Jeremy West was named Pac-10 Player of the Week on Monday after belting three home runs this past weekend against Washington State.
The sophomore first baseman leads 23rd-ranked ASU in extra base hits with 29 and has 17 multi-hit games on the season. While the award is the first for West, it marks the 65th all-time honor for the Sun Devils.
Sophomore right fielder Andre Ethier has a team-leading .381 batting average. He picked apart the Cougar pitching staff Sunday, recording two home runs, five RBI and five runs scored.
Sunday also marked the seventh anniversary of the last time ASU was shut out. The Sun Devils suffered a 9-0 loss at USC on April 7, 1995. Since then, they have scored in an NCAA-record 409 straight games.
• Washington State looks to rebound from its series against ASU with a weekend trip to Seattle to take on Washington. The Cougars were outscored 39-18 in last weekend's three-game series in Pullman, Wash.
Washington State has won just three of its last 15 games, as pitching has been a sore spot lately. The Cougars relinquished 10 or more runs in five of those losses during that span. Not surprisingly, Washington State's pitching staff has a 6.87 team ERA.
• California took two of three games last weekend versus UCLA. Sunday's 10-6 win came in dramatic fashion, as California sophomore designated hitter David Weiner blasted a grand slam in the bottom of the 15th inning. Weiner went 4-for-8 from the plate with four RBI in the five-hour, 10-minute game.
• UCLA has struggled all season and is scheduled to face ASU this weekend. The Bruins put on a hitting display Saturday, torching California 19-2 on the strength of 19 hits and a home run by designated hitter Adam Berry, his 14th of the year.
• Oregon State lost two of three games to USC last weekend, managing a total of two runs in a pair of defeats. As was the case with UCLA, the Beavers thrashed the Trojans 13-3 on Saturday.
Oregon State, which is batting .294 as a team, has outscored its opponents 203-182 this year. Sunday's 2-0 shutout marked the first time all season the Beavers did not score at least one run.
• USC, which won six of its last seven games after dropping four straight, has just one starter with an ERA below 3.00 in junior right-hander Brett Bannister (2.91) and has given up 53 runs in its past 10 outings. Only one of those games was against a team from outside the conference.
• Second-ranked Stanford not only had to battle UA's bats this past weekend, but also its own travel itinerary. Sunday's game, which resulted in a 15-13 loss for the Cardinal, was suspended so the players could travel back home to Palo Alto, Calif.
As almost every other Pac-10 winner did Saturday, Stanford pounded out a 19-1 win, using two home runs from senior infielder Chris O'Riordan and five hits from junior infielder Tobin Swope to record its largest margin of victory on the year. Stanford's 19 runs set a new season-high.
The anchor of the Cardinal pitching staff has been junior right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, who has a perfect 6-0 record in nine starts. Guthrie also has a team-best 58 strikeouts, while his opponents are hitting just .259.
• UA rallied from eight runs down Sunday to secure its only win of the weekend against Stanford. The Wildcats have been pounded for 86 runs in their last nine games — all in Pac-10 play. UA has allowed 361 hits in 326.1 innings for a 4.41 team ERA.
• Washington was swept by Missouri this past weekend in Columbia. The Huskies have dropped seven straight games, committing 12 errors in that span.
Reach the reporter at al.stevens@asu.edu.
