Many heroes have emerged during a season in which the Sun Devil baseball team has strung together 19 wins in a row and won 28-of-29 overall.
As the top team in the nation - in two of the three polls - ASU has not relied on just one or two superstars, but rather everyone has contributed, evident in a team batting average of .360.
"That's the temperament of our team," ASU head coach Pat Murphy said after Sunday's 12-2 win over Cal-State Northridge. "We're not just going to rely on one guy to carry us, [everyone's] going to play."
Sunday afternoon, it was senior third baseman Dennis Wyrick who gave the team a lift by leading off three-consecutive innings with a hit - two of which started rallies. Wyrick has been bumped around from shortstop to catcher and now to third base in his four years as a Sun Devil, but Murphy said the senior does what he can as a leader.
"Dennis has emerged and he's had to go through a lot of tough times mentally to get through that and to be at the point he's at right now which says, 'I'm going to help the team, I'm a team player,' " Murphy said.
Primarily an everyday player during his first three years in Tempe, Wyrick has split time with sophomore third baseman Frank Mesa this season, with Mesa receiving the bulk of the playing time (18 starts to Wyrick's nine). Both have shown they are capable of holding down the job, as Wyrick is batting .417 and Mesa is hitting a healthy .403.
"I don't think it really matters who's in there right now, we're playing with unbelievable confidence," Wyrick said.
With conference play beginning March 22 against Stanford, ASU has little time to work out any kinks they might have in a season that looks statistically flawless.
"We've got some glaring weaknesses that we need to shore up, but I like the team," Murphy said. "We're like a racehorse that's out in front. It's time to keep going.
"We're going to play five games against quality opponents and all we can do is keep building every game and try to get better and try to work on the things that are going to make us successful."
Game notes:
When freshman left fielder Travis Buck hit for the cycle Friday, it was the first such feat by an ASU player since Mitch Jones did it against the University of Arizona on May 21, 2000... The Sun Devils have hit nine grand slams on the season... Pedroia had at least one double in each game of the most recent tournament and now has 18 on the year. He extended his season-long hitting streak to 17 games and has 19 multi-hit contests... With sophomore first baseman Jeff Larish's 11th home run on Sunday, the Sun Devils have now hit 38 round trippers this year, tying their mark for all of last season.
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
