After the team's first weekend off in nearly three months, the ASU baseball team welcomes New Mexico State to Tempe tonight.
The two-game set against the Aggies is the Sun Devils' first home game in two weeks after eight straight road games that saw the Sun Devils go 6-2, with two wins coming against No.10 Wichita State.
Head coach Pat Murphy and some of the older Sun Devils will be familiar with the Aggies, whom the team has played two years in a row. Last season, the two squads competed in regional play as ASU walloped the Aggies, 15-0.
Tonight the Sun Devils will go with junior Jason Urquidez on the mound. Urquidez is coming off of a shaky performance out of the bullpen at Wichita, but has been rock-solid all season for the Sun Devils. He will be going up against a formidable offensive lineup against NMSU.
Already this season, the Aggies have a total of 92 home runs in just 45 games. Murphy said that although NMSU has benefited from playing in a hitter's paradise -- the thin air at Presley Askew Field, which rivals that of Coors Field in Colorado. However, the Aggie bats have been just as dangerous on the road.
"It goes hand in hand," Murphy said. "You play in a place that is very [hitter friendly], and it gives you confidence (at the plate) on the road. They are a good offensive team."
Murphy said that the Sun Devils are likely to use the bullpen quite a bit in the series, with senior Jeff Mousser taking the mound in Tuesday's game.
With ASU getting its second weekend off in a row next weekend for finals, one thing the Sun Devils do not have to worry about is tiring out their starters' arms.
ASU's pitching staff has begun to make some strides of late. Struggling freshman Pat Bresnehan even gave a hint that he could be coming back into form, with 2.2 crucial innings of shutout baseball against the Shockers last week.
"We have a good group and they are getting older and wiser," Murphy said.
Offensively, the Sun Devils are starting to see the Jeff Larish they know and love. The junior has been swinging the bat well over the last nine games, something Murphy said the team will need going into the stretch run of the season.
"We definitely need him," Murphy said. "You get Larish rolling, and that takes the pressure off the rest of the guys. Then they can be who they are."
Reach the reporter at matthew.schubert@asu.edu.
