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Established himself as the team's third starter in the rotation in his freshman year and responded with a successful season...Named a second team preseason All-American by Baseball America...Hard-throwing right-hander who throws a "heavy" ball with an excellent fastball and hard slider...Can be a very dominating pitcher...Turned down a $1 million dollar signing bonus from the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998, who had drafted him in the 13th round...Ranked as the fourth best high school player in the country by Baseball America and the ninth best prospect in the entire June Amateur Baseball Draft in 1998...Helped lead the Cotuit Kettleers to a Cape Cod League title in 1999, going 2-1 with a 3.24 ERA in five starts...Played summer baseball in 1998 for the Branford American Legion squad that captured the Zone II Championship.
As a Freshman in 1999 - Named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball...Established himself as the team's third starter and finished the season with a 6-0 record and a 4.17 ERA in 19 appearances, including 14 starts...Garnered Stanford's Most Valuable Freshman honors...Earned a key victory in 7-4 NCAA Regional win over Nevada on May 30, allowing just four hits and two earned runs over 7.2 innings...Was 4-0 with a 3.86 ERA in Pac-10 play (lowest conference ERA among the three Cardinal starters)...Benefited by excellent run support especially late in the season as Stanford scored 126 runs in his final 13 appearances (11.5 runs per game)...Named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week on April 5 after throwing a complete game three-hit shutout and striking out a career-high 12 against Washington State on April 3... Hurled 5.2 shutout innings at Texas on March 22...Allowed just four hits and one run over 8.0 innings in 13-5 triumph at California on April 25...On May 16 at UCLA, worked 8.1 innings and allowed just three earned runs in 14-4 victory.
High School - 1998 graduate of Branford High School...Named a 1998 Preseason Prep All-American by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America...Earned postseason All-American honors from Baseball America (first team) and USA Today (second team)...Named the 1998 Gatorade Circle of Champions Connecticut High School Baseball Player of the Year...A two-time all-state selection...Went 11-0 with an 0.83 ERA and a whopping 115 strikeouts in 75 innings as a senior to lead Branford to the No. 1 ranking in the state and the State Class L Championships...Three-year starting center on Branford's basketball team...Finished third in the state in 1995 and fifth in 1996 in the National Spanish Exam...Magna Cum Laude in 1996 and Cum Laude in 1997 in the National Latin Exam...Graduated with a 3.897 GPA.
Personal - Undeclared major...Son of Daniel and Theresa Sager.
Sager's Career StatsYear ERA G/GS W-L CG SV SHO/CBO IP R-ER H K BB1999 4.17 19/14 6-0 1 0 1/1 86.1 46-40 90 72 41
Career vs. Pac-10Team W-L ERA G/GS SV IP R-ERArizona 0-0 7.71 1/1 0 2.1 2-2Arizona State 1-0 3.00 1/1 0 6.0 3-2California 1-0 2.08 2/2 0 13.0 3-3Oregon State 0-0 7.71 1/1 0 4.2 5-4UCLA 1-0 3.24 1/1 0 8.1 4-3USC 0-0 12.79 2/2 0 6.1 9-9Washington 0-0 9.00 1/1 0 4.0 4-4Washington State 1-0 0.00 1/1 0 9.0 0-0Totals 4-0 4.58 10/10 0 53.2 30-27
Career NCAA Post-SeasonYear ERA G/GS W-L CG SV SHO/CBO IP R-ER H K BB1999 4.26 2/2 1-0 0 0 0/0 12.2 8-6 11 6 7
Career Game HighsIP - 9.0, vs. Washington State (4/3/99)K - 12, vs. Washington State (4/3/99)