by Brian Gomez

It doesn't take a baseball guru to realize Arizona State raised the bar during a season in which head coach Pat Murphy recorded a personal best 54-14 record in his nine years at the helm.

The Devils ended their season June 8 by losing to Cal State Fullerton in the third game of a Super Regional in the NCAA tournament. This season marked the most wins for an ASU team since 1988 when Jim Brock lead ASU to a 60-13 mark and a second-place finish at the College World Series.

The respect the players and coaches have for one another goes well beyond the traditional pregame huddle and the somewhat routine postgame handshakes between the lines.

It was evident in the time Murphy spent with his players during practice, fine-tuning batting stances and mending flawed mechanics. It was seen when players picked each other up when they struggled. And it was obvious even in the way some teammates, like sophomore shortstop Dustin Pedroia and junior second baseman Steve Garrabrants, met away from the diamond to play video games.

What it all added up to was a recipe for success that has been reworked time and time again in an effort to bring the Sun Devils their first national championship in more than two decades. Although a ticket to Omaha would not be punched this year, ASU is developing the road map to lead the way back to the Promised Land.

Some people are inclined to think the No. 5-ranked Sun Devils had too much talent for their own good. How could a group of 36 players, 16 of whom were drafted in early rounds, possibly come together to form its own identity?

The answer is actually rather simple. They accomplished the seemingly unattainable task by assuming unique roles and then doing everything in their power to be successful.

"It's good to go out there and perform great when your team wins, but the bottom line is that as long as your team is winning, it doesn't matter how you helped," said ASU senior right-hander Beau Vaughan about his frame of mind while at his fourth school in the last four years. "If I get a chance to help this team win, then so be it. Results are results, but the outcome of the game is the most important thing."

Tracking the season

The Sun Devils initially developed team cohesion last fall when they moved practices from Tempe to Surprise. They became more unified in the Northwest Valley not only by working on the fundamentals of the game, but also by watching inspirational movies.

"For some reason, the team really clicked there," Garrabrants said. "Maybe it was the bus ride. It was an hour and we had nothing else on our minds except baseball."

The relationships the players established grew stronger early in the season when ASU won six games in four days at Hawaii-Hilo. They flourished even more when the Sun Devils returned home for the bulk of their non-conference schedule by playing 25 of their next 31 games at Packard Stadium.

ASU experienced success during the two-month stretch, winning eight of 13 games against nationally-ranked opponents Long Beach State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Wichita State and Stanford. The Sun Devils also went unbeaten at the Coca-Cola Spring Training Classic in Surprise and at the Bob Schaefer Memorial Classic in Tempe.

"If you have a bad day, but you helped the team win by making a play on defense, ... as long as we won, you came out happy," Garrabrants said.

When Pac-10 play kicked into full swing in early March, ASU answered the bell by winning two of three games at Southern California. The Sun Devils also swept California and Washington State. Their lone blemishes during the month of April were a pair of one-run losses to UCLA and an 11-7 setback against New Mexico.

In late April, ASU took a break from conference competition for an annual trip to Oklahoma City that proved to be beneficial from a record standpoint and also from a personal outlook. Before winning at Oklahoma, the Sun Devils visited the site of what once was the Murrah Federal Building, where 168 people were killed in a 1995 terrorist attack.

Murphy said after the game that looking at the chairs to remember the victims and the pieces of rubble that still occupy the memorial grounds made him put things in perspective. The stark reminders of how one's life can change in an instant made him think of his 2-year-old son, Kai Joseph, who is often seen trotting around the grass at Bobby Winkles Field and heaving baseballs inside the batting cages.

Despite taking a sentimental attitude toward the game, Murphy didn't stop short of showing his true colors as a coach who is known for being stern, yet compassionate at the same time. That was apparent in the way he talked about junior outfielder Rod Allen playing in a changed role from a starter to a reserve.

"He's not happy about it, but that's life in the big city," Murphy said after Allen blasted a seventh-inning, pinch-hit grand slam that paved the way to a 9-4 victory. "We're not here to make him happy. We're here to help him get better and learn. That's the way it is."

ASU easily disposed of UC-Irvine in its final non-conference game before going 3-3 during a six-game road swing against Oregon State and Washington. That set the table for a season-ending series against archrival Arizona.

The Devils ended up sweeping all three games from the Wildcats. ASU earned one of 16 No. 1 seeds in the 64-team NCAA Baseball Tournament earning the right to host Regional play at Tempe Diablo Stadium. However, the Devils did not get one of the coveted top-eight No. 1 National seeds, which would guarantee the right to host a Super Regional.

The Sun Devils breezed through the regional competition outscoring their opponent 45-3 in the three games. ASU defeated Central Connecticut State 14-2 to open the regional, then handed New Mexico State and UNLV consecutive losses by a combined score of 31-1.

ASU's Regional dominance earned them a trip to Fullerton's home field where the Titans had only lost two games all year. Fullerton won the opener 5-1, but ASU forced the decisive third game with a 7-6 win in the second game. The Titans scored seven runs in the first three innings and never looked back en route to a 7-1 victory over Arizona State to eliminate the Devils from postseason play.

Looking ahead

The Sun Devils school-best 28-1 start showed they were capable of carrying momentum, but the NCAA Tournament proved to be a different story.

ASU hasn't escaped the opening round since its 1998 trip to the College World Series that ended with a loss in the national championship game. The Sun Devils were eliminated by Houston last season, fell to Texas Tech the previous year and were knocked out by Texas in 2000.

Many maroon and gold faithful hoped this season would not be like other recent seasons, especially after watching an electrifying squad recognized as much for its hitting (.349 team batting average) as it is for its stingy pitching (3.40 team ERA).

Getting the bat on the ball

ASU got pop in its lineup from a multitude of sources. It all started with Pedroia, who batted .424 with 48 RBIs and a Pac-10-record 32 doubles.

"We tried to play every game like it was our last game," Pedroia said. "We weren't worried about anything else or about life after baseball. We just played and had fun."

Junior designated hitter Jeremy West and sophomore first baseman Jeff Larish also did some damage in the middle of the order. The tandem combined for 140 RBIs, 31 home runs and 20 doubles.

Often lost in the limelight were the stellar offensive seasons of several other players, like sophomore third baseman Frank Mesa (.378 batting average), junior outfielder Andre Ethier (.362), freshman outfielder Travis Buck (.349) and sophomore catcher Tuffy Gosewisch (.336).

"The depth of our team was ridiculous," Garrabrants said. "If somebody was not on or if they struggled, we could pop somebody else in there. We had guys sitting on the bench who wouldn't be sitting for any other team in the country at any time."

Streaks and records

One of the things that did not go unnoticed was ASU's ability to score runs. The Sun Devils have posted at least one run in an NCAA-record 501 consecutive games, a streak that dates back to the 1995 season.

"I don't even think about it," Murphy said April 7 after his team celebrated a lopsided victory over Grand Canyon that extended its scoring streak to 475 games on the eight-year anniversary of the last time it was shut out. "It's not an issue and it's not something that comes into our heads. We just play the game."

ASU has also made a habit of hitting grand slams, having blasted an NCAA-record-tying 14 this season. Larish leads the team with a school-record four grand slams, Garrabrants and West have three each, Allen has two and Buck and freshman outfielder Ryan Bosch have one apiece.

"I just take whatever the game gives me," Allen said after belting a grand slam into the left-field bullpen at Oklahoma. "If coach puts my name in the lineup, I'm grateful. If he doesn't, then it's his choice. He's the head coach.

"I basically just try to be a good teammate. I try to come through in clutch situations and show the team I'm ready when they need me."

Pitching prowess

The Sun Devils didn't have many questions surrounding a pitching staff that proved effective for most of the season. Senior right-handers Jered Liebeck, Ben Thurmond and freshman southpaw Erik Averill anchored the rotation, while Vaughan, sophomore right-hander Mark Sopko and senior right-hander Robbie McClellan have been called upon for spot starts.

Left-handers Brett Bordes, Carlos Arguello and Bryce Kartler have handled a majority of the relief duties. Junior right-hander Ryan Schroyer was one of the Pac-10's sturdiest closers.

When the 2004 Sun Devils take the field they'll be carrying the inspiration of this year's team, and hopefully that will allow them to take the next step along the road to Omaha.

Former State Press sportswriter Casey Pritchard contributed to this article.