ASU News - Sports

ASU cites economics in reducing number of varsity sports

gcampbel — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:07:10 -0600

In response to economic realities experienced over a long period of time, Arizona State University announced May 13 the discontinuation of three varsity sports programs, effective immediately. The sport programs affected are men's swimming, men's tennis and wrestling. ASU President Michael Crow and Vice President for University Athletics Lisa Love made the announcement. With the budget cuts the University is facing, Intercollegiate Athletics cannot expect the University to make up the difference.

This move reduces the total number of varsity teams sponsored by ASU to 20 from 22. Currently, men’s swimming and men’s diving, compete as part of a combined team and this move will not affect the diving portion of the the team.

ASU will continue to fund football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, women's tennis, women's swimming and diving, men's diving, women's volleyball, women's gymnastics and women's water polo.

"Our primary concern for the immediate future is the student-athletes and coaches that are affected," says Love.

The student-athletes in the discontinued sports who decide to transfer to another institution will be provided with full assistance from ASU regarding the transfer process. The student-athletes who chose to remain at ASU will receive the full benefits of their scholarship awards through their senior year.

"With a dedicated effort to a successful 20-sport varsity program in mind," says Love, "these three sports were selected with the following criteria: financial impact, potential competitive success, conference/regional support and gender equity. Our revenue trajectory has been positive, however, our ongoing financial challenges have been well documented by the media. The decision to discontinue sport programs is a last resort, yet necessary."

"These moves are extremely painful," says Love. "We have arrived at the realization that funding a 20 sport program is a better fit for our financial profile and will serve to secure and strengthen our future. It is our responsibility to operate a fiscally prudent varsity athletics program. The costs of doing business are escalating daily and the costs of maintaining excellence even more so."

At 20 varsity sports, ASU is in line with other major institutions around the country. In the Pacific-10 Conference, schools that compare favorably with ASU are UCLA and Washington 23 sports each, USC 21, Arizona 20, Oregon and Oregon State 18 each and Washington State 17. On a national scale, Florida, Georgia and Auburn sponsor 21 varsity sports, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma and LSU 20 apiece, and Florida State 19.

"The profile of our operations budget and donation base does not lend itself to the sponsorship of 22 athletic teams," says Love. "While our revenue streams are achieving a positive trajectory they are simply not keeping pace with the current size and scope of the department.

"The decision to discontinue sports has been the most distressing and painful choice this administration has had to make. It is counter-intuitive to our administrative thinking. This decision impacts many people, both on and off our campus. The entire University, the Board of Regents, Sun Devil alumni and other universities will share in the loss of these sports and student-athletes and the contributions they have made to our University and to their sport.

"The action is in no way meant to diminish the dedication, effort or ability of these student-athletes, coaches and alumni. They have contributed greatly to Arizona State University athletics and to the vitality and history of the University," Love says.

As many as 70 student athletes will be affected by the elimination of these sports. Six full-time coaching positions will be eliminated. Head coaches will remain on contract through November, 2008.

The establishment of a 20-team varsity sport program will allow the department to realize a reduction in expenses that will total approximately of $1 million annually.

This is the second time in ASU's athletic history that programs have been eliminated. In 1993 ASU eliminated men's gymnastics, an NCAA-sponsored sport, and two club sports sponsored by ICA -- men's and women's and mixed archery and men's and women's and mixed badminton. Two sports have been added in recent program history, including women's varsity soccer in 1996 and women's water polo in 2002.

ASU baseball completes sweep of LMU

ckussala — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:26:23 -0600

No. 3 Arizona State completed the sweep of a three-game series with Loyola Marymount on Monday, May 12, defeating the Lions 12-10 in front of a crowd of 2,110 at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. The Sun Devils improve to 41-9 with the victory on a night in which their season attendance surpassed the 100,000 mark for the second straight year.

Brett Wallace drove in three runs and hit his career-high 17th home run of the season to lead the ASU offense. It was Wallace's 40th career home run, moving him into a tie for sixth with Andrew Beinbrink on the school's all-time list.

Tommy Rafferty pitched 2.1 innings out of the bullpen and allowed just one run while striking out four to earn the victory and improve to 11-0 on the season. Dustin Brader came on in the ninth to record the final out and get his second save of the year.

ASU scored first with a Wallace sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first. After LMU tied the game in the fourth, the Sun Devils took the lead back with four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Wallace led off with a solo home run to right, Kiel Roling drove in two with his first career triple and Raoul Torrez brought Roling home with an RBI single.

The Lions scored a run in the fifth, but the Sun Devils again answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Petey Paramore.

LMU hung tough with another run in the sixth, but ASU scored three runs each in the seventh and eighth to take command of the game. Jason Kipnis stole home on a double steal for the first run in the seventh, which was his team-leading 20th stolen base of the season. Greg Bordes drove in a run with a single to right and he then scored on a wild pitch in the seventh.

Ryan Sontag had an RBI single, Kipnis drove in a run with a triple down the right field line and Wallace brought in the Sun Devils' final run with a groundout in the eighth.

The Lions made things interesting with seven runs in the top of the ninth, including two three-run homers, but it was not enough.

Sontag, Kipnis and Roling all had three hits and Wallace added two hits in the victory.

The Sun Devils return to Pac-10 action this weekend, hosting a three-game series with Washington beginning Friday at 7 p.m. at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.

ASU's Johnson selected Pac-10 Women's Field Athlete of the Week

ckussala — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:20:53 -0600

Senior Jacquelyn Johnson has been named the Pac-10 Women's Field Athlete of the Week following her record performance over the weekend in the heptathlon at the 2008 Pac-10 Track & Field Championships presented by 76 Gasoline in Tempe, the Conference announced Monday, May 12. The weekly honor is the second of the season for Johnson, who also earned the accolade on April 9, and also marks the fifth time a Sun Devil has been recognized this season.

Johnson won her third Pac-10 heptathlon crown (2004 and 2006) as she scored 6,307 points to win by over 500 points. Her point total is a Pac-10 record, a Pac-10 meet record, an ASU school record, a Sun Angel Stadium record and the third-best mark all-time in NCAA history. Overall, Johnson won four individual events and established school heptathlon records in the 100m hurdles (13.21), high jump (1.81m), long jump (6.30m) and javelin (48.50m). Her point totals at the end of day one (3,700) and day two only (2,607) also stand as ASU heptathlon records.

The Sun Devils will play host to the remaining events of the Pac-10 Championships this weekend in Tempe with the hammer throw leading the way at 10:30 a.m. both Friday and Saturday. Action will continue each day with field events at 5 p.m. both days with running events starting at 5 p.m. on Friday and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

2008 Pac-10 Athletes of the Week
Women's Track - Nicole Blood (Oregon)
Women's Field - Jacquelyn Johnson (Arizona State)
Men's Track - Andrew Wheating (Oregon)
Men's Field - Greg Garza (UCLA)

Davis and Nolan named to Bronco Nagurski Trophy

ckussala — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:17:11 -0600

The Football Writers Association of America announced on May 12 that Arizona State junior defensive end Dexter Davis and senior safety Troy Nolan were both named to the watch list for the 2008 Bronco Nagurski Trophy, which is annually awarded to the best defensive player in college football.

One of ASU's most consistent defenders over the last two seasons, Davis has started all 26 games of his Sun Devil career. Last season Davis earned Second-Team All-Pac-10 honors after finishing tied for third in the conference with 10.5 sacks to go along with 33 combined tackles, three forced fumbles and one pass breakup. In his two seasons at ASU, Davis has accumulated 75 combined tackles, including 24 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks and six forced fumbles.

A former junior college transfer who sat out his first year in Tempe because of injury, Nolan earned Second-Team All-Pac-10 honors in 2007, finishing first on the team and second in the conference with six interceptions, the most by a Sun Devil since 1989. He tied a school record by bringing two of those six interceptions back for touchdowns. Last month Nolan, who finished third on ASU in 2007 in tackles (64) and second in passes broken up (7), was one of 42 players named to the watch list for the Lott Trophy, which is given to the college football defensive IMPACT player of the year.

The FWAA All-America Committee selects the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner from the association's 11-man All-America defensive team in November. The watch list was developed by the FWAA All-America committee with the help of the schools and conferences.

The Charlotte Touchdown Club will hold the 2008 banquet on Sunday, Dec. 7, at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte. For the eighth straight season, the FWAA will also pick a Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week beginning with games on Aug. 30 and running through the middle of November. And a Bronko Nagurski Legends Award winner will also be selected from the FWAA's 1967 All-America team.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been presented since 1993 and is awarded in memory of the legendary Nagurski, a former All-America lineman at Minnesota in 1927-29 and a star for professional football's Chicago Bears in the 1930s.

Baseball wins 40th game with 11-3 win over LMU

ckussala — Sun, 11 May 2008 11:09:03 -0600

No. 3 Arizona State won its third straight with an 11-3 victory over Loyola Marymount in front of a crowd of 2,310 Sunday night at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. The Sun Devils improve to 40-9 with the win, the fifth time in the past six years they have reached the 40-win mark.

Senior pitcher Josh Satow started and went six innings, allowing just one run and three hits to earn the victory and improve to 6-3 on the season. Jason Franzblau got his first save by pitching the final three innings.

Kiel Roling went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs to lead the ASU offense, while Brett Wallace and Raoul Torrez had two RBI and two hits each. Jason Kipnis also had two hits, and he made a spectacular catch against the center field wall in the top of the fourth inning.

The game was scoreless until the Sun Devils busted it open in the bottom of the fourth with six runs. Matt Newman drew a bases-loaded walk, Mike Leake had an RBI groundout, Roling drove in two with a single to left, Torrez hit an RBI double to left and he then stole home on a double steal.

ASU added to its lead with four more runs in the sixth, as Torrez drove in a run with a groundout, Jason Kipnis had an RBI single and Wallace roped a double down the left field line to score two.

LMU cut into the lead with three runs in the seventh, but that would be the Lions' only scoring on the night. Roling's sacrifice fly to left in the bottom half of the seventh capped off the scoring for the game.

The Sun Devils will go for the sweep of the series tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark.

Softball to host NCAA Regionals in Tempe

ckussala — Sun, 11 May 2008 10:54:49 -0600

For the 19th time in program history and fourth consecutive year, the Arizona State Softball team was selected as a NCAA Tournament team Sunday afternoon, where they were also given the tournament's sixth-seed as well. In addition, they were also awarded as a host institution, where they'll host this weekend's NCAA Tempe Regional, and if they advance, the Tempe Super Regional the following weekend.

Also included in the Tempe Regional are Mississippi St. (40-20), Stony Brook (33-21-1) and Hawaii (38-18).

Game times for this weekend are TENTATIVELY as follows:

Friday, May 16th:

4:30pm - Mississippi St v. Hawaii

7:00pm - Stony Brook v. ASU

Saturday, May 17th:

2:00pm - Winner Game 1 v. Winner Game 2

4:30pm - Loser Game 1 v. Loser Game 2

7:00pm - Loser Game 3 v. Winner Game 4

Sunday, May 18th:

1:00pm - Winner Game 3 v. Winner Game 5

3:30pm - If necessary repeat of game 6

ASU softball clinches first Pac-10 title

ckussala — Sun, 11 May 2008 10:44:56 -0600

In their last regular season game at Farringon Stadium the Sun Devil Softball seniors led the way Saturday afternoon as they led their squad over the 23rd-ranked Cal Golden Bears 5-2 in front of 1,325 faithful to clinch their first-ever Pac-10 Championship. The win wraps the 2008 regular season for ASU with a record of 56-5 and 18-3 in the Pac-10 and drops Cal to 40-23 overall and 7-14 in the conference slate.

Sunday afternoon saw ASU light the spark early and never look back as they came out in the second inning to score three. Kristen Miller led the charge taking the first pitch she saw on the day deep to left center for her 14th home run of the season. That sparked the rally for the Sun Devils as Caylyn Carlson laid down a bunt single that was brought home by an RBI double from Rhiannon Baca who was plated herself by yet another double from Jackie Vasquez.

The Bears capitalized on a Sun Devil error though as they pushed an unearned run across in the fourth to cut ASU's lead to 3-1 before cutting it down to 3-2 in the fifth after routine pop-up got lost in the sun dropping in to allow one more Cal run to squeak in.

That was enough to get ASU on fire again in the fifth with Kaitlin Cochran leading off with a walk and Mindy Cowles hitting her 14th home run of the season and 56th of her career, nailing a 3-2 ball over the center field wall to put ASU ahead 5-2 for good.

Katie Burkhart closed out the game with a final tally of five hits and one earned run allowed with six strikeouts to take her 32nd win on the year and her 109th career win, tying her for 21st all-time in NCAA history.

The victory concludes the Sun Devils 2008 regular season, which has already proven to be a memorable one, just how memorable remains to be seen as the Sun Devils will host their annual Selection Show viewing party to see who they'll face in the NCAA Regionals tomorrow at Majerle's Sports Grill in Chandler at 7 p.m.

Johnson claims heptathlon at Pac-10 multis

ckussala — Sat, 10 May 2008 10:49:44 -0600

Jacquelyn Johnson won the women's heptathlon with a record score and Kyle Hitchcock placed 10th in the decathlon to lead the Arizona State University track and field team at the conclusion of the multi-events on Joe Selleh Track at Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe Saturday night at the 2008 Pac-10 Track & Field Championships presented by 76 Gasoline. The heptathlon and decathlon were held this weekend with the remaining events taking place in Tempe next weekend.

The events were scored toward the team race with the ASU women taking an early lead with 10 points and is followed by Oregon and Stanford, both of which have nine. The men's race has Oregon in front with 19 points while Washington State (eight) and Stanford (six) round out the Top 3. ASU has not scored yet on the men's side.

Johnson, a six-time NCAA champion, scored 6,307 points to win her third crown to become only the third woman in Pac-10 history to capture the heptathlon three times. Her point total also breaks the Pac-10 record of 6,205 set by Diana Pickler (WSU) last year, the Pac-10 meet record of 6,018 scored by Pickler last year and the stadium record of 6,129 points scored by ASU's Gea Johnson in 1990.

The younger Johnson reached her record total by hitting a jump of 6.30m on her first, and only, attempt in the long jump to score 943 points and break the previous heptathlon record of 6.24m held by Gea since 1990. Johnson then threw the javelin 48.50m on her first attempt to pick up 831 points and break her own school and heptathlon record in the event by nearly eight feet. In the final event, Johnson placed third in the 800m run in 2:19.33 to score 833 points and win the overall title by 551 points (Brianne Theisen, Oregon, 5765 points).

In the decathlon, Hitchcock opened the day with a personal best time of 16.34 in the 110m hurdles for 659 points before throwing the discus 35.99m for another 584 points. After clearing 3.35m in the pole vault to collect 444 points, Hitchcock closed out the day with a mark of 43.02m in the javelin (486 points) and a time of 5:28.02 in the 1,500m run (409 points). Overall, Ashton Eaton of Oregon won with 7,604 points and was followed in the Top 3 by Rickey Moody (WSU) and Josh Hustedt (Stanford), who scored 7,395 points and 7,181 points, respectively.

The Championships continue next Friday and Saturday in Tempe with the remaining individual events. The hammer leads off the competition each day at 10:30 a.m. with the remaining events starting both days at 5 p.m.

Women's golf in 10th after day one of NCAA West Regional

ckussala — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:13:59 -0600

The No. 4 Arizona State women's golf team shot an 8-over 296 on Thursday and is tied for 10th after the first round of the NCAA West Regional, being played Thursday-Saturday at the par 72, Lincoln Hills Golf Course.

Junior All-American Azahara Munoz led the second-seeded Sun Devils on Thursday. Munoz is currently tied for third after shooting a 3-under 69. Fellow junior All-American Jennifer Osborn followed Munoz. Osborn shot an even-par to put herself tied for 18th.

Sophomore All-American Anna Nordqvist shot a five-over 77 on the day and is currently tied for 65th. Liisa Kelo and Juliana Murcia rounded out the lineup for the Sun Devils with each shooting a 6-over 78 to tie for 73rd.

"We have two more days of play left," says head coach Melissa Luellen. "With the talent that is on this team, I have no doubt that we will play great the next two days and rise to the occasion."

Top-seeded USC is currently in first after shooting a five-under 283 on the day. Tulsa shot a 1-under 287 to place themselves at second while UNLV (288) is third in the first round of play. Arkansas (291) and Oklahoma State (293) are fourth and fifth respectively. Brigham Young, Michigan State, Stanford and California shot a 7-over 295 to be in a four-way tie after the first round.

Play in the NCAA West Regional continues on Friday and Saturday with tee times starting at 8 a.m. PT each day. The Sun Devils will tee off at 1:50 p.m. PT and are paired with USC and Arkansas. Live scoring is available after every two holes of the NCAA West Regional at www.golfstat.com.

The top eight teams from each of the three NCAA Regionals (East, West and Central) will qualify for the NCAA Championships, being hosted May 20-23 by the University of New Mexico at the UNM Championship Golf Course in Albuquerque, N.M.

Mistakes cost softball extra innings loss to Stanford

ckussala — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:10:45 -0600

An uncharacteristic night of mistakes and blown opportunities saw the No. 2 Sun Devil Softball team fall in a 2-1 10 inning battle to the eighth-ranked Stanford Cardinal Thursday night in Tempe at Farrington Stadium. The loss puts ASU at 54-5 overall and 16-3 in conference play as Stanford jumps to 46-10 and 11-8.

The game remained locked in a tough pitchers battle as Stanford's ace Missy Penna locked horns with Katie Burkhart for a marquee match-up in the circle. While both pitchers were flawless through three full, the Cardinal drew first blood in the fourth as their number one slugger Rosey Neill pulled the count full before smashing her Pac-10 leading 18th home run of the season to give the Cardinal the 1-0 lead.

The Sun Devils didn't let the lead stand long though as Missy Penna hit two Sun Devil batters to put runners on first and second with two outs before Jackie Vasquez came through with a single to right center to plate one and tie it up at one apiece headed into the later innings.

The Sun Devils looked to shut the door on the Cardinal in the ninth inning with bases loaded and one out, but a fielder's choice with the out at home and a running blunder cost them the inning and scoring threat. The Cardinal took the opportunity yard in the next inning as the designated player Melisa Koutz blasted her first career home run in the top of the tenth giving Stanford the 2-1 edge. The Sun Devils were unable to fight as Missy Penna closed out her Pac-10 leading 34th win while collecting 17 strikeouts through the night.

The Sun Devils will continue their final regular season weekend tomorrow as they host the 23rd-ranked Cal Golden Bears in Tempe at Farrington Stadium with first pitch set for 7 p.m.