May 15, 2000
NCAA Tournament Selection: The ninth-ranked Stanford softball team (45-16, 9-12 Pac-10) will open the 2000 NCAA Softball Championship as the No. 1-seed in the six team regional being held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. This marks the third consecutive appearance for the Cardinal in the NCAA Tournament and the second time Stanford has secured the No. 1-seed, the last was in 1998. Stanford will face No. 6-seed Central Michigan (31-11, 15-5), winners of the Mid-American Conference tournament, on Thur., May 18 at 10 a.m. EST. Joining Stanford in the NCAA regional is No. 2-seed Michigan (43-14-1), No. 3-seed Notre Dame (46-12), No. 4-seed Illinois-Chicago (43-22), and No. 5-seed DePaul (36-20). Michigan is the only team in the regional that Stanford has previously played in the 2000 season. The Wolverines handed Stanford a 2-0 loss, its first of the season, at the Campbell/Cartier Classic in Poway, Calif. on February 17.
Pac-10 Finish: The Cardinal had its best Pac-10 finish since the 1998 season, as they posted a 9-12 record for fourth place. The Cardinal won the season series against California (2-1) and Oregon State (3-0). Stanford finished a game in front of fifth-place Arizona State and trailed third-place UCLA by five games. Washington (17-7) and Arizona (16-4) finished the season the season one game apart, as the Huskies captured the Pac-10 title. The Cardinal had a 17-11 record in 1998 when they placed third in the Pac-10.
Pac-10 All-Conference Selections: Sophomore OF Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, CA) became the first player in Stanford softball history to earn Pac-10 Player of the Year honors. Mendoza also made history by becoming the first back-to-back First-Team All-Pac-10 selection. Sophomore SS Robin Walker (La Palma, CA), sophomore 1B Sarah Beeson (Tucson, AZ) and freshman P Dana Sorensen (San Diego, CA) were selected as members of the All-Pac-10 Second Team, while senior C Kellie Wiginton (Fresno, CA) was named to her fourth consecutive All-Pac-10 squad with a honorable mention selection.
Mendoza Memo: All-America OF Jessica Mendoza is proving that there is not a record safe as long as she is on the field for the Cardinal. In her second season on The Farm, Mendoza already appears on eight of 13 Cardinal career statistical lists. Among those records, Mendoza sits atop the career home run (20), batting average (.446) and stolen bases (25) lists. On the single season lists, Mendoza has already surpassed the record for hits (91), doubles (20), home runs (11), runs scored (55) and stolen bases (19). Her .479 average is on pace to smash the current single-season record of .415, which she set last season as a freshman. Mendoza had a season-high 19-game hit streak that started against Long Beach State (2/19) and continued through a doubleheader against Pacific (3/22). What makes Mendoza's accomplishments even more impressive is the fact that she's reaching these milestones against the best pitching conference in the nation. Pac-10 pitchers have posted a 1.36 ERA and strikeout 6.52 batters per game this season. Mendoza has struckout only 12 times in 190 at-bats and has won three Pac-10 Player of the Week honors this year.
More Mendoza: Jessica Mendoza entered the final Pac-10 weekend leading the Conference in hitting (.478), hits (87) and runs scored (54)... Mendoza was third in doubles (20), total bases (141) and fourth in stolen bases (17)... Mendoza had her best two games of the season against San Jose State, hitting .857 (6-for-7)... In game two against the Spartans, Mendoza had two home runs, the first a second inning grand slam, a double, six RBI and two runs scored... Mendoza finished the week of May 1-7, hitting .615 (8-for-15), with five runs, seven RBI, three doubles and two home runs to go along with a .706 on-base percentage.
National Leaders: In the NCAA national statistics released May 9, Jessica Mendoza is the leader in hitting with a .478 average and is 12th in the country with .33 doubles per game (19 total). Freshman P Dana Sorensen's ERA of 1.01 is ranked 31st and Maureen LeCocq is tied for 42nd with a 1.09 ERA. As a team the Cardinal has the 17th best winning-percentage at .736 (44-14).
Cardinal Chronicle: Jessica Mendoza leads the team in multiple hit games with 26, followed by Sarah Beeson with 18 and Robin Walker with 16... Mendoza and Walker each have one game in which they had four hits... Beeson has 13 games this season in which she has totaled two or more RBI, including four 3 RBI games, two 4 RBI games and one 7 RBI game... Stanford has posted an 18-3 record in games played at a neutral site... The Cardinal went 16-15 against ranked opponents this season, which breaks down to 7-3 record versus non-conference teams and a 9-12 mark versus Pac-10 teams... The Cardinal went 19-16 against teams that reached the NCAA tournament... Stanford won the Campbell/Cartier Classic in Poway, Calif. with a 4-1 record and posted a 5-0 record at the Utah Invitational in St. George, Utah.
Sorensen's Story: Dana Sorensen has established herself as the ace of a young Cardinal pitching staff in her first season on The Farm. Sorensen has posted a 22-8 record this season, striking out 148 batters in 194.0 innings pitched. She has pitched 15 complete games and recorded a 2-0 shutout against California on April 22. Sorensen is closing in the on the Stanford single-season record for wins (24, Becky Blevins in 1998) and is well below the ERA record (1.24, Becky Blevins in 1998) at 1.01. Sorensen struckout a season-high 12 batters against Utah on Feb. 25.
RBI Report: Sarah Beeson is closing in on the single-season record for RBI, which was set last season by Jessica Mendoza at 57. Beeson finished the regular season with 53 RBI. With an RBI opportunity this season, Beeson is hitting .384 and has driven in 20 runners with two outs in an inning. Her RBI production in the past two seasons has already placed Beeson fourth on the all-time list with 90 RBI.
New Single-Season Wins Record: Stanford set a new record for wins in a season with a 2-1 victory over Oregon on May 5. The team's 42nd win of the season surpassed the previous record of 41, set by the 1998 Cardinal squad. Since its record breaking victory, Stanford has extended the record to 45 wins, giving them a chance to reach the 50 win plateau. Stanford has won 40 or more games for three consecutive seasons and more than 30 in the four seasons under head coach John Rittman.
Double Threat: Freshman Maureen LeCocq (Woodland Hills, CA) has developed into a double threat for the Cardinal. LeCocq has pitched 106.1 innings for a 9-4 record in 26 appearances. Her ERA has been as low as 1.09, and her six complete games is second on the team. At the plate, LeCocq has posted a .241 average, driving in 31 runs and totaling seven doubles. Possibly her best game of the season came in Stanford's 3-0 win against 12th-ranked Oregon State on May 6 in Corvallis. LeCocq carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning on her way to the first complete-game shutout of the year. She helped her own cause in the top of the seventh inning when she drove in two runs on a double and then scored the final run of the game on a single by junior 3B Jenni Shideler (San Jose, CA). LeCocq came to Stanford after a prep career at Chaminade High School where she earned Gatorade National Player of the Year honors.
Can It Get Any Closer: Stanford had to battle for every Pac-10 victory in the 2000 season. In 21 conference games, 14 were decided by two or fewer runs. Stanford won eight of the 14 games, with records of 4-3 at home and on the road.
Non-Conference Record: The Cardinal has posted a 36-4 record against non-conference opponents this season, with its last wins coming in a doubleheader against San Jose State on May 2, 5-1 and 12-1. The Cardinal won a season-high 15 non-conference games between March 4 and April 4 and is out-scoring its opponents by a 215-68 margin. Stanford's hitters have blistered opponents with a .318 average and 22 home runs, while the Cardinal pitching staff has a combined 1.05 ERA. Stanford is 6-2 against ranked non-conference teams this season.
Tournament History: Stanford is making its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament, where they have compiled an all-time 2-4 record. In 1998, the Cardinal secured the No. 1 seed in Stillwater, Okla. where they compiled a 2-2 record. Stanford fell to SW Missouri State 5-2 in the first game, before defeating Florida State 1-0 and SW Missouri State 3-0 in a rematch. Oklahoma State eliminated the Cardinal 4-0, keeping them from the College World Series. Stanford travelled to Fresno State last season, falling in the second round after losses to Pacific (6-5), and Fresno State (5-2).
Ranking Review: Stanford moved to No. 9 in the May 10th edition of the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25. Stanford had entered the week with a 44-14 record and 15 wins over ranked opponents. Stanford had been No. 10 in the May 3 poll. Stanford began the season ranked No. 21. Stanford's highest ranking of the 2000 season came on March 26 at No. 8.
NCAA Region 8 Schedule of Events Ann Arbor, Mich. * Host: University of Michigan
Thursday, May 18 Game 1: #1 Stanford vs. #6 Central Michigan -- 10 am Game 2: #3 Notre Dame vs. #4 Illinois-Chicago -- 12:30 p.m. Game 3: #2 Michigan vs. #5 DePaul -- 3 p.m.
Friday, May 19 Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 -- 10 a.m. Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3 -- 12:30 p.m. Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 -- 3 p.m.
Games on Saturday, May 20 will take place at 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. Pairings for Saturday are determined by the number of teams remaining in the tournament.
Games on Sunday, May 21 will take place at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Pairings for Saturday are determined by the number of teams remaining in the tournament.