May 30, 2006
2006 Stanford Baseball NCAA Regional Postseason Guide
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2006 NCAA Division I Baseball Regional
Friday-Monday, June 2-5, 2006 -- Austin, TX
Hosted by Texas (UFCU Disch-Falk Field)
FRIDAY, JUNE 2
Game 2 (11 am, CT/9 am, PT) - (3) Stanford (30-25) vs. (2) North Carolina State (38-21)
RHP Greg Reynolds (6-5, 3.47) vs. RHP Gib Hobson (9-1, 4.60)
Live Game Coverage: Television - ESPNU | KZSU 90.1 Audio Broadcast (Alex Gyr) | Gametracker | Live Scoring
Game 1 (3 pm, CT/1 pm, PT) - (4) Texas-Arlington (29-34) at (1) No. 4 Texas^ (40-19)
Live Game Coverage: Television - ESPNU | Live Scoring
^No. 3 national seed
SATURDAY, JUNE 3
Game 3 (11 am, CT/9 am, PT) - Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser ... Elimination Game
Live Game Coverage: Television - ESPNU | Live Scoring
Game 4 (3 pm, CT/1 pm, PT) - Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
Live Game Coverage: Television - ESPNU | Live Scoring
SUNDAY, JUNE 5
Game 5 (Noon, CT/10 am, PT) - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser ... Elimination Game
Live Game Coverage: Television - ESPNU | Live Scoring
Championship #1, Game 6 (4 pm, CT/2 pm, PT) - Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner
Live Game Coverage: Television - ESPNU | Live Scoring
MONDAY, JUNE 6
Championship #2, Game 7, if necessary (6 pm, CT/4 pm, PT) - If Game 5 Winner defeats Game 4 Winner in Game 6
Live Game Coverage: Television - ESPNU | Live Scoring
*Pitching matchups for all games still TBA
A QUICK LOOK AT THE 2006 AUSTIN REGIONAL
The 2006 Austin Regional features host, No. 3 national seed and defending national champion Texas as its top seeds, as well as three unranked teams (according to Baseball America) in second-fourth seeded North Carolina State, Stanford and Texas-Arlington The four teams will play a double elimination event (see schedule above) with the winner advancing to one of eight super regionals to be conducted from Friday, June 9 - Monday, June 12 at eight sites to be announced on ncaasports.com at approximately 9:00 pm, ET, on Monday, June 5.
2006 WACO REGIONAL TICKET INFORMATION
To purchase tickets from the Stanford Athletics Ticket Office, call at 1-800-STANFORD beginning at Noon, PT, on Tuesday, May 30. Purchasing tickets through this method will allow you to set in the Stanford section. Tickets may also be ordered online at www.TexasBoxOffice.com, by phone at 800/982-BEVO or 512/471-3333, or in person at the UT Athletics Ticket Office in Bellmont Hall between 9 am - 4 pm, CT, beginning on Tuesday, May 30. The Disch-Falk Field ticket office also will be open from 10 am - 6 pm, CT, from Tuesday, May 30 - Thursday, June 1 and will open two hours prior to the day's opening session on all game days during the Regional. Regional all-session ticket prices are $60 for reserved seats and $45 for general admission. Individual session tickets (if available) will go on sale at 9 am, CT, on Friday, June 2 and can be ordered online, by phone or at the Disch-Falk Field ticket booth. Prices for individual session tickets are $12 for reserved seats and $9 for general admission.
STANFORD BASEBALL HISTORY
Stanford has won two College World Series titles (1987, 1988) and finished as the national runner-up on three other occasions (2000, 2001, 2003), while making a total of 15 trips to the CWS Stanford has won 15 regionals and five super regionals, going a combined 29-8 in regional (19-6) and super regional (10-2) action since the beginning of the super regional format in 1999 Stanford has an all-time postseason record of 117-58 (.669), going 65-25 (.722) in regional action, 10-2 (.833) in super regional play and 38-27 (.585) in the College World Series Stanford is making its 27th appearance in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship and its 13th in a row, while playing in an NCAA regional for the 24th time Stanford is on the road for a regional for the second straight season after nine consecutive years (1996-2004) that the Cardinal hosted a Regional at Sunken Diamond Now in its 113th season, Stanford Baseball has an all-time record of 2487-1548-32 (.615) Stanford has also won 20 conference championships (18 Pac-10) and recorded 13 straight winning seasons (including 2006), as well as 41 in the last 42 years and 58 in the past 60 Stanford has won 40 or more games in a school record 10 straight years but is still 10 away from accomplishing that feat and 50 or more in four the last six seasons.
STANFORD BASEBALL HISTORY VERSUS 2006 AUSTIN REGIONAL FIELD
Stanford vs. North Carolina State: Have never played*
Stanford vs. Texas: Stanford holds an all-time 19-17-1 series advantage over Texas with the Cardinal taking two-of-three (2-4, 5-1, 13-9) when the teams met earlier this season at Sunken Diamond (February 18-20) Texas swept Stanford in a three-game series (6-4, 8-7, 5-4) the last time they played at Texas (February 18-20, 2005) and has won four straight against the Cardinal at Disch-Faulk Field dating back to the last Cardinal win in a doubleheader sweep of the Longhorns on February 22, 2003 Of the 37 all-time meetings between the clubs, 10 have come in the postseason with each team winning five In 2003, Texas ended Stanford's season with a pair of victories over the Cardinal at the College World Series Stanford sent Texas home on a dramatic day in 2001, sweeping the Longhorns with a pair of one-run victories in a doubleheader on the final day of a Regional at Stanford Other prominent postseason meetings have included Stanford defeating Texas twice on its way to its first CWS title in 1987, while Texas knocked off the Cardinal in the 1982 CWS
Stanford vs. Texas-Arlington: Have never played*
*Teams have not played since at least 1959 (Stanford game-by-game results are available from 1959-2006)
2006 NCAA DIVISION I BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
Stanford is one of 64 teams selected for the 2006 NCAA Division I Baseball Championships which begin with four-team regionals at 16 sites this Friday-Monday, June 2-5. The winners of each of the 16 regionals advance to eight super regionals to be contested June 9-12 at eight sites to be announced on ncaasports.com at approximately 9 pm, CT, on Monday, June 6. The winner of the Austin Regional in which Stanford is playing along with Texas, North Carolina State and Texas-Arlington will play the winner of the Corvallis Regional featuring Oregon State, Kansas, Hawaii and Wright State in a super regional. The winners of the eight super regionals will advance to the 60th College World Series to be held June 16-26 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska
STANFORD SNAPSHOT
WINNERS - Stanford has both reached the 30-win mark and assured itself of a winning campaign for the 13th straight season in 2006 Stanford has also had winning campaigns in 41 of the last 42 years and 58 of the past 60
STANFORD TIES FOR FIFTH IN FINAL PAC-10 STANDINGS - Stanford moved up one spot from last season and into a fifth-place tie in the final 2006 Pac-10 standings Oregon State (16-7) once its second straight title and the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship The Beavers were followed in the final standings by Arizona State (14-10), UCLA (13-10), Arizona (12-12), Washington, Stanford and Southern California (11-13), Washington State (10-14) and California (9-15) Stanford dropped its first four Pac-10 series (Washington State, USC, at Oregon State, at Arizona) before winning three in a row (Arizona State, California, at Washington State) and finally losing the last one at UCLA Despite two consecutive sub-par finish in the final league standings, Stanford has won at least a share of a Pac-10 or Pac-10 Southern Division title in six of the last 10 years and has picked up a total of 20 conference titles in school history The Cardinal has finished either first or second in the prestigious Pac-10 a total of 22 times in the last 26 seasons Stanford was picked in a preseason poll of the Pac-10 coaches to tie for third in 2006
PAC-10 SERIES WIN STREAK SNAPPED - Stanford had won three straight Pac-10 series before the streak was snapped when the Cardinal dropped the rubber game of its final three-game Pac-10 series of the season at UCLA (5/19-21) The series streak started by winning two-of-three at home against California (5/5-7) and Arizona State (4/28-30), before ending with a road series sweep at Washington (5/12-14) The series streak was the first time the Cardinal had won three consecutive conference series since taking seven Pac-10 series in a row from May 3, 2003 - May 2, 2004
OUT OF THE POLLS - Stanford was not ranked in any of the five major national polls (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA, Rosenblatt Report, USA Today), for the final nine weeks of the regular season
LAST SERIES VERSUS UC DAVIS - (UC DAVIS WINS SERIES, 2-0)
Saturday, May 27, 2006 (at UC Davis 8, Stanford 3): UC Davis hit three home runs and winning pitcher Vince DeCoito pitched 8.2 strong innings to lead the Aggies to an 8-3 victory over Stanford in the 2006 regular season finale for both clubs. Lukas Kirby (3-5, HR, RBI), Aaron Hanke (HR, 3 RBI) and Kevin James (2-4, 2B, HR, RBI) had the Aggie homers, while Matt Dempsey (3-4, RBI) and Tyler LaTorre (2-4, 2 RBI) each added multiple-hit contests. Grant Escue (3-4, 2 RBI) and Chris Lewis (3-4) both had three-hit days for the Cardinal, while Ryan Seawell (2-4, 3B) had a pair of hits including a triple to lead off the game.
Friday, May 26, 2006 (UC Davis 3, at Stanford 0): UC Davis spoiled Senior Night with a 3-0 victory over Stanford as Michael Potter tossed a three-hit complete game shutout, facing just three batters over the minimum while walking only one and striking out five. Potter set the Cardinal down in order in six of his nine frames. The Aggies scored two runs in the top of the first off Stanford starter Greg Reynolds, who took the loss despite pitching his fourth complete game in his last five outings.
MARQUESS MOVING UP ON ALL-TIME VICTORY LIST - Mark Marquess ranks 13th on the all-time win list for NCAA Division I coaches with an all-time overall record of 1254-615-5 (.670) in his 30th season as Stanford's head coach Marquess is now just one win shy of Georgia Southern's Jack Stallings, who recorded 1255 victories in 39 seasons at Georgia Southern to rank 12th on the current list He also has impressive postseason (109-50, .686, 23 Appearances), regional (65-25, .722, 23 Appearances, 13 Titles) and Pac-10 (501-327, .605) records
COMEBACK KIDS - Stanford has come from behind in 20 of its 30 wins, including 15 of its last 19 victories
OFFENSE COMING ALIVE - Stanford put up much improved offensive and pitching numbers while winning nine of its final 13 regular season contests Stanford scored runs at a pace of 6.9 per game and hit .315 as a team over the 13-game stretch compared to season averages of just 5.4 and .279 (#8 Pac-10) for the season Stanford put up double-digit hit games in nine of its last 12 contests Stanford has also increased its power surge of late with 14 long balls in its last 11 contests but still has only 37 on the season and needs three more to extend its string of consecutive 40-homer campaigns to 20 The Cardinal has also had plenty of offensive struggles for most of the season with its current .279 team batting average still the lowest by a Cardinal club since the 1989 squad hit .276
HOT HITTERS - Several individuals keyed the team's recent hot hitting Part-time starter Grant Escue had the team's highest-batting average of .481 (2B, 6 RBI) over the final 13 games, while Chris Lewis .434 (23-53, 8 2B, 5 HR, 19 RBI) led the Cardinal in just about every other offensive category during the stretch Jason Castro had a career-high 12-game hit streak that was finally snapped on the final day of the regular season and ended up hitting .370 with two doubles, two homers and seven RBI over the final 13 contests Michael Taylor hit safely in 13 of his last 15 contests, while Chris Minaker had a 10-game run that was snapped on the second to last game of the regular season
DEFENSE COMING AROUND - Stanford was errorless in its final three games of the regular season to mark the first time all season that the Cardinal had played three consecutive contests without making an error Stanford's late season defensive play improved the team's fielding percentage to .967 (#6 Pac-10) and within four points of the .971 or above mark that Stanford has posted in each of the past six campaigns to account for six of the top eight fielding percentages in school history
REYNOLDS WRAP - Stanford ace Greg Reynolds pitched four complete games in his final five regular season outings but lost his last two starts at UCLA (May 19) and versus UC Davis (May 26) after having previously rolled off four consecutive victories Reynolds became the first Stanford pitcher to throw three or more straight complete games since Jeremy Guthrie tossed four in a row (the last three victories) from April 26 - May 17, 2002 Reynolds was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week on May 2 after throwing the first complete game of his career and the first by a Stanford pitcher in 2006 with a three-hitter in a 7-1 win over Arizona State on April 28 He followed that performance by outdueling California's Friday starter Brandon Morrow in a 3-2 Stanford victory on May 5 and Washington ace Tim Lincecum with his first career complete game shutout in a 5-0 Stanford victory over the Huskies in Seattle on May 12, taking his second Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors on May 16
EIGHT HONORED ON PAC-10 ALL-ACADEMIC TEAMS - Eight Stanford players were honored on the Pac-10's 2006 All-Academic team released on Thursday, May 25 Chris Minaker (Sociology, 3.75 GPA) and David Stringer (Undeclared, 3.91 GPA) were First Team selections Matt Manship (Economics, 3.17 GPA), Jim Rapoport (Public Policy, 3.08 GPA) and Ryan Seawell (Economics, 3.23 GPA) were Second Team choices, while Nolan Gallagher (Undeclared, 3.11), Chris Lewis (Sociology, 3.03) and Michael Taylor (Undeclared, 3.02 GPA) were selected honorable mention
ROOKIE CLASS - Jason Castro (35) and Joey August (29) have both started more than half of the team's games, while Cord Phelps (26), Brent Milleville (20), Austin Yount (9), J.J. Jelmini (2) and Sean Ratliff (1) have also made starts as position players Jeremy Bleich has a team-high seven saves and was the team's primary closer for much of the season before making six of his last eight appearances as a starter at Oregon State (4/14), at Arizona (4/21), versus Arizona State (4/29), against San Jose State (5/2), at Washington (5/14) and at UCLA (5/21) Rookies Max Fearnow, Ratliff and Yount have also seen pitching action
STURDY SENIORS - Senior position players Chris Minaker and Chris Lewis have each started all 55 contests this year with Minaker playing every inning at shortstop each of the last two seasons Both players have long consecutive games started streaks going with Minaker at 152 and Lewis starting 114 games in a row
BIG INNINGS - Stanford has put up some big innings offensively of late with one inning of six runs or more in four of its last nine games, most recently when the Cardinal put up a six-spot in the sixth inning to erase an 8-4 deficit in an eventual 14-8 win at Pacific (5/24) Stanford also put up seven or more runs in three consecutive games from May 13-16 as the Cardinal scored a season-high-tying nine runs at Washington in the second inning on May 13, seven at Washington in the fourth inning on May 14 and eight in the fifth inning versus Santa Clara on May 16 to come from behind and win in all three contests Other innings of five or more runs for the Cardinal this season include a season-high-tying nine-run third versus Texas (2/20), six runs in the seventh in the first game of a doubleheader against USC (4/1), a five-run sixth at San Jose State (4/8) and an eight-spot in the fifth inning versus Arizona State (4/30)
BUSY SECOND HALF - Rescheduled games caused by earlier weather-related postponed contests combined to contribute to Stanford playing its final 27 games over the last 42 days of its regular season after playing its first 28 contests in the first 72 days
NO JUNE SWOON - Stanford has typically played excellent baseball in June with a 34-19 (.642) record during the month
IT'S SIMPLE ... HIT THE LONG BALL AND WIN - Stanford is 11-1 in games in which the Cardinal has hit two or more runs and had been a perfect 11-0 until finally losing despite home runs from Chris Lewis and Michael Taylor in an 8-7 defeat at UCLA (5/21)
TEXAS TIES - Stanford has four players on its 2006 roster with hometowns in the state of Texas in Blake Hancock (Kingwood, TX/Kingwood HS), Brian Juhl (Katy, TX/Katy HS), Matt Leva (Galveston, TX/Ball HS) and Matt Manship (San Antonio, TX/Ronald Reagan HS)
THE STANFORD 9 - The All-Time Starting 9 that represted the best of the first 30 years of the distinguished coaching career of Mark Marquess as votedupon be fans throughout the 2006 season was announced on Saturday, May 6 The team consisted of Mike Mussina (Pitcher, 1988-90), Ryan Garko (Catcher, 2000-03), John Gall (First Base, 1997-2000), Jed Lowrie (2nd, 2003-05), Ed Sprague (Third Base, 1996-98), Eric Bruntlett (Shortstop, 1997-2000), Joe Borchard (Outfield, 1998-2000), Sam Fuld (Outfield, 2001-04) and Jeffrey Hammonds (Outfield, 1990-92)
STANFORD BASEBALL IN THE BIGS - Stanford has sent 74 players on to play Major League Baseball, including six (Joe Borchard - Florida Marlins, Seattle Mariners Eric Bruntlett - Houston Astros Mike Gosling, Cincinnati Reds John Gall - St. Louis Cardinals Jeremy Guthrie - Cleveland Indians Rick Helling - Milwaukee Brewers Mike Mussina - New York Yankees) that have played in The Show in 2006
STANFORD IN THE MINOR LEAGUES - Stanford has 27 former players that have either been on a Minor League Baseball roster (includes Independent leagues) in 2006 or are a member of a professional baseball organization and yet to be assigned to a team for the 2006 campaign (Jonny Ash - Corpus Christi Hooks, Houston Astros AA Jeff Bruskch - Long Beach Armada, Independent Chris Carter - Tucson Sidewinders, Arizona Diamondbacks AAA Tony Cogan - Sioux Falls Canaries, Independent Jason Cooper - Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Indians AAA Scott Dragicevich - Dunedin Blue Jays, Toronto Blue A Advanced Pete Duda - Unassigned, Arizona Diamondbacks Sam Fuld - Daytona Cubs, Chicago Cubs A Advanced John Gall - Memphis Redbirds, St. Louis Cardinals AAA Ryan Garko - Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Indians AAA Jody Gerut - Unassigned, Pittsburgh Pirates Jeff Gilmore - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Seattle Mariners A Mike Gosling - Cincinnati Bats, Cinncinnati Reds AAA Jeremy Guthrie - Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Indians AAA Brian Hall - Unassigned, Toronto Blue Jays Jed Hansen - Fresno Grizzlies, San Francisco Giants AAA John Hudgins - Mobile BayBears, San Diego Padres AA; Oklahoma RedHawks, Texas Rangers AAA Mark Jecmen - Lake County Captains, Cleveland Indians A Andrew Lorraine - Long Island Ducks, Independent Jed Lowrie - Wilmington Blue Rocks, Boston Red Sox A Advanced Donny Lucy - Winston-Salem Warthogs, Chicago White Sox A Advanced John Mayberry, Jr. - Clinton LumberKings, Texas Rangers A Darin Naatjes - Brockton Rox, Independent Chris O'Riordan - Mobile Bay Bears, San Diego Padres AA Jay Pecci - Gary Southshore Railcats, Independent Danny Putnam - Midland RockHounds, Oakland A's AA Carlos Quentin - Tucson Sidewinders, Arizona Diamondbacks AAA Mark Romanczuk - Unassigned, Arizona Diamondbacks Jason Van Meetren - Chico Outlaws, Independent)
STARS AT SUNKEN - Mike Mussina took in Stanford's game against USC at Sunken Diamond on April 2 and brought teammate (and 2005 AL MVP) Alex Rodriguez with him
2005 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW - Stanford was forced to go on the road for Regional action for the first time since 1995, getting in the NCAA Championship despite a 32-23 overall regular season record and tying for a sixth-place finish in the Pac-10 (12-12) to mark the lowest conference finish for the team in 29 years under head coach Mark Marquess. Despite squeaking into the postseason, Stanford came up with an excellent performance as the No. 3 seed at the NCAA Waco Regional.
The Cardinal ran into inclement weather in Waco on Friday's first day of scheduled action, postponing its Regional opener versus TCU and forcing the event to revert back to the old format of seven possible games in just three days. The Cardinal would finally square off with TCU for the first time ever and was given the difficult task of facing the Horned Frogs' First Team All-American pitcher Lance Broadway. TCU would give Broadway all the run support he needed by posting a three-spot in the bottom of the first inning on its way to a 5-1 win over the Cardinal.
The Cardinal avoided losing its first two Regional games for the first time since 1994 with a 6-2 victory over Texas-San Antonio in the first meeting ever between the clubs. John Mayberry, Jr. (3-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) and Adam Sorgi (3-4, 2B, 2 RBI) had three hits each while combining to drive in five of Stanford's six runs. Matt Leva notched his second career postseason win in as many starts by not allowing a run over the first 5.0 innings. Matt Manship recorded his first of two saves on the day with 2.2 perfect innings of relief, striking out four of the eight batters he faced.
Stanford's victory against Texas-San Antonio earned the Cardinal a second game of the day. The Cardinal was up to the challenge of a rematch versus TCU, cruising by a Horned Frogs, 12-4. Jed Lowrie and Mayberry both homered in the contest. Manship was once again the pitching hero by setting down all nine batters he faced after entering the game with a slim 6-4 lead in the top of the seventh and runners on the corners with no outs.
Stanford's big day earned the Cardinal a shot at Baylor in the Regional championship game on Monday. Needing a pair of victories over the Bears, Stanford decided to give Greg Reynolds' just his fifth career start of the season in the opener and Reynolds responded with the outing of his life, keeping the Cardinal in the game by pitching a career-high 11.0 innings with a career-best 10 strikeouts. Reynolds actually had Stanford within two outs of a 3-2 victory before Seth Fortenberry responded with a one-out solo homer in the top of the ninth to send the contest into extra frames. Neither team would score again until Jeff Mandel hit his first career homer off Reynolds to lead off the top of the 12th frame. Stanford loaded the bases in its half of the 12th but Ryan LaMotta came on for Mandel, who was also the winning pitcher in relief, and struck out Ben Summerhays to end the game.
RECENT STANFORD RECAPS
Saturday, May 27
at UC Davis 8, Stanford 3
Friday, May 26
UC Davis 3, at Stanford 0
Wednesday, May 24
Stanford 6, at UCLA 2
Saturday, May 21
at UCLA 8, Stanford 7
Saturday, May 20
Stanford 6, at UCLA 2
Friday, May 19
at UCLA 8, Stanford 1
Tuesday, May 16
at Stanford 11, Santa Clara 7
Sunday, May 14
Stanford 10, at Washington 2
Saturday, May 13
Stanford 14, at Washington 6
Friday, May 12
Stanford 5, at Washington 0