Student Corner: Arizona State in the Spotlight
by Andrew Pentis, ASU Sports Writer, FOXSports.com
Special for Fox Sports' Student Corner
Greg Bordes is not the first name you consider when pondering Arizona State University's baseball dominance.
On first look, he more likely provokes memories of stick ball games in the cul-de-sac. Though smallish, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and 160 pounds, Bordes was the kid that could really play, the kid whose mom called him in for dinner the earliest in futile attempts to bulk up. Bordes never did, but after three and half seasons of sitting, waiting, and wondering as a utility man at ASU, the kid is being summoned back out to the street for a starring role.
Bordes finally got the opportunity to play regularly for No. 4 ASU (35-7, 10-5 Pac-10) this season when a teammate floundered in the field.
Junior shortstop Marcel Champagnie, who burst onto the scene as a junior college transfer, is third on the team in hitting with a .370 batting average. But Champagnie also paces the squad in defensive miscues. In 37 games at shortstop, he committed 14 errors, drawing the steel-like ire of coach Pat Murphy.
"The game is very tough on you, and it can be very wicked to you," said Murphy, in his 14th season at the helm. "The ball finds you, the situation finds you. Sometimes you need some refreshers."
Enter Bordes, for whom this has been a long road. He made a grand total of three starts in his previous three seasons at ASU.
In a whirlwind of sorts, the redshirt junior has now made six consecutive starts at arguably the infield's toughest position. He figures to tack on three more during a Pac-10 tilt with unranked UCLA (22-17, 6-6 Pac-10) this weekend in Los Angeles, Calif.
"I have just been staying after it, just grinding everyday," Bordes said. "I finally got an opportunity, and I'm trying to make the most out of it."
Those outside the program knew Bordes' face as well as that of Sparky, ASU's mascot. Until a week ago, each wore a mask during Bordes' time at ASU.
But Bordes' pedigree certainly limits the identity-crisis. His older brother, Brett, pitched for ASU from 2003 to 2005 and is now property of MLB's Baltimore Orioles. Bordes' father and uncle also played professional baseball.
The play of the family's youngest doesn't scream physical tools. It does the polar opposite. Even still, he's getting his chance on the biggest of stages because he offers a talent-laden team something a talent like Champagnie could not.
"The greatest thing about Bordes is he knows the game," Murphy said. "He gives us an element of competitiveness."
Most call that being a gamer, and on a team with All-Americans and professional prospects, that may be the lone way in which Bordes could eek his way into the fold. Murphy likes to call Bordes a "mini-Pedroia," referring to the former Sun Devil and current Boston Red Sox second baseman.
"Much like Pedroia, he doesn't run, he doesn't throw, he can't move left or right, he can't hit for power," Murphy half-jested. "He's just a ballplayer."
But early in his on-field stint this season, Bordes hasn't just filled a spot on the lineup card. Since his emergence, he's driven in five runs and scored four more during his six starts, and that's drawing enhanced trust from those inside the clubhouse.
Early in Saturday's 11-7 victory over conference foe California, assistant coach Andy Stankiewicz called for a rare one-out bunt from sophomore second baseman Raoul Torrez. As a result, Bordes came to the plate with runners on second and third base and two outs. He laced a two-run double into the outfield to score his team's first runs. A few hours later, Bordes took a chair behind the media table after the game, saying to himself: "I'm a first-timer here."
Asked if he got the pitch he was looking for, Bordes laughed hysterically as if to say "are you kidding me?"
"I'm just looking for fastballs, and I got one," he said.
Sounds like an answer from a kid who grew up playing baseball, a kid who isn't going to change now that grass is under his feet and lighting doesn't limit how long he can stay outside and play.
Davis out, Leake in
Junior first baseman Ike Davis, considered a serious national player of the year candidate, incurred a rib injury in the first game of ASU's three-game set with California last weekend.
"It can keep you out a long time," Murphy said. "I don't know the extent of it."
Davis' absence is especially costly because he serves as the team's de facto closer. Sophomore starter Mike Leake, who will get the ball Friday to open ASU's series with UCLA, has done well to limit the thin staff's work. Leake has matched his freshman success on the mound, as he is currently 7-1 in 11 starts with a 3.29 ERA. He also recently became the ninth Sun Devil all-time to record 20 victories in his first two collegiate seasons.
With Davis expected to be out of action this weekend, Leake may also play first base in his stead. The sophomore has been itching to get more at-bats on days when he's not pitching; and, he's pushing coach Murphy's hand, as he's reached based 10 times in 16 plate appearances.
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