With 21 letter winners returning, the ASU baseball team and head coach Pat Murphy return to Packard Stadium with another year of experience under their belts.
After a 2002 campaign at HoHoKam Park in Mesa and a third consecutive bow out in the regionals, Murphy and his group hope to march all the way to Omaha this year.
"Maybe experience was one of the reasons we didn't finish as strong as we could of," Murphy said of last season. "I think maybe this team is a little wiser and maybe a little hungrier from what they didn't figure out at the end (of last year)."
One of the key contributing returnees is sophomore shortstop Dustin Pedroia. After breaking the Sun Devil freshman record for hits in a season with 82, Pedroia has started the 2003 season right where he left off: on base. After six games in Hawaii, Pedroia leads the team in hits with 11 and has extended his hitting streak from the end of last season to 17 games.
Another offensive weapon ASU is glad to have back is junior right fielder Andre Ethier. In 2002, Ethier batted at a .363 clip to rank second on the team, but his season was cut short a month due to a thumb injury. After competing in 60 games in a summer league and a heavy fall workout, Ethier is back in shape and ready to contend.
"We had a first good weekend in Hawaii and hopefully our goals are to be the best and win a national championship, not only for ourselves but for the school and the tradition at the school," he said.
Junior center fielder Rod Allen will help Ethier patrol the outfield turf this season, coming back after a less than expected statistical season in 2002. His .278 average was a steep drop from his .389 freshman campaign, but now that he's got a veteran supporting cast the pressure has been lifted.
"Last year I put a little too much pressure on myself thinking I had to do better than what I did as a freshman," Allen said. "Now I'm just going to have a good time and help this team win ball games."
----Check out the Web Devil tomorrow for previews of new team members.
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
