Temple's Arshwin Asjes refused to take no for an answer.

Coming out of high school two years ago, Asjes was an overweight power pitcher with a fastball that wasn't very fast. He was also generally unknown as a player after coming to the United States from the Caribbean island of Curacao just a year earlier.

The few pro scouts who saw Asjes pitch for his high school in Maine weren't interested, and neither were college coaches. Despite knowing very little English, Asjes just kept dialing phone numbers, hoping to persuade a coach - any coach - to give him a shot.

"I just wanted a chance,'' the Temple sophomore right-hander said. "I wanted to play college ball, get an education and get my degree. I needed an opportunity.''

Asjes - pronounced AH-shez - finally got one from Rob Valli, then the coach at Gloucester County College in New Jersey.

"He contacted, and this is no exaggeration, just about every college coach on the East Coast in his senior year. And when I say contacted, and I've talked to several coaches, he would wear people out,'' said Valli, now in his first year at Temple. "He was calling the office 10 times, `Hey, would you please come see me? Would you please come recruit me?' And nobody went to see him.

"We saw him and liked what we saw on the videotapes. We brought him in on a recruiting visit and we thought we really had something.''

Valli and his coaching staff couldn't have been more right. Asjes won eight games and helped Gloucester win the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III title last year.

When Valli took the job as Temple's coach last October, Asjes followed him and pitching coach Greg Chew to Philadelphia as a midyear transfer. In just a few months, he became one of the best pitchers at the Division I level.

Heading into this weekend's series against Charlotte, Asjes hadn't allowed a run in 26 innings, dating to the fourth inning of a 9-0 loss at LSU on Feb. 26 - his first outing of the year.

"People are always talking about that streak, but when I pitching, I'm not thinking about that,'' he said. "I just go hitter by hitter.''

He was 3-1 with a 0.93 ERA in five starts, with 19 strikeouts and 11 walks in 29 innings.

"He takes the mound almost like, I want to say a senior, but it's almost like a pro pitcher at this point in his career, where he's fully prepared mentally and physically,'' Valli said.

Things weren't always that way. When he stepped onto the Gloucester campus as a freshman, the 6-foot-3 Asjes had a fastball that topped out at 83 mph and he tipped the scales at 250 pounds.

"We put him on a diet and said, `You need to lose X-amount of pounds.' And I told him, `Arsh, if you're not at 225 on opening day, I'm not giving you the uniform.'''

Asjes dropped the pounds, and had a startling revelation.

"When I started losing weight, I started figuring out that my velocity was going up and I wanted to see how far I could get with it, and that really motivated me,'' he said.

Asjes now weighs 215 pounds and his fastball routinely hits 92 mph. He's also got a slider that hits 78-80 mph, a changeup with good command to left-handers and a splitter he throws to right-handers.

"It's amazing, and it's changed his whole life, really,'' Valli said. "He was a great athlete trapped in a bad body.''

Despite his father's love of soccer, Asjes always gravitated toward baseball while growing up in Willemstad, Curacao - the hometown of Atlanta Braves outfielder Andruw Jones. Asjes pursued his dream of playing the sport he loved, and first came to the United States when he was 16, representing his country in the Senior League World Series in Maine.

When he returned home, he discussed the possibility of going to high school in the U.S. and his parents gave him their blessing and financial support. Asjes has since become fluent in English, his third language after his native Papiamento and Spanish.

"It was always a challenge to understand people and things like that, but I learned pretty quick,'' he said. "I figured if I don't communicate, I won't make any friends.''

He doesn't have to worry about that these days, not with the way he's pitching.

Asjes, who was drafted by Cleveland in the 34th round last year but opted to continue his college career, will play in the Cape Cod League this summer. He hopes to follow in Jones' footsteps by going from the small island to the big leagues.

"I think he's going to play in the majors one day, I truly do,'' Valli said. "There's not one bit of arrogance in him. He never rests on anything. Everyday, he just wants to win.''

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WALK THIS WAY: Tulane's hitters barely had to lift their bats off their shoulders against Jackson State.

The Green Wave drew a school- and Conference USA-record 19 walks, including three each by Brad Emaus and Aja Barto, in a 14-4 victory Tuesday.

Each of Jackson State's seven pitchers had at least one walk, and they combined to hit four batters and throw three wild pitches. Of the 23 batters given free passes, 12 came around to score.

"We did a good job of taking advantage of their inability to throw strikes,'' Tulane coach Rick Jones said. "I thought our kids showed good discipline at the plate.''

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LIGHTNING STRIKE: Virginia Tech was having a tough time scoring against Richmond. Then the skies opened.

After rain and lightning caused a 71-minute delay in the bottom of the sixth inning Tuesday, the Hokies stormed back and erased a four-run deficit to win 9-6 at home.

Trailing 5-1, Virginia Tech got a run back on a bases-loaded walk by Matt Foley in the sixth when play resumed, and Sheldon Adams tied it with a three-run homer in the seventh. After Richmond regained the lead in the eighth, Bryan Thomas put the Hokies ahead to stay with a two-run single in the bottom of the inning.

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LONG TIME COMING: None of Washington State's players were born the last time the Cougars beat Stanford.

A 7-1 victory last Saturday snapped a 23-game skid against the Cardinal that dated to March 28, 1978. It was also the Cougars' first win at Stanford since May 1, 1971.

Washington State also won last Sunday's game before falling in the series finale Monday.

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AROUND THE HORN: Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Mike Goetz entered this weekend's series against Wright State with a school-record 25-game hitting streak. ... West Virginia traveled to Seton Hall with a 15-game winning streak, second only to the 18-game run that opened the 1964 season. ... Kentucky's 21-5 record entering its series at Auburn matched the best start in the program's 102-year history. ... Freshman left-hander Christian Friedrich pitched the fifth no-hitter in Eastern Kentucky history, and first since 1992, beating Morehead State 1-0 in seven innings last Sunday.