May 22, 2007
May 22, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
at
STANFORD CARDINAL (24-28)
Tuesday, May 22 (6 pm, PT) - RHP Jeff Reekers (6-5, 4.23) vs. RHP Austin Yount (2-1, 7.34)
Live Game Coverage: Gametracker
| PC Webcast | Mac Webcast
STANFORD-PACIFIC SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Series: Stanford 40-9 (since 1959)
2006 Results: Series - UC Davis 2-0 (at Stanford, May 26) - UC Davis 3-0
Current Game Win Streak: UC Davis - 2 (May 26-27, 2007)
Current Series Win Streak: UC Davis - 1 (May 26-27, 2007)
Current Regular Season Series Win Streak: UC Davis - 1 (2006)
Series Notes: Stanford had won seven straight games versus UC Davis until the Aggies swept the Cardinal in a home-and-home series to end the 2006 regular season for both teams, winning 3-0 at Stanford in the opener and following that up with an 8-3 victory the following day in Davis.
RED HOT: FIVE-OF-SIX
Stanford is current playing some of its best baseball of the season with wins in five of its last six games. The Cardinal started the stretch with a three-game win streak, getting a pair of victories over Washington (May 12, May 13) followed by a win at Santa Clara (May 15) and wins in the final two games of a three-game set versus Pacific (May 18-20). The three-game win streak was Stanford's second-longest streak of the year and its longest since the Cardinal won a season-high eight in a row from February 18 - March 4.
PUSH TO FINISH .500
Stanford needs to win all four of its remaining regular season games to finish an even .500 and avoid its first losing season since the club was 27-28 and failed to qualify for the postseason in 1993. Stanford has gone to the postseason and posted winning seasons for each of the last 13 seasons from 1994-2006.
CHANCE TO GET OUT OF THE CELLAR
Stanford is currently in last place in the Pac-10 with a 6-15 conference record that is 2.0 games behind the 8-13 marks posted by both this week's opponent USC and Oregon State. A sweep of the Trojans would assure the Cardinal would not finish in the cellar. Stanford has finished at the bottom of the Pac-10 just twice in 30 previous seasons under current head coach Mark Marquess, tying for fifth in a six-team league with a 13-17 conference record in 1979 and taking sixth of six teams with a 10-20 mark in 1993.
TWO SERIES IN A ROW
Stanford has won each of its last two series versus Washington (March 11-13) and Pacific (May 18-20) despite losing the opener in both series. The Cardinal had dropped seven straight overall series since a non-league sweep of California (March 2-4, 2007) that was its longest since dropping eight straight series from April 13, 1978 - March 31, 1979. Stanford had also dropped seven straight Pac-10 series with its previous conference series win coming just one day shy of an entire year to winning the Washington series when the Cardinal swept a three-game set at Washington (May 12-14, 2006). Stanford's seven straight Pac-10 series losses were the most in the school's recorded history.
RUBBER GAME SLIDE ALSO BROKEN
Stanford's victories in each of its last two series rubber games versus Washington (May 13) and Pacific (May 20) snapped a string of three straight rubber game losses. Stanford has played rubber games in each of its last five three-game series after having not playing any in its first nine.
PLAYING WELL ON CAMERA
Stanford has won each of its last three TV games over Oregon State (April 28, FSN), at Washington State (May 5, FSN Northwest) and versus Washington (May 13, CSTV) after losing its first two TV games of the campaign at Arizona State (April 7, FSN Arizona) and versus Oregon State (April 27, CSTV). Stanford does not have any of its seven remaining regular season scheduled to be televised.
SERIES OPENER PROBLEMS
Stanford's 6-4 win in a Pac-10 series opener at Washington State on May 5 is the only time in seven conference series this season the Cardinal has won the opener. Stanford is just 4-11 overall in series-openers.
WINNING MONTH OF MAY
Stanford is in its final month of the 2007 regular season and has a 6-5 record in its first 10 games of May. The Cardinal has four more games scheduled in the month with its final home contest of the season versus UC Davis (May 22) and a three-game series at USC (May 25-27) still on the schedule. Stanford is attempting for a winning month for just the second time this season as the Cardinal was 7-5 in February.
TOUGH STARTS
Stanford started 2007 Pac-10 play with an 0-8 league mark that was the worst in recorded school history before winning its first conference game against Arizona on April 15. Stanford also 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. In addition, 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.
HOT BATS GOING FOR .300
Stanford's late season hitting surge has the Cardinal looking to hit .300 as a team for the first time since 2004. Stanford has a current streak of seven straight double digit hit games and has 16 in its last 18 contests. The team has raised its batting average 28 points during the span to its current season-high .299 and is hitting .347 during the stretch with Adam Sorgi (.451, 32-71, 6 2B, 1 3B, 16 RBI) the club's top hitter during the period.
TEAM STATS
OFFENSE - Stanford's offense is its most improved area as the Cardinal has moved up to tied for third in the Pac-10 in hits (550), fifth in batting average (.299), sixth in home runs (37) and sixth in runs scored (315). Stanford is still last with 25 stolen bases.
PITCHING - Stanford has struggled tremendously on the mound with an uncharacteristically high 6.07 ERA that is last in the Pac-10 and 71 points higher than the highest ERA in the school's recorded history when the 1979 pitching staff posted a 5.36 mark. The team's .314 opponents' batting average is also last in the Pac-10.
FIELDING - Stanford also ranks last in the Pac-10 in fielding percentage (.961). The Cardinal has at least one error in each of its last five contests.
TEAM LEADERS
OFFENSE - Sean Ratliff and Michael Taylor are battling for the team lead in several categories. Ratliff leads the squad in homers (11, #5T), runs scored (55, #3T Pac-10), triples (4, #5T Pac-10), at bats (212, #5 Pac-10), total bases (122, #6T Pac-10) and slugging percentage (.575). Taylor paces the club in RBI (48) and hit-by-pitches (7). Ratliff and Taylor are tied for the team lead in hits (69, #10T Pac-10), games played (51) and games started (51). Adam Sorgi leads the club in both batting average (.386) and on-base percentage (.459). Sorgi needs to play in each of the team's final four games to play in the required 75% of the team's games needed to qualify for the Pac-10 or NCAA stat leaders. Other offensive team leaders or co-leaders include Cord Phelps (15 2B, #9T Pac-10; 21 BB), Brent Milleville (4 SF) and Joey August (5 SAC).
PITCHING - Erik Davis (4-2, 3.86, 46.2 IP, 39 SO), Jeffrey Inman (4-4, 5.74, 73.2 IP, 62 SO) and Nolan Gallagher (4-6, 7.96, 57.2 IP, 41) all share the team lead with four wins. Inman also paces the clubs in strikeouts and has the lowest ERA among any pitcher with at least one inning pitched per team game played. Jeremy Bleich (2-8, 5.50, 91.2 IP, 55 SO) has the team lead in innings pitched (#9 Pac-10) and starts (15, #7T Pac-10). Bleich, Gallagher and Inman all have one of the team's three complete games, while Gallagher has the team's only shutout. David Stringer (1-2, 5.29, 7 SV, 51.0 IP, 32 SO) paces the club with 28 appearances and seven saves, ranking second and eighth in the Pac-10 in those two categories.
LAST SERIES STATS (PACIFIC)
OFFENSE - Stanford was very productive in its most recent series versus Pacific as the Cardinal averaged 9.3 runs per game and hit .357 as a team. Toby Gerhart (.538, 7-13, 2B, 2 RBI) and Michael Taylor (.500, 6-12, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) both hit .500 or better, while Sean Ratliff led the club with a pair of homers and seven RBI.
PITCHING - Stanford posted a respectable 5.00 ERA in the series. Stanford gave up nine earned runs in the first game of the series Friday but Jeremy Bleich (2.00, 1-0, 1 APP, 1 GS, 1 CG, 9.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO) made up for that with his first career complete game at Pacific in the second game of the series Saturday. Erik Davis (0.00, 1-0, 1 APP, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO) didn't allow an earned run in his Sunday start before the Tigers managed four earned runs after Davis came out of the game.
FIELDING - Stanford made four errors in the series to field at a .969 clip.
SEAN RATLIFF'S OFFENSIVE FOCUS PAYS OFF
Sean Ratliff is having a big season and has arguably been the team's most consistent hitter in 2007. Ratliff is leading or co-leading the Cardinal in several offensive categories, including Rhomers (11, #5T), runs scored (55, #3T Pac-10), triples (4, #5T Pac-10), at bats (212, #5 Pac-10), total bases (122, #6T Pac-10) and slugging percentage (.575). Ratliff co-leads the team along with Michael Taylor in hits (69, #10T Pac-10), games played (51) and games started (51). He has also contributed 37 RBI and a .325 batting average that rank second and fourth on the club among regulars, respectively. Ratliff also had a career-best 13-game hit streak (.400, 24-60, 17 R, 5 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 12 RBI) that was also the longest by a Stanford player this season from April 21 - May 13. Ratliff was 0-for-14 with 10 strikeouts last season and has still struggled with his strikeouts in 2007 with a Pac-10-high 62.
ADAM SORGI NOW BATTING AVERAGE LEADER
Adam Sorgi has reached the minimum number of at bats (2.5 per team game played) needed to officially qualify for Stanford's team lead in stats (however he still needs to play in all four regular season games remaining to reach the Pac-10 and NCAA minimum requirement of playing in 75% of the team's games). Sorgi is currently hitting .386 and is within reach of becoming only the seventh Stanford player to hit .400 or better in a season. He also boasts a team-high .459 on-base percentage. Sorgi has returned from a shoulder injury that caused him to miss 2006 and limited his action early in 2007.
MICHAEL TAYLOR ON FIRE
Michael Taylor has notched 12 multiple-hit games in his last 15 contests and is hitting .435 (30-69) during the period with six doubles, a triple, five homers and 20 RBI. Taylor has raised his average 32 points to its current .327.
ERIK DAVIS PITCHING VERY WELL
Erik Davis has been Stanford's third starter in each of the team's last four series. In his last three starts, Davis is 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA while striking out 17 batters in 20.2 innings and allowing just a .232 opponents' batting average.
FIFTH ALL-TIME WINNINGEST PROGRAM
Stanford is the fifth all-time winningest program in college baseball history with a record of 2514-1578-32 (.613) in 4124 games over 114 seasons including 2007. Fordham, Texas, USC and Michigan are the top four.
DAY AND NIGHT
Stanford is a respectable 20-15 during day games and has won four in a row during the day but is just 5-13 at night. Stanford has lost 10 of its last 11 games under the lights with its only victory under the lights during the span a win at Santa Clara on May 15 to end a nine-game losing streak in night games.
LONG GAMES
Stanford has clocked in at 3:00 or over in 32 of its first 52 games this season, gone 3:40 or longer 15 times and more than 4:00 on three occasions, including a season-long 4:12 against UCLA on March 31. However, Stanford did play under 3:00 in each of its final two games of its most recent series versus Pacific to mark the team's first back-to-back games of under 3:00 since March 24 and 25 versus Sacramento State.
COMEBACK WINS
Stanford has come from behind in 15 of its 24 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.
EARLIER LOSING SKIDS
Stanford dropped six straight home games (March 24 - April 14) earlier this season and nine consecutive Pac-10 contests (May 21, 2006 - April 14, 2007) that dated back to the final conference contest of last year that were both the longest in recorded school history.
40-HOMER SEASON STREAK
Stanford has 37 homers in its first 52 games this season and needs just three more in its final four regular season games to extend the team's string of 40-homer seasons to 20 in a row. Stanford has picked it up of late to make a run at 40 homers with eight in its last five contests.
PLAYING THE BEST
Stanford has played played seven series and 21 games against teams ranked in at least one national poll at some point.
SUNKEN DIAMOND
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 CWS at Sunken Diamond. However, Stanford is currently 16-15 at Sunken Diamond in 2007 and still needs a victory against UC Davis in its final home game on May 22 to avoid equaling the worst home record ever when the Cardinal was 13-13 at Sunken Diamond in 1964. Stanford's victory over Pacific in its most recent game at Sunken Diamond on May 20 guaranteed the 2007 Cardinal would not be the first Stanford team to ever have a losing home season in the school's recorded history.
STANFORD CAREER STATS VERSUS UC DAVIS
Joey August (.250, 2 GP, 1 GS, 1-4, 1 R, 1 GDP, 1 SB)
Jeremy Bleich (0.00, 0-0, 1 APP, 4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 SO)
Stephen Brown (.000, 1 GP, 0-1)
Jason Castro (.167, 2 GP, 2 GS, 1-6, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO)
Brendan Domaracki (.400, 1 GP, 2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 SO)
Grant Escue (.750, 1 GP, 1 GS, 3-4, 2 RBI, 1 SF)
Nolan Gallagher (22.50, 0-1, 1 APP, 1 GS, 2.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB)
J.J. Jelmini (1 GP)
Brent Milleville (.000, 1 GP, 0-3, 1 SO)
Randy Molina (.000, 2 GP, 2 GS, 0-5, 1 SO)
Cord Phelps (.000, 1 GP, 1 BB)
Ryan Seawell (.375, 2 GP, 2 GS, 3-8, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 BB, 2 SO)
Adam Sorgi (.400, 1 GP, 1 GS, 2-5, 1 R, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 1 SF)
Michael Taylor (.182, 3 GP, 3 GS, 2-11, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO)
2006 STANFORD-UC DAVIS GAMES
May 26, 2006 - UC Davis 3, at Stanford 0
UC Davis spoiled Senior Night at Sunken Diamond with a 3-0 victory over Stanford in the opener of a two-game home-and-home set. Michael Potter tossed a three-hit complete game shutout, facing just three batters over the minimum, walking only one and striking out five while setting 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. Daniel Descalso (2-4, 2 2B) was the only player for either team with more than one hit in a game that lasted just two hours and seven minutes. The game was played in front of the largest crowd of the season at Sunken Diamond with 3362 fans showing up to watch the contest, as well as a the postgame Town & Country Village Fireworks Show and a pregame ceremony honoring Stanford's four seniors John Hester, Chris Lewis, Matt Manship and Chris Minaker.
Quote of the Day ... "Good pitchers can shut down good hitting, and he [Michael Potter] was really good tonight. We weren't even close to scoring. He just did a great job and shut us down completely." - Mark Marquess
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) had the first UC Davis homer when he hit a solo blast over the right field wall off losing pitcher Nolan Gallagher with two outs in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 1-1. Aaron Hanke hit the second and arguably most damaging Aggie homer when he went deep with a three-run clout in the bottom of the third. Kevin James (2-4, 2B, HR, RBI) capped the victory with a solo homer that was part of a three-run Aggie eighth. Grant Escue (3-4, 2 RBI) and Chris Lewis (3-4) both had three-hit days for the Cardinal. The Cardinal scored twice in its final turn at the plate and finally knocked DeCoito out of the game, but reliever Nik Aurora came on to strike out Chris Minaker with Michael Taylor looming on deck as the potential tying run.
Quote of the Day ... "We'll just have to wait and see what happens with the selection committee on Monday." - Mark Marquess on his team's chances for a 2006 postseason berth
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 1281-645-5 (.665) all-time record in 1931 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 (507-342, .597) 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 Division I Baseball Championship 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 recorded 29 winning seasons in the first 30 campaigns under his leadership but will not reach the standard in 2007. 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.