May 22, 2004
at
No. 1 Stanford (40-11, 12-7 Pac-10)
Friday, May 21
USC 9, at Stanford 3
Saturday, May 22, 1 pm, PDT
RHP Bret Butler (4-3, 6.41) vs. RHP Jeff Gilmore (8-2, 4.89)
Sunday, May 23, 1 pm, PDT
TBA vs. TBA
MEDIA COVERAGE
Gametracker: Saturday | Sunday
Live Audio: gostanford.com ... Sean Bruich and Alex Gyr will handle Saturday's broadcast, while Sam Stefanki and Michael Etchepare will be on the microphones Sunday ... A Gametracker with live stats for both games will also be available from a link at gostanford.com.
PROMOTIONS
Stanford will host its annual Youth Baseball Day when the Cardinal hosts USC on Sunday, May 23.
QUICK TEAM NOTES
Stanford (40-11, 12-7 Pac-10) moved up one spot to the top of the latest of all four major college baseball national polls released on Monday, May 17 (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA and Sports Weekly/ESPN) ... Stanford has spent a total of four weeks (March 22-29, May 3, May 17) as the nation's unanimous No. 1 squad this season and has been on top of the Baseball America poll nine weeks (February 23 - April 5, May 3, May 17) ... However, the Cardinal has dropped three of its last four games, including two of its three contests since returning to the No. 1 spot, and five of its last nine overall ... Stanford lost 9-3 to USC (23-28, 9-10 Pac-10) in a series-opener versus the Trojans on Friday night to snap a 16-game home win streak and lose for just the second time at Sunken Diamond this season (23-2, 32-2 over its last 34 home games) ... The series versus the Trojans continues Saturday and Sunday (1 pm, 1 pm, PDT) and is a part of a seven-game homestand to end the regular season that concludes with a three-game set versus Arizona State (38-13, 11-8 Pac-10) next Friday-Sunday, May 28-30 (6 pm, 6 pm, 1 pm, PDT) ... The Cardinal remained in second-place in the Pac-10, one-half game behind Washington (14-8 Pac-10) after the Huskies lost 3-1 to UCLA on Friday as both the Bruins and Arizona State (an 8-3 winner over Arizona) moved to within 1.5 games of league-leader Washington and within 1.0 games of the Cardinal ... Stanford needs to win each of the final two games of its current series versus USC to avoid dropping three consecutive series for the first time since the Cardinal lost two-of-three in three straight 1995 series at Cal State Fullerton (February 3-5), versus Fresno State (February 10-12) and versus Santa Clara (February 18-20) ... The last time Stanford has lost three straight Pac-10 series came in 1993 when the Cardinal dropped two-of-three at Arizona State (April 30 - May 2), versus California (May 7-9) and versus UCLA (May 21-23) ... Stanford struggled to a 5-7 record in its final 12 regular season road games but still finished with a 17-9 regular season road mark ... Stanford has come from behind in 17 of its 40 wins this year ... Stanford is 6-3 this season against ranked teams and 2-1 in extra-inning contests ... Stanford has been errorless in 21 of its first 51 games and is 18-3 in those contests ... Stanford has won by three or more runs in 32 of its 40 victories and is 22-3 in games decided by five or more runs ... The Cardinal is just 2-5 in one-run games, losing each of the last five one-run games it has been involved in ... Stanford is leading the Pac-10 in all three major team categories with a .329 batting average, a 4.40 ERA and a .976 fielding percentage that is just one percentage point shy of a school record ... Stanford is averaging 8.6 runs per contest and has posted double-digit runs in 22 games this year ... The Cardinal has also reached double digits in hits on 39 occasions ... Stanford has hit 84 homers to lead the Pac-10 and has a legitimate chance to break the school record of 102 hit by the 1997 club ... Stanford is looking to extend its school record string of consecutive appearances at the College World Series to six ... Stanford has extended its school record string of 40-win seasons to 10 and is looking for its fourth 50-win campaign in the last five years ... Stanford has captured 11 Pac-10 titles in the last 21 years and finished either first or second in the conference 21 times in last 23 seasons.
QUICK INDIVIDUAL NOTES
National Player of the Year candidate Jed Lowrie leads the Cardinal in most offensive categories - batting average (.419, #2 Pac-10, #20 NCAA), hits (83, co-leader, #3T Pac-10), runs scored (63, #1T Pac-10, #10T NCAA), doubles (18, # Pac-10), triples (4, co-team leader, #5 Pac-10), home runs (16, #1 Pac-10, #16 NCAA), RBI (65, #1 Pac-10, #15T NCAA), extra-base hits (38), total bases (157, #1 Pac-10), slugging percentage (.793, #1 Pac-10, #4 NCAA), bases on balls (41, #5 Pac-10), on-base percentage (.518, #2 Pac-10), sacrifice flies (5, co-team leader, #4T Pac-10) and multiple-RBI games (18) ... Lowrie also ranks second on the club in multiple-hit games (25) ... Lowrie had a career game in Stanford's 19-18 loss at Arizona on May 16, going 6-for-6 for his first career six-hit game while also hitting his first career grandslam, setting a new career-high with five RBI, tying a career-high with three doubles and picking up a career-high and team single-game season-high 12 total bases ... Danny Putnam co-leads the team in hits (83) and has a current 11-game hit streak (5/2 - 5/21; .426, 23-54, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 3 SB) that began with eight consecutive multiple-hit games ... Putnam also leads the squad in multiple-hit games (27) with 15 in his last 22 contests, while ranking second in homers (14, #2 Pac-10) and tied for third in RBI (51, #4T Pac-10) ... Jonny Ash, who returned to the lineup for the first time after missing 15 games due to an injury and went 3-for-5 with two doubles on Friday versus USC, ranks third on the team with a .382 batting average ... Brian Hall is fourth on the team with a .359 overall batting average but has struggled with just three hits in his last 24 at bats (.125) ... Hall paces the club in stolen bases (12, #5 Pac-10) and co-leads the team in triples (4, #5T Pac-10), while ranking second in doubles (12) and tied for third in RBI (50, #4T Pac-10), as well as fifth in homers (9, #10T Pac-10) ... John Mayberry, Jr. is second on the team in stolen bases (9, #8T Pac-10) and RBI (51, #4T Pac-10), as well as third in homers (13, #3 Pac-10) and fifth in batting average (.339) ... Donny Lucy is sixth on the club in batting average with a .326 mark and has contributed 11 homers, 42 RBI and five stolen bases ... Ryan Seawell (.324, 7 RBI, 1 SB) and John Hester (.308, 7 RBI, 2 SB) are also hitting over .300 ... Chris Carter (.296, 8 HR, 35 RBI, 1 SB) is hitting .396 with five homers and 18 RBI in just 53 Pac-10 at bats ... Sam Fuld (.276, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 7 SB) is the all-time Stanford and Pac-10 leader for runs scored (259) and at bats (1036), while ranking second behind former Stanford player John Gall (368, 1997-2000) on the all-time Stanford and Pac-10 lists for hits (347) ... Fuld also ranks among Stanford's career leaders in games played (251, #2T), triples (16, #3T) and doubles (58, #6T) ... Mark Romanczuk (10-2) leads the team and co-leads the Pac-10 with 10 wins, while ranking seventh on Stanford's all-time won-loss percentage list (22-4, .880) ... David O'Hagan is 5-1 with a team-high six saves and has the lowest ERA (2.82, #2 Pac-10) among Stanford pitchers with at least 1.0 inning pitched per team game played, while ranking sixth on Stanford's all-time won-loss percentage list with a 12-2 (.857) career record.
TBA
ALL-TIME SERIES
USC is one of the few teams to lead the all-time series with Stanford, holding a 200-153-3 all-time advantage over the Cardinal. The teams have split their four games this season after USC won Friday night's series-opener by a score of 9-3 at Sunken Diamond and the Cardinal took two-of-three in a non-conference series in Los Angeles earlier this year (March 5-7; W, 10-2; W, 8-7 - 13 inn.; L, 8-11). The Cardinal has won four consecutive season series versus the Trojans (2000-03) prior to this year since the teams split six games in 1999. In fact, USC has not won a season series against the Cardinal since the Trojans swept all six games between the clubs in 1996. Stanford won five of the six games played between the teams last year, taking two-of-three in a non-conference series at Stanford (February 28 - March 2; L, 4-13; W, 10-6; W, 18-4) before sweeping the Trojans in a three-game conference set in Los Angeles (May 3(DH)-4; W, 22-10; W, 8-3; W, 8-3).
2004 VERSUS USC
Stanford 10, at USC 2 (March 5, 2004) - Stanford rolled to a 10-2 victory as Mark Romanczuk pitched 7.0 scoreless innings, scattering seven hits and striking out seven to earn the victory. Donny Lucy (3-4, SB) led the Cardinal offense with three hits and three runs scored, while Brian Hall's two-run homer in the top of the ninth was the only extra-base hit for either team. Jed Lowrie and Sam Fuld also drove in a pair of runs each for the Cardinal. USC's Baron Frost (3-4) had a three-hit game for the Trojans, while Daniel Perales (2-4, RBI) and Joey Metropoulos (2-4) picked up two hits each. USC starter Bobby Paschal the first of seven Trojan pitchers, suffered the loss by allowing four runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts over the first 3.2 innings.
Stanford 8, at USC 7 - 13 Innings (March 6, 2004) - Stanford rallied for a dramatic 8-7 comeback win in 13 innings over USC as Danny Putnam singled home Jonny Ash with two outs in the top of the 13th frame to provide the winning margin. Stanford trailed 7-3 heading into the top of the ninth before a four-run rally sent the Cardinal into extra innings for the first time in 2004. A one-out RBI single by John Mayberry, Jr. scored Jed Lowrie with the tying run in the ninth, while Ash hit a key two-run homer earlier in the inning to key the comeback. David O'Hagan picked up the win with 4.0 scoreless innings of one-hit relief and four strikeouts. Matt Manship pitched a perfect bottom of the 13th to earn the save. Jeff Stimpson also had an outstanding relief performance to keep Stanford in the game, holding USC scoreless while giving up just two hits with two strikeouts over 4.0 innings of relief. Putnam (3-5, HR, 2 RBI) and Lowrie (3-7, 2B) led Stanford's season-high 18-hit attack with three hits each. Daniel Perales (3-4, 3B, 4 RBI) led USC's offensive attack. Clayton Wentworth suffered the loss despite holding the Cardinal scoreless for his first four frames of work before allowing a run in the 13th inning. Wentworth scattered four hits and allowed just the one run with three strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
at USC 11, Stanford 8 (March 7, 2004) - A ninth inning rally by Stanford fell short at USC as the Trojans held on for an 11-8 victory to avoid a three-game non-conference sweep. Stanford trailed by four runs heading into the bottom of the ninth but was able to score a run and bring the tying run to the plate before Sam Fuld's line drive was snared by USC first baseman Joey Metropoulos to end the game. Blake Sharpe (3-4, 2B, SB) and Jeff Clement (3-5) had three hits each for the Trojans. Brian Hall (3-5, 2B, RBI), John Mayberry, Jr. (3-5, 2B) and Fuld (3-6, RBI) had three hits each for Stanford. Jonny Ash had his career-high 12-game hit streak snapped by going 0-for-3 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt. USC reliever Cole Ganser was credited with the victory after limiting Stanford to two runs and two hits with one strikeout over 3.1 innings of middle relief, while Michael Friedman earned his first collegiate save by recording the final out of the game. Stanford starter Blake Holler suffered his first collegiate loss, lasting just 2.2 innings while allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits with a pair of walks and a hit batsmen.
USC 9, at Stanford 3 (May 21, 2004) - Stanford had its 16-game home win streak snapped and lost just its second home game of the season, falling to USC (23-28, 9-10 Pac-10) by a score of 9-3. Ian Kennedy (7-2) picked up the victory, spreading out seven hits and two runs with two walks and six strikeouts over the first 6.0 innings. USC relievers Michael Friedman (0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 SO) and Clayton Wentworth (2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) held onto the lead for the Trojans. Jon Brewster (3-5, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI) and Billy Hart (3-5, 2 RBI) led the 14-hit USC offensive attack with three hits each, while Joey Metropoulos (2-5, HR, 2 RBI) and Cyle Hankerd (2-4, 2B) picked up two hits apiece. Jed Lowrie (3-4, 2 RBI) and Jonny Ash (3-5, 2 2B) had three hits each for the Cardinal, while Sam Fuld (2-4) added two hits and Danny Putnam had a fifth inning single to extend his hit streak to 11 in a row. Stanford starter Mark Romanczuk suffered the loss, allowing seven runs on 10 hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts.
THIS WEEK
at Stanford 3, San Francisco 1 (May 18, 2004) - Stanford extended its school record string of consecutive 40-win seasons to 10 and its home win streak to 16 with a 3-1 victory over San Francisco to snap a two-game losing skid. Four Stanford pitchers limited the Dons to one run and four hits with starter Greg Reynolds earning the victory and Matt Manship picking up the save. John Hester was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a stolen base to lead the Cardinal offense. Jed Lowrie (2-2, SB) and Chris Lewis (2-3) also had two-hit games. Armand Gaerlan (2-4) had half of the Dons' four hits to extend his school record hit streak to 24 games and also scored the team's only run. San Francisco starter Scott Cousins suffered the loss in his first collegiate start. The Cardinal finished the mid-week portion of its regular season schedule with a perfect 9-0 record in those games.
LAST SERIES
Stanford 11, at Arizona 9 (May 15, 2004) - Stanford gave up five runs in the bottom of the first inning but rallied for an 11-9 victory over Arizona. Brian Hall (2-4, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, SB) drove in three runs with a key third inning bases loaded triple, while Danny Putnam (3-5, RBI) continued his hot stretch by hitting safely for the 19th time in the last 20 games. Chris Lewis hit the game's only home run and drove in a pair of runs, while Jed Lowrie (2-5, RBI) had a multiple-hit game and Chris Carter picked up a pair of RBI. Mark Romanczuk (5.0 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 8 SO) picked up the victory, while David O'Hagan (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO) earned the save. Richard Mercado (3-3, 2B, RBI), Jason Donald (2-5, 3 RBI) and Jeff Van Houten (2-5, 3B) had multiple-hit contests for Arizona, while Trevor Crowe doubled and drove in three runs. Arizona starter Koley Kolberg (4.2 IP, 9 R, 8 ER, 9 H, 5 BB, 3 SO) took the loss.
at Arizona 19, Stanford 18 (May 16, 2004) - John Hardy drew a bases loaded walk on a 3-2 pitch from David O'Hagan with no outs in the bottom of the ninth to bring home pinch-runner Terrence Taylor with the game-winning run and give Arizona an unbelievable 19-18 heartbreaking victory over Stanford. Richard Mercado had tied the game earlier in the bottom of the ninth with a bases loaded three-RBI double. Stanford had scored six runs in the top of the ninth to take an 18-15 lead as Jed Lowrie (6-6, 3 2B, HR, 5 RBI, SB) hit his first career grandslam with one out to put the Cardinal ahead. Lowrie's six-hit game was the first of his career, while his five RBI was a career-high and his three doubles tied a career-best. Stanford homered seven times in the game as Chris Carter (2-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI) recorded the second two-homer game of his career, while John Mayberry, Jr. (3-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB), Danny Putnam (2-5, HR, 4 RBI), Donny Lucy (1-6 HR, 3 RBI) and Sam Fuld (1-5, HR, RBI, SB) also went deep for the Cardinal. Trevor Crowe (4-4, 2 2B, 2 3B, 5 RBI) and Derek Decater (4-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI, SB) had four hits each for Arizona, while Moises Duran (3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI), Jason Donald (3-6, RBI) and Jeff Van Houten (3-6, 2 RBI) posted three-hit games. John Hardy (2-6, HR, 4 RBI) hit Arizona's only home run, while Jordan Brown (2-6) also had a pair of hits and Mercado (1-3, 2B, 3 RBI) drove in three runs with his ninth inning double. All 19 players that had at least one official at bat in the game had at least one hit as the teams combined for 37 runs on 42 hits, while drawing 12 walks and being hit by a pair of pitches. Arizona reliever Derek Rodriguez got his first win of the season despite allowing four runs (three earned), while O'Hagan took his first loss of the campaign by giving up four runs without recording an out in the ninth.
at Arizona 9, Stanford 2 (May 17, 2004) - Stanford lost its second straight game for the first time in 2004 with an 11-2 loss at Arizona in the rubber match of a three-game series. Arizona starter John Meloan earned the victory, allowing just two runs while spreading out 10 hits and three walks with seven strikeouts over 8.0 innings. Brad Mills (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 SO) recorded the final three outs. Stanford's Chris Carter (4-4, RBI) picked up the first four-hit game of his career, while Chris Minaker (2-5, RBI) and Sam Fuld (2-5, RBI) also had multiple-hit games for the Cardinal. Fuld and Danny Putnam both extended their hit streaks to nine with Fuld also breaking the all-time Pac-10 and Stanford records for at bats during the contest. Stanford starter Matt Leva suffered the loss while making his first Pac-10 start, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 4.0 innings.