Love says Murphy to remain ASU baseball coach

Two straight Pac-10 championships and a simple crunching of the contract numbers suggested that Pat Murphy was secure as Arizona State’s baseball coach, but athletic director Lisa Love put any rumors to rest on Friday.

Murphy has been under fire from some ASU fans since the Sun Devils’ upset loss to Fresno State in a super regional two weekends ago, but he will remain as coach.

Love’s statement, in full:

“It has come to my attention that inaccurate information is circulating regarding the future of our baseball coach, Pat Murphy. It appears to be a negative recruiting ploy to counter the strength of a nationally ranked top-10 program. We applaud the work of Coach Murphy, his staff, and team, having won two consecutive Pac-10 championships, which allowed our fans the privilege of watching both regional and super-regional play at home. Pat Murphy directs the Sun Devil baseball program and will continue to do so. We look forward to the program flourishing under his watch. Suggestions to the contrary are completely without merit.”

Murphy, 49, has won 578 games and made three College World Series appearances in 14 seasons. The 2008 Sun Devils were the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA tournament but were dispatched by a Fresno State team that is one win from the best-of-three CWS championship series.

He has three years left on a contract that, when approved by the Arizona Board of Regents in 2006, included an annual $272,474 salary.

Per a performance incentive clause, he received an 8 percent pay raise for ASU’s College World Series trip in ’07 and will earn a 6 percent bump for this year’s super-regional appearance. As a result, Murphy’s yearly salary will be about $311,800, starting on July 1.

If a coaching change had been made, Murphy would have been owed a buyout of more than $930,000 from an athletic department that recently cut three sports due to budget constraints. Wrestling was reinstated after private donors pledged to meet the team’s annual expenses.

A report on the findings of an internal investigation into the baseball program is being prepared for submission to the NCAA and Pac-10. Love said that ASU plans to publicly disclose the findings when the report is complete.