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Stanford Returns To Pac-10 Play Versus Arizona Friday-Sunday

Stanford Returns To Pac-10 Play Versus Arizona Friday-Sunday

April 12, 2007

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NO. 13 ARIZONA WILDCATS (28-6, 6-0 PAC-10)
at
STANFORD (14-15, 0-6 PAC-10)


2007 SERIES
Friday, April 13 (6 pm, PT) - RHP Preston Guilmet (6-0, 1.65) vs. LHP Jeremy Bleich (1-5, 5.23)
Live Game Coverage: Gametracker | camera.gifPC Webcast | camera.gifMac Webcast

Saturday, April 14 (1 pm, PT) - LHP Brad Mills (7-2, 3.21) vs. RHP Jeffrey Inman (2-2, 6.02)
Live Game Coverage: Gametracker | camera.gifPC Webcast | camera.gifMac Webcast

Sunday, April 15 (1 pm, PT) - RHP Ryan Perry (0-0, 6.19) vs. RHP Nolan Gallagher (2-4, 7.04)
Live Game Coverage: Gametracker | camera.gifPC Webcast | camera.gifMac Webcast

STANFORD-ARIZONA SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Series: Stanford 94-58
2006 Results: Series - Arizona 2-1 (at Arizona, April 21-23) - Stanford 10-6, Arizona 14-4, Arizona 12-3
Previous Meeting At Stanford: Series - Arizona 2-1 (May 20-22, 2005) Arizona 9-4, Stanford 5-4, Arizona 11-8
Current Game Win Streak: Arizona - 2 (April 22-23, 2006)
Current Series Win Streak: Arizona - 4 (April 25-27, 2003 - April 21-23, 2006)
Current Regular Season Series Win Streak: Arizona - 4 (2003-06)
Series Notes: Arizona has taken four consecutive series over the Cardinal since Stanford's last series win over the Wildcats in 2002. Arizona has won two-of-three games in each of its four victorious series against the Cardinal. Prior to Arizona's current run, Stanford had won 14 consecutive series over the Wildcats, including five sweeps with the most recent happening in a three-game set in Tucson from March 26-28, 1999. Arizona has not swept the Cardinal since taking three in a row in Tucson from February 26 - March 1, 1993, spanning a stretch of 19 series.

STARTING THE SECOND HALF RIGHT
Stanford started the second half of the season with a 9-4 victory at Nevada on April 10. The Cardinal was 13-15 in its first 28 contests.

STANFORD SNAPS A PAIR OF LOSING STREAKS
Stanford snapped two of its four losing streaks with its 9-4 victory at Nevada on April 11. The Cardinal had lost a season-high six straight games overall to mark its longest losing skid since dropping eight straight from March 24 - April 7, 1982. The 1982 squad came back to win an NCAA Regional and eventually finish fifth at the College World Series as the first team taken to Omaha by head coach Mark Marquess. Stanford also broke a three-game road losing streak with the victory. Stanford is now looking to end a four-game home losing streak that is its longest since also losing four straight at Sunken Diamond from April 13-20, 1995, as well as a seven-game Pac-10 skid that dates back to the final game of the 2006 Pac-10 season and equals a pair of other seven-game conference losing streaks that are the team's longest since the confernece officially became known as the Pac-10 in 1977 with the most recent being a seven-game skid from February 25 - March 11, 1989.

STANFORD SWEPT IN BACK-TO-BACK SERIES
Stanford has been swept in its last two three-game regular season series at home by UCLA (March 30 - April 1) and then at Arizona State (April 5-7), marking the first time the Cardinal has been swept in back-to-back series since 1984 when Stanford dropped three in a row at USC (March 30 - April 1) and at home versus Arizona State (April 6-8). The sweep by UCLA at home marked the first time the Cardinal had been swept at Sunken Diamond since Arizona State took three games April 11-13, 1997. The streak ran a span of 71 consecutive three-game regular season home series.

TOUGH STARTS
Stanford started the season with an 0-3 record to mark the first time since 1989 the Cardinal had lost its first three games of the season. The sweep at Cal State Fullerton was also the first time Stanford had been swept in a three-game season-opening series in the school's recorded history. The team was also 2-5 after seven games. The 2-5 start was Stanford's worst mark after seven contests since a 1974 club began the season 2-8. Stanford has also started with an 0-6 league mark after being swept at home by UCLA (March 30 - April 1) and on the road at Arizona State (April 5-7) in its first two Pac-10 series of the season. The Cardinal has not started 0-6 in conference play since the first season Mark Marquess was the team's head coach back in 1977 when Stanford also began league action with an 0-6 mark by suffering back-to-back road sweeps at UCLA and USC.

FIFTH ALL-TIME WINNINGEST PROGRAM
Stanford is the fifth all-time winningest program in college baseball history with a record of 2504-1565-32 (.614) in 4101 games over 114 seasons including 2007. Fordham, Texas, USC and Michigan are the top four.

WINNERS
Stanford has posted winning campaigns for 13 straight seasons (1994-2006), as well as 41 of the last 42 years and 58 of the past 60 prior to 2007. Stanford is currently one game under .500 (14-15) in 2007.

MARK MARQUESS 11TH ON ALL-TIME WIN LIST
Mark Marquess ranks 11th on the all-time win list for NCAA Division I coaches with a career record of 1271-632-5 (.667) in 1908 games coached (all at Stanford). Marquess, in his 31st season as Stanford's head coach, also ranks sixth among active NCAA Division I coaches. In addition, Marquess has impressive postseason (112-52, .683, 24 Appearances), Regional (68-25, .731, 24 Appearances, 14 Titles), Super Regional (10-4, .769, 6 Appearances, 5 Titles), College World Series (34-23, .596, 13 Appearances, 2 Titles) and Pac-10 (501-333, .601, 12 Titles) records.

A LOOK AT TEAM STATS
OFFENSE - Stanford has a current .279 team average that ranks eighth in the Pac-10. The club's 18 homers rank seventh in the conference, while its 171 runs scored, 280 hits and 16 stolen bases are all last.
PITCHING - Stanford has also struggled on the mound with uncharacteristically high ERA (5.80) and opponents' batting average (.311) marks that are both last in the Pac-10. The Cardinal has had its ERA under 5.00 for only four days this year from March 2-5.
FIELDING - Stanford ranks last in the Pac-10 in fielding percentage (.958) and has made 16 errors in its last six contests, including 11 in the team's most recent series at Arizona State (April 5-7). Stanford's best defensive stretch came during a four-game errorless streak from March 10-25

TEAM LEADERS
OFFENSE - Sean Ratliff is having a big season and has been the team's most consistent hitter for most of the season. Ratliff is leading the Cardinal in several offensive categories, including home runs (5), runs scored (32), hits (36), stolen bases (8), total bases (61), slugging percentage among regulars (.526), on-base percentage among regulars (.376), at bats (116), games played (29) and games started (29). Michael Taylor co-leads the team along with Ratliff with five homers and also has a team-high 25 RBI. Other offensive team leaders or co-leaders include Cord Phelps (10 2B, 3 3B, 14 BB), Brian Juhl (4 HBP, co-leader), Ryan Seawell (4 HBP, co-leader), Brent Milleville (3 SF) and Joey August (3 SAC).
PITCHING - Andrew Clauson (2-0, 3.60, 10.0 IP, 8 SO), Max Fearnow (2-1, 4.32, 2 SV, 16.2 IP, 12 SO), Austin Yount (2-0, 5.19, 17.1 IP, 7 SO), Jeffrey Inman (2-2, 6.02, 40.1 IP, 33 SO), Tom Stilson (2-1, 6.32, 15.2 IP, 10 SO) and Nolan Gallagher (2-4, 7.03, 39.2 IP, 29 SO) each have two of the team's 14 wins. Inman also leads the squad in strikeouts while Jeremy Bleich (1-5, 5.23, 53.1 IP, 30 SO) paces the club in innings pitched and co-leads the team along with Gallagher in starts (9), and also has the lowest ERA among any pitcher with at least one inning pitched per team game played. Gallagher has the team's only complete game and only shutout. David Stringer (0-1, 3.25, 7 SV, 27.2 IP, 21 SO) leads the club with seven saves and 18 appearances.

A LOOK AT THE LAST SERIES STATS (ASU)
OFFENSE - Stanford struggled offensively in the series, scoring just 13 runs (4.3 per game) and posting a .250 team batting average. Adam Sorgi (.417, 5-12, 2B, RBI), Sean Ratliff (.333, 4-12, 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI), Jeff Whitlow (.333, 1-3, RBI) and Brent Milleville (.300, 3-10) hit .300 or better in the series.
PITCHING - Stanford had problems on the mound again with a team ERA of 7.88, an opponents' batting average of .350 and 19 walks in 24.0 innings of work, inlcluding a season-high 11 in the second game of the series April 6. Brandt Walker (0-0. 0.00, 0.2 IP, 1 BB) was the only pitcher with an ERA under 5.40 during a brief outing.
FIELDING - Stanford had its worst fielding series of a season that has been challenging defensively. The Cardinal made 11 errors in the three-game series, equaling a season-high four errors in both the series opener and finale, with a fielding percentage of just .902.

POWER COMING BACK
Stanford has hit just 18 home runs this season but does have seven in the last eight games with Ryan Seawell (March 27, at San Jose State), Michael Taylor (March 30 and 31, vs. UCLA), Joey August (April 1, vs. UCLA) and Sean Ratliff (2, April 6, at Arizona State; April 10, at Nevada) providing the homers during the recent productive stretch.

MICHAEL TAYLOR PRESEASON HONORS
Michael Taylor earned 2007 Third Team Preseason All-American honors from Baseball America and is also on the Watch List for the College Baseball Foundation's Brooks Wallace Award Watch List. Taylor paces the club with 25 RBI and co-leads the team with five homers, while also adding five doubles, two triples, a .286 batting average, 56 total bases and a .500 slugging percentage. After a slow start that had Taylor hitting just .216 after the first nine games, he has hit safely in 16 of his last 19 contests. Taylor also made 140 consecutive starts (February 4, 2005 - March 31, 2007) before not starting versus UCLA (April 1, 2007) and has started 146 of 148 possible games during his three-year collegiate career.

SEAN RATLIFF HEATING UP
Sean Ratliff has three homers in the team's last three games, including his most recent with a tape-measure solo shot at Nevada on April 10. Ratliff hit a pair of homers for the first time in his career and drove in a career-high seven runs at Arizona State on April 6. The two-homer game was the first for Stanford since Chris Minaker hit two long balls against California at Sunken Diamond on May 5, 2006. Ratliff's seven RBI were the most by a Stanford player since Danny Putnam (March 2, 2003) and Ryan Garko (May 4, 2003) both had seven in games versus USC during the 2003 campaign, while his eight total bases were a 2007 team season-high. Ratliff hit his first career grand slam with an inside-the-park homer in the seventh inning and then hit a long three-run shot down the right field line in his next at bat in the eighth.

ADAM SORGI REACHES NEW CAREER-HIGH
Adam Sorgi's hit streak reached a new career-high 12 games and became the longest by a Stanford player in 2007 when he was 2-for-4 at Nevada on April 10. Sorgi, who missed the entire 2006 season with a shoulder injury, played his first game in the field since the 2005 season against California on March 4 and has started 12 of the 14 games at the position since, including all 10 since the Cardinal returned from a 12-day break on March 24. He is hitting .432 (19-44) with three doubles, six RBI and 12 runs scored during the streak and is hitting .396 (21-53) with four doubles, nine RBI and 13 runs scored on the season.

DAVID STRINGER INTO RECORD BOOKS
David Stringer earned a spot in Stanford's record books when he recorded his seventh save of the season at Nevada to move into a tie for 10th-place on Stanford's single-season list in the category. Stringer recorded five saves in as many games from February 20 - March 3. Stringer earned a spot on the College Baseball Foundation's weekly national honor roll for the week of February 27 when he saved four games during the previous week and then added one more against California (March 2). He is 0-1 with a 3.25 ERA and has made a team-high 18 appearances and worked 27.2 innings.

WINNING THE CLOSE ONES
Stanford has a 9-7 record in games decided by three runs or less this season and also won its only extra-inning contest of the season at San Jose State on March 27. The Cardinal is 4-3 in one-run games, as well as 3-2 in two-run contests and 2-2 in three-run affairs.

LONG GAMES
Stanford has clocked in at 3:00 or over in 16 of its first 29 games this season. Stanford has gone 3:41 or more seven times including a season-long 4:12 against UCLA on March 31.

CORD PHELPS DOING SOMETHING EXTRA
Cord Phelps co-leads Stanford along with Sean Ratliff with 13 extra base hits this season, leading the club in both doubles (10) and triples (3). Last year, all 18 of Phelps' hits were singles.

COMEBACK KIDS
Stanford has come from behind in nine of its 14 wins this season. Stanford's biggest comeback of the year came versus USC (March 11) when the Cardinal was down 8-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning before scoring four times to the game at 8-8 and six more in the eighth in an eventual 14-9 win.

CAREER-BEST HIT STREAKS
Stanford has had 10 players post career-best hit streaks this season with Adam Sorgi's current 12-game streak leading the way, followed by Joey August (11), Michael Taylor (10), Adam Gaylord (8), Brian Juhl (6), Sean Ratliff (6), Toby Gerhart (5), Brent Milleville (5), Brendan Domaracki (4) and Austin Yount (3).

SUNDAY SUCCESS
Stanford won six straight Sunday games from February 11 - March 25 before having its run snapped with a loss to UCLA in its most recent Sunday contest on April 1. Stanford is 6-2 overall on Sundays in 2007.

HOME STRETCH
Stanford will play 10 of its next 13 games at home beginning with four straight games at Sunken Diamond with a three-game set against Pac-10 leader Arizona this Friday-Sunday, April 13-15 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT) before a non-conference home contest against Santa Clara on Tuesday, April 17 (6 pm, PT). Stanford will then travel across the Bay to play California in a three-game set next Friday-Sunday, April 20-22 (2:30 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT) before returning to Sunken Diamond for six more home contests against San Jose State (Tuesday, April 24, 6 pm, PT), Fresno State (Wednesday, April 25, 3 pm, PT), Oregon State (Friday-Sunday, April 27-29, 6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT) and Santa Clara (Tuesday, May 1, 6 pm, PT).

CATCH THE CARDINAL ON TV
Stanford has three upcoming games to be televised live beginning with back-to-back contests versus Oregon State on April 27 (CSTV) and April 28 (Fox Sports Net). The Stanford-Washington game on May 13 will also be televised by CSTV.

SUNKEN DIAMOND - HOME SWEET HOME
Sunken Diamond has served as a host site for 13 NCAA Regionals, as well as NCAA Regionals on five occasions. Stanford has clinched 10 of its 15 trips to the College World Series at Sunken Diamond. Stanford has also made Sunken Diamond a tough place for opponents in recent years, winning at least 17 games at home in each of the last 11 seasons prior to 2007 with an amazing 302-91 (.768) record during the stretch. Stanford is 10-6 at home this season.

2006 STANFORD-ARIZONA GAMES
April 21, 2006 - Stanford 10, at Arizona 6
Stanford snapped a five-game Pac-10 losing streak with a 10-6 win over Arizona. Brent Milleville (3-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) and Ryan Seawell (3-6, 2B, SB, 2 RBI) had three hits each as the Cardinal offense racked up 16. Greg Reynolds earned the victory despite allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over the first 6.0 innings. David Stringer picked up his first collegiate save holding the Wildcats scoreless over the final 3.0 innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out five.
Quote of the Day ... "It was nice for our bats to break out again tonight. We've been starting to hit the ball better as a team over the last couple of games." - Mark Marquess

April 22, 2006 - at Arizona 14, Stanford 4
Arizona evened a three-game series against Stanford with a 14-4 victory over the Cardinal, breaking open a tight 6-4 game with seven runs in the bottom of the eighth. Travis Peep (3-4, 2B, 2 RBI) and David Plante (3-4, RBI) combined for six of Arizona's 18 hits, while Bill Rhinehart (2-5, 2B, 3 RBI) drove in three runs, and Jason Donald and Konrad Schmidt (2-4, HR, RBI) both homered. Al nine Arizona starters had at least one hit. Brad Mills got the victory, scattering four runs (two earned) and seven hits over the first 6.0 innings, while Daniel Schlereth picked up the save by holding the Cardinal scoreless over the final 3.0 frames.
Quote of the Day ... "They beat us in every phase of the game today." - Mark Marquess

April 23, 2006 - at Arizona 12, Stanford 3
Arizona took the rubber game against Stanford with a 12-3 victory over the Cardinal that was the fifth straight series loss for Stanford and left the club all alone in last place in the Pac-10 standings at the halfway mark of its league schedule. Colt Sedbrook (3-4, 3B, SB, 3 RBI), Konrad Schmidt (3-5, 2B, RBI) and Bill Rhinehart (3-5, 2B, HR, RBI) had three hits each for the Wildcats, while Brad Boyer and Rhinehart also scored three runs apiece. David Coulon earned the victory, allowing just three runs on five hits and three walks while striking out four over the first 6.0 innings. Ryan Perry tossed 3.0 scoreless innings to earn his first collegiate save. Stanford made four errors that led to three unearned runs.
Quote of the Day ... "We really didn't do much right at all today. You certainly can't play defense the way we did and expect to win Pac-10 games." - Mark Marquess

STANFORD CAREER STATS VERSUS ARIZONA
Joey August (.000, 0-3)
Jeremy Bleich (9.64, 0-1, 1 APP, 1 GS, 4.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 SO)
Jason Castro (.400, 2-5, 2 RBI, GDP)
Erik Davis (5.79, 0-0, 3 APP, 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO)
Brendan Domaracki (.400, 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI)
Max Fearnow (13.50, 1 APP, 2.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO)
Nolan Gallagher (4.91, 0-0, 3 APP, 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO)
Brian Juhl (.250, 1-4, 3 BB)
Brent Milleville (.300, 3-10, 3 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 3 SO, SF, 2 SB)
Randy Molina (.000, 0-1)
Cord Phelps (.000, 0-8, RBI, BB, 3 SO)
Sean Ratliff (13.50, 0-0, 1 APP, 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER)
Ryan Seawell (.318, 7-22, 3 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, GDP, SB)
David Stringer (3.00, 0-0, 2 APP, 1 SV, 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO)
Adam Sorgi (.389, 7-18, 4 R, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SO)
Michael Taylor (.280, 7-25, 6 R, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, BB, HBP, 5 SO)
Austin Yount (.250, 1-4, 1 R, 2B, SO)

STANFORD HEAD COACH MARK MARQUESS
One of the nation's premier collegiate coaches and the winningest coach in Stanford Baseball history, Mark Marquess is in his 31st season at the helm of the Cardinal and his 39th associated with the program in 2007. Marquess has won more games than any coach in any sport ever at Stanford with the amazing numbers he has posted during his long tenure on The Farm. Marquess has a 1271-632-5 (.667) all-time record in 1908 career games, as well as equally impressive marks in postseason (112-52, .683), NCAA Regional (68-25, .731), NCAA Super Regional (10-4, .714), CWS (34-23, .596) and Pac-10 (501-333, .601) action. He is currently ranked sixth among all active NCAA Division I coaches in victories and 11th on the all-time list among Division I coaches. Marquess became the 23rd coach in the history of NCAA Division I baseball to reach the 1000-win mark with a victory over Florida State on February 9, 2001. Just over two years later, he picked up win No. 1100 versus Nevada on February 17, 2003. He became the 16th NCAA Division I head baseball coach to win 1200 collegiate games just over another two years after that when the Cardinal defeated California at Sunken Diamond on March 5, 2005. He also won his 100th career postseason game in Stanford's NCAA Super Regional clinching victory over Long Beach State (June 7, 2003). The 1969 Stanford graduate has led the Cardinal to two CWS titles and three runner-up showings in five CWS championship appearances, as well as 13 College World Series trips, five NCAA Super Regional titles, 14 NCAA Regional championships and 12 Pac-10 crowns (includes Southern Division and shared titles). Stanford's two CWS championships under Marquess came in back-to-back fashion in 1987 and 1988 as the Cardinal is just one of four teams to have ever won back-to-back Division I College World Series titles. The three runner-up showings have all come this decade with the Cardinal taking second in Omaha in 2000, 2001 and 2003. Maybe even more amazing, all 13 teams that Marquess has taken to the College World Series have won at least one game. Stanford has qualified for the NCAA Championships 24 times in the first 30 seasons under Marquess with a current school record run of 13 straight appearances in postseason play. He has been named NCAA Coach of the Year three times and has received Pac-10 or Pac-10 Southern Division Coach of the Year honors on nine occasions, most recently with his Pac-10 selection in 2003. The Cardinal has also recorded 29 winning seasons in the first 30 campaigns under his leadership. His clubs have finished either first or second in the prestigious Pacific-10 (formerly Pac-10 Southern Division) 22 times in the last 26 seasons including 2006. Stanford has had 134 players drafted by professional baseball in the past 22 campaigns, including 18 in the last 20 years that were drafted either in the first round or as a Compensation A pick. Stanford has had more first round picks (6) since 2000 than any other school in the nation, most recently with the selection of Greg Reynolds as the No. 2 overall pick in 2006. A member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Marquess was the head coach of the 1988 United States Olympic baseball team that captured the gold medal. He was also 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 10 people to have ever both played and coached in the College World Series. Marquess was the starting first baseman and a First Team All-American on Stanford's 1967 CWS squad and played four seasons in the minor leagues with the Chicago White Sox organization.

STANFORD COACHING STAFF
Dean Stotz is in his 31st season with Stanford Baseball and his eighth as the team's associate head coach after he was promoted to the position prior to the 2000 season following 23 years of service as an assistant. Stotz currently coaches third base while also handling various offensive and defensive aspects of the game. Tom Kunis is in his eighth season as Stanford's pitching coach, while Dave Nakama is also in his eighth campaign over two stints as an assistant.