1965 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS he Sun Devils were hungry entering the 1965 season after making their first College World Series Tappearance the previous year. Though they made an early exit with two losses in three games in 1964, their journey to Omaha, Nebraska, had given them a taste of the good life. There was no stopping Coach Bobby Winkles’ team in ‘65. They stormed through the regular season with a 47-7 record, won the Western Athletic Conference title at 9-3 and swept two games from Colorado State in the District 7 playoffs in Phoenix to earn another trip to Omaha sporting a No.-1 national ranking from Collegiate Baseball. Slugging center fielder Rick Monday was the backbone of that team. He batted .359 with a school-record 11 home runs and became the first of 13 Sun Devils to be named National Player of the Year. He was the first player chosen (by the Kansas City Athletics) in Major League Baseball’s initial amateur draft. John Pavlik (12-0), Jim Merrick (13-2) and Ron Lea (11-3) headed the pitching staff. ASU VS. LAFAYETTE—JUNE 7 ASU VS. ST. LOUIS—JUNE 10 ASU entered the tourney ranked first in the final national poll prior to the CWS, and lived The Devils won a 6-2 decision over the Billikens, as John Pavlik went eight and one-third up to the billing. The Devils blasted three Lafayette pitchers for a 14-1 win. Top Sun Devil innings for the win. Relief help from Doug Nurnberg locked up the Devils’ victory. The Devils sluggers included starting pitcher John Pavlik (2-for-3, 1 RBI), Sal Bando (3-for-5 with a scored two in the first frame on a single by Luis Lagunas that drove in Jim Gretta, while Sal double, a homer and 3 RBI), Jim Armstrong (3-for-4, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored) and Glenn Bando scored on an error. Three runs in the third frame locked it up for ASU, as Lagunas’ single Smith, with a 3-for-4 performance. Pavlik limited Lafayette to just three singles in get- drove in Rick Monday and Bando again scored on an error. Jan Kleinman followed with a single ting the win, and was helped by Alan Schmelz in the ninth. Pavlik had a no-hitter for six to drive in Lagunas. Kleinman was 3-for-4 with one RBI, Lagunas was 2-for-3 and drove in two innings before a run scored on three singles in the seventh. runs, and Gretta was 2-for-4 with an RBI and three stolen bases. R H E R H E Arizona State 2 0 1 1 2 0 4 0 4 14 16 0 Arizona State 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 11 2 Lafayette 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 5 St. Louis 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 6 2 ASU VS. ST. LOUIS—JUNE 8 ASU VS. OHIO STATE—JUNE 11 Arizona State blasted open a close game in the fifth inning on a Duffy Dyer two-run homer to The “Sun Devil Express” to the school’s first national championship suffered a temporary set- left, and eventually rode to a 13-3 demolition of the Billikens. Doug Nurnberg was the winner back as Ohio State took a 7-3 decision. Ohio State moved to a 4-1 lead after four and scored a after relieving Ron Lea. Nurnberg came on in the fourth and struck out six in four and one-third pair of runs in the fifth that all but put the game away. Devils starter Ron Lea was relieved in the innings before giving way to Al Schmelz in the ninth. Leading Devil hitters were Sal Bando with fifth by Al Schmelz, while OSU starter John Durant went the distance and retired seven of the three hits in five trips, five RBI and three runs scored; Dyer, who was 3-for-6 with two RBI; and last eight men he faced. Ray Stadler was the top ASU man at the plate, with three RBI. Glenn Smith, who was 2-for-4 with four runs scored. R H E R H E Arizona State 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 3 6 3 Arizona State 0 1 1 0 3 4 0 4 0 13 15 1 Ohio State 1 0 0 3 2 0 0 1 X 7 9 0 St. Louis 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 3 ASU VS. OHIO STATE—JUNE 12 ASU VS. OHIO STATE—JUNE 9 Arizona State won its first national baseball crown in a 2-1 thriller over Ohio State. Sophomore The Sun Devils scored six runs in the first inning en route to a 9-4 triumph over the Buckeyes. reliever Doug Nurnberg was the man of the hour for the Devils, as he pitched his way out of a Jim Armstrong drove in two runs on a single, Rick Monday and Sal Bando posted run-scoring bases-loaded, no-out situation in the seventh, then stranded two runners in the top of the ninth. singles, and two OSU errors provided opportunities for another two A-State runs. Monday Nurnberg relieved starter Jim Merrick and came through with three innings of hitless ball while homered in the second, and Luis Lagunas doubled in two runs in the ninth to complete ASU’s striking out four. ASU took the lead on a homer by Rick Monday in the first frame. What proved scoring. The Buck eyes never came close, despite scoring three times in the eighth off winning to be the winning run came for ASU after Sal Bando tripled in the sixth and then scored on Luis pitcher Jim Merrick. Lagunas’ fly out to center. The championship victory was ASU’s 54th win in the 62-game season, R H E a national record at that time. Arizona State 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 12 4 R H E Ohio State 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 4 9 4 Ohio State 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 Arizona State 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 X 2 5 2 RESULTS (54-8) 1965 ROSTER ASU 7, San Fernando State 5 ASU 10, Oklahoma 2 Grand Canyon 7, ASU 3 2 Jim Merrick LHP 23 Don Switzenberg OF ASU 11, San Fernando State 7 Oklahoma 2, ASU 0 ASU 7, San Diego 6 3 Jan Kleinman 1B 24 Ray Stadler C ASU 10, San Fernando State 5 ASU 7, Utah State 1 ASU 12, San Diego 3 4 Jim Armstrong SS 25 Glenn Smith OF Michigan 6, ASU 3 ASU 6, Utah State 4 ASU 18, San Diego 3 5 Luis Lagunas 2B 26 John Pavlik RHP ASU 5, Michigan 2 ASU 9, Utah State 4 ASU 6, Arizona 0 6 Erin Peterson 2B 27 Rick Monday OF ASU 11, Michigan 3 ASU 9, New Mexico 2 ASU 13, Arizona 5 7 Tony Alesci C ASU 7, Long Beach State 1 ASU 20, New Mexico 3 ASU 6, Arizona 2 8 Ron Lea RHP 1 Bobby Winkles Head Coach Long Beach State 2, ASU 0 ASU 6, Wyoming 0 ASU 3, Utah 2 9 Jack Smitheran INF Ramiro Lujan Asst. Coach ASU 9, Long Beach State 4 ASU 8, Wyoming 0 ASU 3, Utah 2 10 Darrell Hoover LHP Ray Robison Trainer ASU 15, Grand Canyon 2 ASU 10, Wyoming 3 ASU 2, Utah 1 11 Ted Robison RHP Bob Piel Manager ASU 8, Colorado State 0 ASU 7, Wyoming 0 ASU 7, Colorado State 2^ 12 Duffy Dyer C ASU 9, Colorado State 0 ASU 14, Sul Ross 2 ASU 12, Colorado State 3^ 14 Larry Martin OF ALL CWS ASU 8, Colorado State 0 New Mexico 12, ASU 4 ASU 3, Colorado State 2 15 Rich Oliver OF Sal Bando (MOP) 3B ASU 6, Ohio State 3 ASU 8, Sul Ross 2 ASU 14, Lafayette 1* 18 Sal Bando 3B Luis Lagunas 2B ASU 7, Ohio State 6 Arizona 12, ASU 3 ASU 13, St. Louis 3* 19 Dave Cartun RHP Rick Monday OF ASU 10, Ohio State 3 Arizona 4, ASU 1 ASU 9, Ohio State 4* 20 Jim Gretta OF Doug Nurnberg RHP ASU 10, Oregon State 3 ASU 10, Arizona 4 ASU 6, St. Louis 2* 21 Doug Nurnberg RHP ASU 9, Oregon State 3 ASU 6, Grand Canyon 1 Ohio State 7, ASU 3* 22 Al Schmelz RHP ASU 2, Oregon State 0 ASU 9, New Mexico 5 ASU 2, Ohio State 1* ASU 8, Colorado 2 New Mexico 12, ASU 11 ^-District 7 Playoff ASU 16, Colorado 3 ASU 3, New Mexico 2 *-College World Series 1967 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS he 1967 Sun Devils did not have an easy path to Omaha, where they captured their second national Tchampionship in three years. The Devils lost four of their first five Western Athletic Conference games before rallying to capture the Southern Division title and earn a spot against Brigham Young University in the WAC playoffs. In a game still considered by many the greatest in school history, the 11th-ranked Sun Devils beat 9th- ranked Arizona, 3-2, in a one-game Southern Division playoff in front of 8,314 fans at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Sun Devil pitcher Gary Gentry, who had shut out the Wildcats, 3-0, in the final regular-season game, pitched all 15 innings of the four-hour, 17-minute marathon.