May 17, 2000
UPCOMING STANFORD GAMES
Friday, May 19 - UCLA at #2 Stanford (6 pm)*
Fireworks Night
Saturday, May 20-UCLA at #2 Stanford(1 pm)*
Sunday, May 21-UCLA at #2 Stanford (1 pm)*
Fan Appreciation/Senior Day
*Pac-10 game
All games broadcast on KZSU 90.1 FM and www.gostanford.com
Stanford, Calif. - #2 Stanford (40-12, 15-6 Pac-10) enters the final weekend of the regular season one game behind first place and unranked UCLA (34-22, 16-5 Pac-10) in the Pac-10 standings as the Bruins visit Sunken Diamond for the final series of the regular season May 19-21. Stanford has won three straight Pac-10 (1999) or Pac-10 Southern Division (1997, 1998) championships. UCLA last won the conference title in 1986. The teams will be meeting for the first time this year. Third-ranked Arizona State (40-12, 15-6) is also tied for second place with Stanford one game behind UCLA. The Sun Devils, who last captured the Pac-10 title in 1993, will visit Arizona this Friday-Sunday to end their regular season.
The three-game series between Stanford and UCLA begins on Friday night (6 pm) with Stanford's Jason Young (7-0, 3.42) scheduled to pitch against UCLA's Josh Karp (9-1, 4.13). Justin Wayne (11-3), named an All-American by USA Today Baseball Weekly earlier this week, will take the hill for the Cardinal on Saturday versus UCLA's Rob Henkel (6-2, 4.31). Stanford has not named a pitcher for Sunday's finale, while the Bruins have slated Bobby Roe (6-4, 5.27).
The Cardinal has won 19 of its last 22 games, while the Bruins are currently on a six-game win streak and have captured nine of 11 victories overall. Stanford won two-of-three games over the Bruins in Los Angeles last season (8-7, 7-12, 14-4) and swept UCLA (4-1, 15-3, 7-6) the last time the teams met at Sunken Diamond (March 28-30, 1998). The Cardinal has won nine of the last 10 games between the teams and three straight at Sunken Diamond. Stanford leads the overall series, 170-129.
STANFORD SELECTED TO HOST NCAA BASEBALL REGIONAL MAY 26-28
Stanford has been selected as a host site for the 2000 NCAA Division I Baseball Championships for the fifth straight season and the ninth time overall. Sunken Diamond will be the site of an NCAA Regional to be held May 26-May 28 (Friday-Sunday). The four-team double-elimination tournament will begin with two games on Friday (3 p.m., 7 p.m.). Saturday's action will feature three games (11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m.), while the event will close on Sunday with the championship game at 1 p.m. and a second game at 5 p.m., if necessary.
The regional field as well as the entire 64-team field for the NCAA Division I Baseball Championships will be announced live on ESPN on Monday, May 22 (Noon, PDT). The first weekend of play in the tournament features 16 regionals with the winners of each advancing to the NCAA Super Regionals on June 2-4 (Friday-Sunday). The eight Super Regional winners advance to the 54th College World Series to be held June 9-17 (Friday-Saturday) at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.
Other regional sites include Arizona State, Baylor, Cal State Fullerton, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana State, Miami, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Oklahoma (The Bricktown Ballpark at Oklahoma City), Rutgers (Yogi Berra Park at Montclair State University), South Carolina and Stanford. The eight Super Regional sites will be announced on Monday, May 29.
Stanford has won the regional it has hosted two of the last three seasons and has won nine regionals in its history, compiling a 48-19 record in 17 total appearances in regionals.
Tickets for the upcoming NCAA Regional at Stanford can be purchased by visiting the Stanford Ticket Office (Stanford Stadium, Gate 2) or calling 1-800-BEATCAL. All session passes are $35 for adults and $20 for children, seniors and students. Single game tickets (available beginning May 26) are $10 for adults and $6 for children, seniors and students.
Media interested in covering any Stanford post-season baseball, should contact Kyle McRae at (650-725-2959).
A QUICK LOOK AT PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS
* Stanford can assure itself of at least a Pac-10 co-championship with a sweep of UCLA this weekend. The only scenario in which the Cardinal can win an outright title is a sweep of UCLA and one or more losses this weekend by Arizona State. The Cardinal would share the title with both UCLA and Arizona State if both Stanford and Arizona State won two-of-three this weekend. The Cardinal would share the title only with UCLA if Stanford wins two-of-three and Arizona State suffers two or more losses at Arizona. Stanford can not hold any part of the title if the Cardinal does not win at least two games.
* Arizona State needs a sweep at Arizona and two Stanford victories for an outright title. Two Arizona State victories and two Stanford wins would give all three teams a share of the title. The Sun Devils would share the title with Stanford if both teams sweep and would share the title with UCLA if the Sun Devils sweep and the Bruins win two-of-three. Two Arizona State losses would eliminate the Sun Devils from any possibility of a Pac-10 championship.
* UCLA would win the outright title with a sweep of Stanford. The Bruins would also win an outright title by winning two-of-three at Stanford combined with at least one Arizona State loss. UCLA could still share the title with both Stanford and Arizona State if the Bruins win only one game but would need a pair of losses by Arizona State. The Bruins could share the title with only Stanford by winning one game but would need Arizona State to lose three times. UCLA would be eliminated from any title possibilities if the Bruins are swept by Stanford.
PROMOTIONS FOR UCLA SERIES/SENIOR DAY
This weekend's three-game set will be filled with promotions for Cardinal baseball fans. Friday night's game will be followed by a Fireworks Show, while Sunday is Fan Appreciation/Senior Day. Stanford seniors Damien Alvarado, Eric Bruntlett, Brian Fearnow, John Gall, Edmund Muth and Craig Thompson will be honored in a ceremony prior to their final regular season game at Sunken Diamond.
ATTENDANCE RECORD READY TO FALL AGAIN?
Stanford set a new regular season single-game Sunken Diamond attendance record on April 29 when the Cardinal drew 3,722 spectators for a contest against California, highlighting a three-game series that attracted 9690 fans. The circumstances may be in place for Stanford to challenge both of those marks again with a probable Pac-10 title on the line and the weather forecast calling for high temperatures in the high 70's to middle 80's.
HITTING REPORT
Stanford's batting average has risen to .302. The team's average has been at .300 or above since hitting the .300 mark following an April 29 game versus California. Stanford has tallied multiple-hits in nine of its last 12 games, including a season-high 23 hits at USC (4/22). Stanford's high point this season was at .305 following a game versus USF (5/1) and its low point was .258 after a game versus Santa Clara (3/3). For the season, Stanford has scored double digit runs on 14 occasions and recorded double digit hits 29 times. Eight of Stanford's nine regular starters -- Arik VanZandt (.373), Chris O'Riordan (.358), John Gall (.343), Craig Thompson (.340), Eric Bruntlett (.337), Andy Topham (.336), Edmund Muth (.319) and Joe Borchard (.308) -- are hitting better than .300. Muth leads the team with career highs in homers (16) and RBI (61), as well as total bases (136) and slugging percentage (.657). He also co-leads the team with three triples. Bruntlett leads the team with career highs of 20 doubles and 40 walks, as well as a .455 on base percentage). He also co-leads the club with seven stolen bases. Thompson paces the squad with career highs in both runs (57) and hits (73).
PITCHING REPORT
The Cardinal pitching staff has been excellent for most of the season. Stanford leads the Pac-10 in pitching with a 3.48 ERA (#7 NCAA). Cardinal pitchers have given up just 374 hits and 180 earned runs in 465.0 innings, recording 466 strikeouts and allowing only 189 walks (2.47-1 ratio). All-American Justin Wayne (11-3, 3.10) co-leads the Pac-10 in victories and ranks tied for sixth in the nation, while 1999 All-American Jason Young (7-0, 3.42) remains undefeated and has won 13 straight decisions dating back to 1999. Tim Cunningham (4-1, 2.80, 1 SV) has started five straight games as the team's third starter with three wins and a pair of no decisions during that time. Jeff Bruksch (4-3, 2.70, 10 SV) has become only the second player to ever record 10 or more saves on The Farm and is making a run at Stanford's save record of 13 in a season, currently held by Steve Chitren (1987). Mike Gosling (2-2, 2.68, 3 SV) has pitched well as a starter, middle reliever and occasional closer. He boasts 72 strikeouts in just 53.2 innings on the hill, ranking eighth in the NCAA with an average of 12.07 strikeouts per nine innings. Ryan McCally (1-0, 2.25, 1 SV) has begun to emerge from the bullpen as well lately as he has picked up both his first collegiate victory (4/30 vs. California) and his first collegiate save (5/7 at Oregon State) the last two Sundays the Cardinal has played.
DEFENSIVE REPORT
Stanford's defense had put together a pair of errorless games before committing a pair of miscues in its most recent game at USF (5/15). Stanford had made one error or less in each of its last six games prior to USF. Stanford started off the season playing excellent defense and was ranked as high as #2 in the nation at one point, committing just seven errors in its first 17 games and lifting its fielding percentage as high as .988. The team's current .971 fielding percentage ranks third in the Pac-10 and #5 in the nation.
RECENT CARDINAL ACTION
Stanford has won 19 of its last 22 games, eight of its last nine and four in a row. The Cardinal has played just once since May 10, winning 12-6 at USF on May 15. Stanford also has recent non-league wins at Santa Clara (16-4 on May 9) and versus Saint Mary's (7-0 on May 10). Stanford has taken two-of-three in each of its last three league series versus Oregon State (5/5-5/7), California (4/28-4/30) and USC (4/20-4/22). Stanford had swept Washington (4/14-4/16) and Washington State (4/7-4/9) prior to the USC series. The only Pac-10 series the team has lost all year was when the Cardinal dropped two-of-three at Arizona State (3/31-4/2). Stanford opened its Pac-10 slate by winning two-of-three over Arizona (3/24-3/26).
JOE BORCHARD AND CHRIS O'RIORDAN LEADING CARDINAL IN PAC-10
Joe Borchard leads the Cardinal in Pac-10 games only in home runs (10), RBI (26), runs scored (27), total bases (64), bases on balls (18) and slugging percentage (790). Chris O'Riordan paces the club in both batting average (.392) and on base percentage (.490) during Pac-10 action with Borchard (.358, .485) ranking a close second in both categories.
STANFORD TRIO EACH LOOKING TO REACH 60-RBI MARK
The Stanford trio of Edmund Muth, Joe Borchard and John Gall are looking to become the first trio of players to each reach the 60-RBI mark since Josh Hochesang (77), Jon Schaeffer (76) and Jody Gerut (63) accomplished the feat in 1997. Muth currently leads the team with a career-high 61 RBI, while Gall (57) and Borchard (career-high 56) follow closely behind.
MORE NOTES
Stanford is looking to become the first school to win outright Pac-10 titles in football, men's basketball and baseball in the same school year since USC did the trick in 1929-30 ... Joe Borchard (10) and Edmund Muth (6) have accounted for over half of Stanford's 28 home runs in Pac-10 action ... John Gall, who broke school records in career hits, RBI and doubles during the month of April, had a career-high 20-game hitting streak from 3/31-5/1 ... Gall was 37-for-84 (.440) with 11 doubles, six homers and 31 RBI during the streak ... Stanford sports identical 20-6 records on the road and at home.
STANFORD IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
Stanford remained #2 in all three national polls (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and USA Today Baseball Weekly) for the second consecutive week. South Carolina remains the #1 club in all three polls with a 50-6 record. Stanford began the season at #1 in all three polls before dropping out of the top spot on February 14. The Cardinal fell as low as #7 on April 2 after losing two-of-three games at Arizona State. Stanford finished the 1999 campaign ranked #3 in all three polls. Stanford's poll history includes a run as the "king of the polls" in 1998 when the Cardinal held the top spot in the Baseball America poll for a record 14 consecutive weeks.
STANFORD BASEBALL HISTORY
Stanford's storied baseball program has had many highlights as the program is currently in its 107th season with an all-time record of 2218-1426-32 (.608). Just a few of the highlights have included back-to-back NCAA Championships (1987, 1988), 11 College World Series appearances, 17 conference titles and 20 NCAA Tournament berths. Stanford has boasted a total of 40 All-Americans who have earned a total of 46 All-American honors (includes Justin Wayne's recent selection this season). Stanford has also garnered three NCAA Player of the Year choices in Jeff Austin (1998), David McCarty (1991) and Steve Dunning (1970). Other numbers for the Cardinal baseball program include 92 all-conference players earning a total of 114 honors, 53 major league players (including 12 currently in Major League Baseball) and 10 first round draft picks in the last 13 years.
KEEPING AN EYE ON THE RECORD BOOK
* John Gall already holds Stanford career records for hits (348), RBI (249) and doubles (75) ... His career batting average of .360 (348-968) ranks second on Stanford's all-time list, .002 behind Jack Shepard (.362, 1951-53)... Gall also holds the Pac-10 record for career hits and needs just one double to set a new Pac-10 record for career doubles ... Gall also ranks among Stanford's all-time leaders in home runs (43, 4th), at bats (968, 2nd) and games played (237, 6th).
* Justin Wayne has an all-time record at Stanford of 27-4, which ranks third on Stanford's all-time won-loss percentage (.871) list ... Wayne also ranks third on Stanford's all-time strikeout list with 330 and tied for sixth in career victories with 27.* Edmund Muth is third on Stanford's all-time home run list (45), tied for fourth in doubles (58), seventh in runs scored (204), tied for seventh in RBI (188) and 10th in triples (14) ... Muth leads the Cardinal this season with career-highs of 16 home runs and 61 RBI.
* Jason Young is currently tied for sixth on Stanford's all-time winning percentage list with a career record of 20-4 (.833) and eighth on Stanford's career strikeout list with 294 ... Young has also won his last 13 decisions and is just four shy of setting a new Pac-10 record in that category as the current record of 16 straigh victories is held by Washington State's John Olerud and Stanford's Justin Wayne.
HEAD COACH MARK MARQUESS AND THE STANFORD COACHING STAFF
The Stanford baseball coaching staff is headed by Mark Marquess, who is in his 24th season at the helm on The Farm. Marquess is one of the premier collegiate coaches in the nation. He has been named NCAA Coach of the Year three times and has received Pacific-10 Coach of the Year honors on eight occasions, including each of the last three seasons. Marquess was named the Pac-10 Southern Division Coach of the Year seven times before being named the first Pac-10 Coach of Year in the newly aligned league format beginning in 1999. He has posted a 985-494-5 (.665) overall record at Stanford, including an impressive 409-272 (.601) mark in Pacific-10 Conference action. He picked up his 950th career win versus Cal State Fullerton on February 6, 2000. He is just 15 victories from becoming the 23rd coach in the history of Division I collegiate baseball to post 1,000 career wins. Marquess took over sole possession of 23rd place on the NCAA Division I all-time victory list with a win at California on February 25, 2000, and is 16th on the NCAA's active victory list for Division I coaches. The 1969 Stanford graduate has led the Cardinal to two NCAA Championships (1987, `88), nine College World Series appearances (1983, `84, `85, `87, `90, `94, `97, `98, `99), nine Pac-10 regular season titles and 17 NCAA Tournament showings. He also coached the Cardinal to victory in one of the NCAA's inaugural Super Regionals last season, won eight of the last 16 Pac-10 Southern Division (Six-Pac) championships and captured the reunified 1999 Pac-10 title. Even more eye-opening than the number of titles won by the Cardinal is the consistent level of success Marquess has brought to the program. The Cardinal has suffered just one losing season during his tenure and has finished either first or second in the prestigious Pacific-10 (formerly Six-Pac) 17 times in the last 19 seasons. A member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Marquess was the head coach of the 1988 United States Olympic baseball team which captured the Gold Medal. Marquess was an accomplished football and baseball standout on The Farm, and is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. He is one of only six collegiate head baseball coaches to have both played and coached in the College World Series. Marquess was the starting first baseman on Stanford's 1967 College World Series squad. Dean Stotz also is in his 24th campaign with the Cardinal and recently was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2000 season. Mark O'Brien (2nd season) and Tom Kunis (1st season) complete the Cardinal coaching staff. Tom Dunton, who served 25 seasons as Stanford's pitching coach, is an administrative assistant.