May 27, 2008
Stanford, Calif. - 18 Pac-10 Championships. 27 NCAA Tournament appearances. 15 College World Series berths. Two National Championships.
Stanford's success and notoriety is well known in the college baseball world. It was this consistent success that made the 2007 season so unusual, for followers of the Cardinal and White. A young team went 28-28 and left the Cardinal devoid of a postseason presence for the first time since 1993.
A long offseason of hard work and the consistent contributions of many players has revived the Cardinal and heralded their return to their 28th postseason in 2008. The Cardinal will strive to make their 16th appearance in the College World Series when they start their postseason journey in a 5:00 p.m. Friday afternoon matchup against UC Davis. The game will be played in the Sunken Diamond, which was selected as one of the sixteen regional sites last Sunday, allowing the Cardinal to host a regional for the first time since 2004.
The success of the 2008 team was due in large part to a major upgrade in pitching. The 6.01 team ERA in 2007 has improved to a 4.54 team ERA this season. The team fielding percentage of .963 in 2007 has increased to .975 this season, just .002 lower than the best fielding percentage in school history.
The team has been anchored by senior Erik Davis, a native of nearby Mountain View, Calif., who returned to school after being drafted in the 21st round in the 2007 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Davis returned to pitch a team-high 85.1 innings and has recorded 83 strikeouts. Davis also tied for the team lead with seven victories. His contributions have not been lost on Coach Mark Marquess, The Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball.
"When Bleich went down we have really had great contributions from a lot of pitchers. Erik Davis, though, has really stepped up and has had a phenomenal year for us", said Marquess. "He has really been able to go deep into games and has helped out our bullpen with his four complete games. Our pitching success has started with Davis and we would not be where we are today without his contributions."
Sophomore Jeffrey Inman also won seven games this season and pitched 57 innings, posting a 4.26 ERA. Inman rose seamlessly to the number two spot in the rotation after an early-season injury to ace Jeremy Bleich and improved mightily on a freshman season that saw him go 4-4 with a 5.74 ERA. Bleich has now returned to give the Cardinal a strong top threesome in the rotation going into the postseason. A pair of freshman relievers have also come through for the Cardinal in Drew Storen and Danny Sandbrink, who have put forth ERA's of 2.89 and 3.22, respectively.
The bats have also come alive this season for the Cardinal with the team hitting .299 and averaging 7.5 runs per game. Junior Jason Castro has been a major contributor to the team's success at the plate as he has started every game and hit .369 on the season with 11 home runs and 56 RBI's. Castro has recently been named one of 12 semifinalists for the 2008 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award, which yearly honors the top catcher in the nation.
Junior Sean Ratliff has also powered the way for the Cardinal with a team-leading 18 home runs and 57 RBI's. Ratliff hit .289 for the season, swiped seven bases, and played a very strong centerfield all season-long. Junior Cord Phelps has also raised his batting average by 43 points from last season and hit .344, which was good enough for second on the team. Phelps led the squad with 35 walks to contribute to his team-leading .440 on-base percentage.
Junior Brent Milleville and senior Randy Molina have been consistent in the middle of the lineup and have hit .324 and .329, respectively. A freshman left side of the infield has also paid big dividends for the Cardinal Jake Schlander and Zach Jones. Jones has played 53 games at third base this season and has led the freshman class in runs, doubles, RBI's, and total bases.
Arkansas and Pepperdine will also join the Cardinal for this weekend's regional at Sunken Diamond. The Razorbacks compiled a 34-22 record in the SEC and Pepperdine went 36-19 and was an at-large team from the WCC.