke the school record with his 15th win vs. Clemson at the CWS. Wayne set a new career-high with 153 strikeouts,second-best in school history and t8th in Pac-10 history. His career strikeout total stands at 363, tying the school record (Kyle Peterson, 1995-97), and tying forsecond in Pac-10 history. Earlier this season, Wayne tied the Pac-10 record for consecutive wins with 16 . . . His Stanford record stands at 31-5 (.861),currently fourth-best in school history for percentage, and fifth in wins . . . Jr. RHP Jason Young (9-1, 3.73 ERA, 5th in Pac-10) won 14 consecutive victorieswhich dated back to last season, two wins shy of tying the Pac-10 record (Wayne, Olerud). His career strikeout total is 327, third in school history and 10thall-time in the Pac-10 . . . Sr. 3B John Gall broke the Pac-10 career records for hits, doubles, total bases, and at bats this season (see above 'Records Galore').He finished as the No. 2 hits leader at the CWS for a career with 22, one shy of the record . . . Sr. CF Edmund Muth set the CWS record for home runs in agame and career with three (vs. Lafayette) and six respectively. He also tied the single game total bases record with 12 vs. Lafayette. Muth hit 51 career homeruns and batted in 208 RBI, second all-time in school history . . . So. 2B Chris O'Riordan led the Cardinal with a .366 batting average, 10th in the Pac-10 . . .Sr. SS Eric Bruntlett led the Pac-10 with 52 walks and 24 doubles --second in single season school history for doubles (29, Troy Paulsen, 1990) . . . So. RHPJeff Brucksch picked up save No. 13 at the CWS, tying the school record (Steve Chitren, 1987). As a team, Stanford had 19 saves on the season, breaking theschool record (1987, 1973). It also ties for fifth in Pac-10 history . . . Muth (81), Sr. OF Joe Borchard (76), and Gall (71) all eclipsed the 70-RBI mark, thefirst time in school history a trio has done it. They are 3-6-8 in the Pac-10 for RBI . . . Stanford has not been shutout since the fourth game of last season (0-8vs CSF, 2/5/99), a string of 127 consecutive games . . . Stanford broke the school record for attendance in a regular season game, drawing 4,020 fans May 19vs. UCLA . . . Stanford won its fourth consecutive Pac-10 title (1997 and 1998 Pac-10 South), marking the first time in school history that has beenaccomplished. The title also gives Stanford at least a share of a Pac-10 championship in football, men's basketball, and baseball during the 1999-2000 academicyear, marking the first time Stanford has ever accomplished the feat, and the first school since UCLA in 1975-76 to do it.

USC (44-20 Overall, t3rd at CWS, 16-8 Pac-10, 4th place)

The Trojans advanced to their 20th College World Series . . . USC had a Pac-10 high winning streak of 16 games from April 29 to June 10, the longest streak atUSC since they won 22 straight in 1973-74 . . . The starting rotation of Jr. RHP Rik Currier, So. RHP Mark Prior, Fr. RHP Anthony Reyes, andstarter/reliever Jr. LHP Ronald Flores were outstanding this season . . . Currier (3.31 ERA), Flores (3.36), and Prior (3.56) finished 2-3-4 in the Pac-10 inpitching. Reyes (4.02) ranked ninth . . . Pac-10 co-Pitcher of the Year Currier has 329 career strikeouts, third in school history and 8th all-time in the Pac-10.He co-led the league with 15 victories. He struck out 141 this season, third in the Conference and 7th-best in school history. Prior finished second in the Pac-10with 150 strikeouts, fourth-most for a Trojan in a year. The duo of Currier-Prior combined for 291 strikeouts breaking the school record set by 1998's tandemof Currier and Seth Etherton (282 K's) . . . Jr. SS Seth Davidson stole 26 bases for the year which led the Pac-10. The 26 SB's also ties the school record heldby Aaron Boone in 1994. Davidson has 52 swipes for his career, five short of the school record (57, Mark Smith, 1989-91) . . . . . Sr. 3B Justin Gemoll ledUSC in batting average (.374, 5th in Pac-10), co-led in home runs (18, t8th), RBI (67, t10th), hits (91, t7th), total bases (172, 6th), and slugging percentage(.708, 5th). His 19 doubles is second on the team and ties for 9th in the Pac-10 . . . USC's overall team ERA of 4.40 was second in the Pac-10 . . . Beau Craigco-led the Trojans with 18 home runs as well . . . Their .967 fielding percentage was fourth in the Conference and 17th in the nation . . . The Trojans also ledthe Pac-10, averaging 9.08 strikeouts per game . . . Pac-10 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year 2B Anthony Lunetta was fourth in the Pac-10 with 22 doubles onthe year, tied for fifth-most in school history. He became the first USC freshman since 1993 to hit 20 or more doubles in a season (26, Gabe Alvarez) . . . 34 oftheir 64 games were vs. ranked teams.

UCLA (38-26 Overall, Super Regionals, 17-7 Pac-10, tie 1st place)

The Bruins won their sixth Conference championship and first since 1986. . . . UCLA dropped two games at LSU in the Super Regionals that ended theirseason . . . The Bruins won 13 of their last 19 games. They hit the 30-win mark for the fourth time in five seasons, and for the 18th time in 26 seasons underhead coach Gary Adams . . . The 17 league wins are the most since they won 19 in 1997 . . . Jr. 1B Garrett Atkins had a career-best 22-game hitting streak, thelongest streak in the Pac-10 this season. He had 276 career hits, second-best in school history (326, Eric Byrnes, 1995-98) and 460 total bases, second-best inschool history and 11th all-time in the Pac-10 . . . Jr. OF Bill Scott broke the school record for hits in a season, passing Troy Glaus' 108 hits in 1997. Hefinished the season with 112 hits, sixth in Pac-10 history for a single season. Scott led the Pac-10 in batting average (.421), hits (112), and total bases (204),and was second in slugging percentage (.767), second in on-base percentage (.480), tied for fifth in RBI (76), and third in runs (75). His .421 average is the14th-best Pac-10 season ever . . . Jr. 2B Chase Utley finished the year with 108 hits, 22 of which were home runs, making him and Scott the third and fourthplayers in UCLA history to accomplish the feat (1997 &endash, Troy Glaus 34, HR, 108 hits, Jon Heinrichs 28, 107), and the second duo to produce theresults in the same season. These four are the only ones to reach the feat in Pac-10 history. Scott and Utley have also set a Pac-10 record for combined hits byteammates in a single season, with 220. The previous record was 216 by Mike Sodders and Kevin Romine of Arizona State in 1981. Utley had 256 career hits,fourth-best in school history . . . UCLA hit 117 home runs, second-best in school and Pac-10 history (142, 1997). UCLA had three of the top-10 players on thePac-10 home run leaderboard &endash, Johnson (23, 2nd), Utley (22, t3rd), and Scott (21, 5th) . . . Scott (53) and Utley (53) rank t7th all-time in the Pac-10 inhomers . . . The Bruins haven't been shutout since early '99 (122 consecutive games) . . . UCLA pitchers set a school record with 531 strikeouts, which alsoranks t8th in the Pac-10 . . . Jr. LHP Rob Henkel had 136 strikeouts, third-best in UCLA single season history and his 208 for his career rank ninth-best . . .UCLA hit an extra-base hit in all but one game this season.

ARIZONA STATE (44-15 Overall, Regionals, 17-7 Pac-10, tie 1st place)

Arizona State was eliminated by Texas in the regionals . . . ASU won its sixth Pac-10 title (all since 1981) and first since 1993, after being picked sixth in thepreseason poll . . . ASU hit the 40-win plateau for the fourth time since 1993 . . . The 17 league wins are a five-game improvement over last season and fifthtime since 1990 with 17 or more . . . ASU was 2nd in the nation in batting, 5th in fielding percentage, and 1st in scoring . . . ASU led the Conference in battingaverage (.346), runs per game (11.0), slugging percentage (.561), on base percentage (.454), RBI (588), triples (37), walks (336), and stolen bases (92) . . .Sr. OF Mitch Jones broke Bob Horner's (1978) 22-year-old school record for home runs when he hit No. 26 vs. ARIZ May 21. Jones finished with 27,becoming just the ninth player in Pac-10 history to hit at least 27 in a season, and seventh to do so since 1990 . . . ASU had an extra-base hit in all but twogames this season . . . ASU batters were hit by pitch 115 times this season, breaking the Pac-10 record (101, WASH, 1998). The mark ranks in the top-fourall-time in the NCAA record books (125, Nevada in 1997) . . . Pac-10 Player of the Year Jr. C Casey Myers finished '00 with 97 RBI, second-best in Pac-10history, and 206 for his career, fifth-best. Myers led the Sun Devils with 98 hits, 19 doubles, 97 RBI, and a .502 on-base percentage. Myers led the Pac-10 inRBI and on-base percentage. He also ranks among the Conference leaders in hits (3rd), slugging percentage (.718, t3rd), total bases (171, 7th), runs scored(71, 9th), home runs (18, t8th), and doubles (19, t9th). Myers batted .412 for the season, second in the Pac-10 tied for 22nd-best average in single seasonPac-10 history . . . Myers and Jones (92) rank first and second in the Conference in RBI, third and fifth in the nation . . . The Sun Devils scored 10 or moreruns in 31 games this season, and 20 runs nine times . . . ASU owns the Pac-10 record, having scored in 313 consecutive games (last 0-9 vs. USC, 4/7/95), thesecond-longest active streak (Wichita State) and fourth-best all-time.

ARIZONA (26-30 Overall, 8-16 Pac-10, 7th place)

Arizona won 20 or more games for the sixth consecutive season . . . So. RHP Ben Diggins 10 wins are the most at UA since Scott Erickson in 1989. Diggins127 strikeouts this year rank fifth in the Pac-10. On Mar. 31, he became the first Wildcat pitcher to start a season 8-0 in 25 years. He came closer than anyonebefore to becoming the second player in Pac-10 history to hit 10 home runs and win 10 games in a season (John Olerud, WSU, 1988, 23 HR, 15 wins). He didbecome the first UA player to win five games and hit five home runs in two seasons . . . Final Leaders: Batting: Jr. OF Ryan O'Donnell (.367), Runs, Hits,Triples, SB: Gingrich (66, 83, 6, 25), Doubles (tie with So. OF Kenny Huff ), HR, TB: Jr. 1B Ernie Durazo (16, 11, 126), ERA, IP, SO: Diggins (3.83,112.2, 127).

CALIFORNIA (25-28 Overall, 11-13 Pac-10, 5th place)

The Bears finished 25-28 overall 11-13 in the Pac-10, which matches last season's record . . . Cal played the ninth-toughest schedule in the nation and finished4-6 against non-conference teams ranked in this week's Baseball America poll . . . Jr. 3B Xavier Nady broke school records for career home runs (57), RBI(191), and total bases (479). In three years he has passed USC's Mark McGwire (1982-84) in three major categories, including home runs, total bases, andslugging percentage . . . Jr. C Mike Tonis finished the season on a 12-game hitting streak. He led the team in batting average (tied, .329), hits (70), and doubles(20). His 20 doubles tie for fourth at Cal for a single season and his 40 home runs are tied for third on the Cal all-time home run charts (Mike Harrison,1989-91). Final Leaders: Batting, Hits, 2B: Tonis (.329, 70, 20), Batting, Runs, HR, RBI, TB: Nady (.329, 53, 19, 59, 133), SB: Fr. OF David Weiner (12),ERA: Jr RHP Rob Meyer (2.67), IP, SO: Sr. RHP Brad Steele (98.0, 64).

OREGON STATE (28-27 Overall, 9-15 Pac-10, 6th place)

OSU had a winning season for the seventh time in the last eight years and the 14th time in 16 years. They began the year with 21 first-year players and werepicked to finish last in the Conference . . . Of OSU's 27 losses, 14 were to teams who were either ranked or received votes in one of the national polls last weekand the Beavers also own four wins over teams who were ranked or received votes . . . OSU finished the regular season nine games better than last season,when the Beavers went 19-35 overall. OSU finished two games better in Pac-10 play than a year ago, when the Beavers went 7-17. OSU's 13-10 home recordmore than doubled last season's home win total, when OSU was 6-9 at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field . . . OSU beat two top-four teams this season &endash,a 5-2 win over No. 3 Stanford (home) on May 6 and an 11-3 victory over No. 4 Arizona State on Apr. 8. The last time OSU won at home against a team rankedas high as third nationally was vs. second-ranked USC in 1967. Sr. 1B Joe Gerber broke the single-season RBI record (67), tied the doubles record (19), andset career records in home runs (34), RBI (169), doubles (44), and total bases (347). He also finished second in career hits with 201. Final Leaders: Batting: Sr.OF Drew Hedges (.371), Runs, Fr. 3B Brian Barden (50), Hits, 2B, RBI, TB: Gerber (74, 19, 67, 120), SF: Jr. OF Eric Stark (11), HR: Jr. IF Zack Gordon(11).

WASHINGTON (26-30 Overall, 7-17 Pac-10, 8th place)

UW won at least 26 games for the fifth consecutive season and 10th time in the last 11 years . . . UW graduates just one senior this season in Sr. 1B EdErickson, who finished in the school's career top-10 in nine offensive categories: home runs (1st, 42), hit by pitch (t1st, 33), doubles (t5th, 40), RBI (3rd,158), games (5th, 191), runs (9th, 137), hits (10th, 189), at bats (9th, 627), and strikeouts (4th, 120). He led the team with 17 doubles on the year . . . Fr. DHJay Garthwaite broke the UW freshman record for home runs previously held by Ed Erickson (8). Garthwaite had 12 for the season, tying for the team-leadwith Jr. 2B Marc Rittenhouse . . . So. OF Todd Linden led the Huskies in batting average (.390, 3rd in Pac-10), doubles (17), hits (71), on-base percentage(.469, 6th), and RBI (45) . . . Jr. RHP Matt Massingale had six complete games this season, tying for the Pac-10 lead, and were the most by a UW pitchersince 1992, when Jim Riley had six. Massingale led the Huskies with 80 strikeouts . . . UW swiped 88 bases, second in the Conference, led by Linden's 18,fifth in the league. Rittenhouse co-led the team with 12 home runs. In his first two seasons at UW, he had only five home runs. Final Leaders: Batting, Hits,2B, RBI: Linden (.390, 76, 17, 49), Runs, HR (tied with Garthwaite): Rittenhouse (54, t12), Doubles, TB: Erickson (17, 124), ERA: Fr. RHP Brian Barton5.72, IP, SO: Massingale (99.1, 92).

WASHINGTON STATE (20-36 Overall, 6-18 Pac-10, 9th place)

The Cougars registered 20 wins for the third straight season and the 21st time in the last 22 years . . . Jr. OF Jason Grove finished the season hitting in 14 of hislast 15 games (.333, 20-for-60, with 11 runs, five doubles, 10 RBI, a triple, and two home runs). His 33 career home runs, tied for fifth place in the WSUrecord books with John Olerud (1987-89) . . . Sr. LHP Matt O'Brien finished 10-5 (3.94 ERA). He ranks 8th in the Conference in ERA and tied for fourth inwins. O'Brien became the first Coug to win 10 games in a year since 1995 when Kyle Kawabata went 11-3 . . . Sr. SS Shawn Stevenson finished first in theleague with 191 assists, 655 in his career, second-best all-time at WSU. He also scored 200 runs, third-best at WSU . . . RS Fr. IF Stefan Bailie had ateam-leading 12 home runs on the year, tying the WSU freshman record set by Jason Grove in 1998. With his strong finish, Bailie ended his first year at WSUas the second leading hitter with a .315 Average, 58 hits, 11 doubles and a team leading 16 HBP . . . Final Leaders: Batting, Runs, Hits, 2B, TB: Sr. IF/OFRay Hattenburg (.359, 40, 80, 111), Runs, SB: Stevenson (40, 12), 3B: Sr. OF Jordan Nilsen (4), RBI: Bailie (35), ERA, IP: O'Brien (3.94, 93.2), SO:Meldahl (76).

2000 PAC-10 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Feb. 22 Todd Linden, WASH

Feb. 29 Mitch Jones, ASU

Mar. 7 Brooks Conrad, ASU

Mar. 14 Forrest Johnson, UCLA

Mar. 21 Xavier Nady, CAL

Mar. 28 Beau Craig, USC

Apr. 3 Forrest Johnson, UCLA

Apr. 10 John Gall, STAN

Apr. 17 Clint Hoover, CAL

Apr. 24 Jay Garthwaite, WASH

May 1 Bill Scott, UCLA

May 8 Ed Erickson, WASH

May 15 Brooks Conrad, ASU

May 22 Mitch Jones, ASU

2000 PAC-10 PITCHERS OF THE WEEK

Feb. 22 Jon Switzer, ASU

Feb. 29 Ben Diggins, ARIZ

Mar. 7 Justin Wayne, STAN

Mar. 14 Rob Henkel, UCLA

Mar. 21 Mike Gosling, STAN

Mar. 28 Rob Henkel, UCLA

Apr. 3 Justin Wayne, STAN

Apr. 10 Jon Switzer, ASU

Jeff Carlsen, WASH

Apr. 17 Jeff Bruksch, STAN

Apr. 24 Josh Karp, UCLA

May 1 Jon Switzer, ASU

May 8 Scott Nicholson, OSU

May 15 Rob Henkel, UCLA

May 22 Jon Brandt, UCLA