Coach Pat Murphy will take the ASU baseball team back on the road this weekend for a three-game set with Washington State, and those around the program are hoping for a smoother return trip.
The No. 3 Sun Devils (28-3, 4-2 Pac-10) lost their status as the unanimous top team in all five major college baseball polls after losing two of three games while visiting Stanford last weekend.
This week offers an initial sight of on-field redemption as the Sun Devils attempt to bounce back from their first multiple-game losing streak.
In their way is WSU, which ASU swept in 2007 in Tempe. The Sun Devils are 9-3 all-time in games played in Pullman, Wash.
The Cougars (18-13, 2-4 Pac-10) are losers of six of their last seven games and sport a Pac-10 worst 5.59 team-ERA. In fact, when WSU pitchers allow six or more runs, the team is just 2-12 this season.
ASU's lineup will be looking to inflate that statistic and get off the slump that saw them strand 33 base runners last weekend.
Players have said all season that the 2008 version of the Sun Devils is better equipped to compete than previous squads because of the team's ability to win with either the long ball or move runners along with small ball.
But last weekend, they were unable to do both, despite the continued mashing of first baseman Ike Davis. The junior has 50 base hits in 122 at-bats on the season, including 18 doubles. He has at least 20 more total bases than any of his fellow teammates.
The second major difference between ASU then and now is where most expected to see a major fall-off: the middle of the diamond. The program lost both shortstop Andrew Romine and second baseman Eric Sogard to the MLB Draft after last season's College World Series run, but junior Marcel Champagnie and sophomore Raoul Torrez have both filled in well.
Each is batting above .354. While the offense as a whole gets on base 45.1 percent of the time, it will continue to struggle without advancing runners.
Getting sophomore Mike Leake and senior Josh Satow, ASU's ideal Friday and Saturday starting pitchers, on track is also a must. Each had less than desirable results in the team's first series defeat in Palto Alto, Calif.
Satow is allowing almost two more runs per game this season than he did in his banner 2007 season.
Junior Stephen Sauer, despite his recent struggles, also remains the logical candidate to pitch Sunday. The bullpen will be especially integral in the series finale, as Sauer pitched just four innings in his last outing.
Reach the reporter at apentis@asu.edu.
For more ASU baseball coverage, visit thesundevilsweetspot.blogspot.com.
