April 6, 2000
This Weekend: The ninth-ranked Stanford softball team (32-7, 1-4 Pac-10), coming off a doubleheader victory over Saint Mary's (3-0 & 2-1) last Tuesday, will jump back into Pac-10 play by visiting fourth-ranked Arizona State (34-6, 2-2 Pac-10) on Friday, before two games against second-ranked Arizona (39-3, 3-0 Pac-10) on Saturday and Sunday. The Cardinal will look to break a three game conference losing streak after dropping a game to top-ranked Washington (3/31) and two games against third-ranked UCLA (4/1-2) at the Stanford Softball Complex last weekend. With its 1-4 record in the Pac-10, Stanford is in sixth place trailing first place UCLA and Arizona who are 3-0 to begin the conference season. Stanford's only Pac-10 victory came against California (2-0) on March 26 at home.
Saint Mary's Review: Stanford swept two games from Saint Mary's last Tuesday in Moraga, Calif. to end a three game losing streak and extend its win streak to 15 games against non-conference opponents. Stanford scored three runs in the final two innings of the first game for a 3-0 decision and used an eighth inning home run from sophomore OF Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, CA) for a 2-1 win in game two. Cardinal freshmen pitchers Tori Nyberg (Belmont, CA) and Maureen LeCocq (Woodland Hills, CA) each picked up a victory in complete game performances. Nyberg (6-1) allowed four hits and no runs, while striking out three batters in seven innings of work. LeCocq (5-2) pitched eight strong innings for the Cardinal, limiting Saint Mary's to three hits in seven innings after giving up a first inning run.
Ranking Review: Stanford dropped to No. 9 in the April 5 USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 with a 32-7 record and seven wins over ranked opponents. The Cardinal began the 2000 season ranked 21st and has appeared in the top 25 of every regular-season poll since early in the 1998 season, reaching a high of No. 7 during 1999. Pac-10 teams hold four of the top five spots in the poll, and seven of the top 12. All eight Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top 22 in the latest poll and the conference has gone 245-44-1 (.846) against non-league opponents this season. In 2000 Stanford will or has played each of the top seven teams in the poll (18 total games) and 31 games against top-25 teams.
Scouting #4 Arizona State: The Cardinal opens this week's Pac-10 schedule at Arizona State on Fri., April 7. The Sun Devils (34-6, 2-1 Pac-10) currently sit in a tie for third place in the Pac-10 with top-ranked Washington. Pitcher Kirsten Voak leads the conference in wins (23), innings pitched (163.2) and is second in strikeouts (206). Eight different Arizona State players have hit a combined 20 home runs this season, which is closing on its 1999 total of 26. ASU has outscored its opponents by a margin of 216-59, including 71-11 in the first and second innings. Opponents have hit just .184, while ASU has only committed 31 errors in 40 games this season. ASU leads the all-time series 11-7, but the Cardinal won the final two meetings between the schools last season.
Scouting #2 Arizona: Stanford faces Pac-10 co-leader Arizona (39-3, 3-0 Pac-10) on Sat., April 8 at 6 p.m. and Sun. April 9 at 1 p.m. The Wildcats leads the Pac-10 in all three team statistical categories -- batting (.365), pitching (0.61 ERA) and fielding (.978) -- and pitcher Jennie Finch is the conference's top pitcher with an 19-0 record and 0.48 ERA. Finch also leads Arizona with 14 home runs and Nicole Giordano has a .476 average to lead the team. Besides Finch, the Cardinal will likely face pitcher Becky Lemke who has a 21-3 record with a 0.73 ERA and 216 strikeouts. The Wildcats have scored 295 runs this season and allowed opponents to cross the plate only 31 times. Arizona holds a 19-1 lead in the series between the two schools dating back to 1995. Stanford won its only game of the series last season with a 1-0 victory at the Stanford Softball Complex on May 2.
Mighty Mendoza: Sophomore CF Jessica Mendoza has been swinging a hot bat for the Cardinal this season, batting a team-leading .452 in 39 games (39 starts), with six home runs and 22 RBI. Mendoza has raised her average from her freshman season (.415 BA) and is on pace to pass her freshman total of nine home runs. Over the past 12 games, which the Cardinal posted a record of 8-4, Mendoza has batted .487 (19-for-39) with a double, two home runs and five RBI. She also scored ten runs and stole two bases during the 12 game span. Mendoza compiled a team-high 19 game-hitting streak between February 19 and March 22, raising her average during the streak from .351-to-.462.
Record Setter: Senior Kellie Wiginton passed former Cardinal Michelle Schneider on the Stanford career hits list with a fifth inning single in game one of a doubleheader against Saint Mary's last Tuesday. Wiginton has tallied 29 hits for the season to give her 197 for her career. Also this season, Wiginton has set Stanford career marks for putouts (1,018) and runs scored (122). She currently finds herself in a race with teammate Jessica Mendoza for the single-season record for runs scored, set by Mendoza with 38 last season. Heading into the weekend, Wiginton trails Mendoza by a margin of three runs (38-to-35).
Pac-10 Rankings: The Cardinal ranks sixth in team batting (.303), fifth in team pitching (1.31 ERA) and fourth in fielding (.972) in the Pac-10 Conference statistics released on April 3. Arizona sits atop all three team categories, with a .365 batting average, a 0.61 ERA and a .978 fielding percentage. Jessica Mendoza and Robin Walker each appear in the top 10 for conference batting with .444 (No. 4) and .405 (No. 8), respectively. Cardinal pitchers, Dana Sorensen (San Diego, CA), Maureen LeCocq and Jaime Forman-Lau (San Jose, CA) appear among the top 15 conference pitchers in ERA. Sorenson and LeCocq are tied at No. 9 with a 1.17 ERA, while Forman-Lau, who has been out recently with an injured finger, is at No. 12 (1.35).
Injury Report: Stanford lost a valuable piece of the puzzle last Saturday against UCLA when freshman IF Kira Ching (San Lorenzo, CA) injured her knee attempting to tag a runner at first base. It was discovered that Ching suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee, which will result in her missing the remainder of the 2000 season. Ching had been batting .303 with 27 hits, 3 home runs, 24 RBI and played second base (28 games), third base (8 games) and designator hitter (7 games) for the Cardinal before the injury took place.
Cardinal Chronicle: Jessica Mendoza leads the team in multiple hit games with 16, followed by sophomore 1B Sarah Beeson (Tucson, AZ) and Robin Walker with 13 apiece... Beeson has 11 games this season in which she has totaled two or more RBI, that includes three 3 RBI games and two 4 RBI games... Kellie Wiginton currently leads the team with a three game hit streak... Jaime Forman Lau and Tori Nyberg have each earned a complete game shutout this season, while Maureen LeCocq, Dana Sorensen and Nyberg have combined to secure six shutouts for the Cardinal... Sorensen is on pace to break the Cardinal season record for lowest ERA, currently 1.24, with her current mark of 1.17.
Head Coach John Rittman: Year four of the John Rittman era began on Jan. 29. Rittman has led the Cardinal to a 142-74-1 (.657) record through three-plus seasons. He posted his 100th career victory on April 1, 1999, 16-0 over Utah State. Rittman earned a 7-3 win over Utah State on Feb. 27 of this year in his 200th game as a head coach. Rittman took over a Stanford program that had never had more than 24 wins in a season and directed the team to 30 wins, and its first-ever winning record, in his rookie campaign. Rittman's squad has won at least 40 games in each of the past two full years, advancing to the NCAA tournament each year. The Cardinal had never been ranked before, but Rittman has seen his team climb as high as seventh in the NFCA coaches poll, one year ago, and attain a current national ranking of No. 9.