April 30, 2013
Complete Release
THIS WEEK:The No. 16/17 Stanford softball team (32-16, 9-9 Pac-12) travels to UC Davis (21-24, 8-10 Big West) on Wednesday, May 1 before continuing conference play at No. 12/13 California (35-12, 9-9 Pac-12), May 3-5.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Fans can follow this week's games on Gametracker, available on www.GoStanford.com. Live updates will also be available on Twitter @StanfordSball. KZSU radio will also be broadcasting the Cal series at 90.1 FM or online at http://kzsu.stanford.edu/.
SCOUTING UC DAVIS: UC Davis enters the week with a 21-24 overall record and has picked up wins in four if its last five games. Freshman Christa Castello is the only Aggie player hitting above .300 with a .306 average. She leads the squad with 38 hits and 13 stolen bases. Junior Chandler Wagner paces the team with 20 RBI and six doubles, while senior Kelly Schulze has three home runs and 15 RBI. In the circle, sophomore Justine Vela leads the team with a 13-8 record and a 2.18 ERA. She has 161 strikeouts in 148.0 innings pitched.
THE SERIES AGAINST THE AGGIES: Stanford leads the all-time series against UC Davis, 16-4. The Cardinal defeated the Aggies, 8-0 in six innings, earlier this season in the Stanford Nike Invitational. Freshman Kelsey Stevens threw a one-hitter and collected eight strikeouts. Sophomore Leah White led the team offensively with a solo home run and a two-run triple. However, the Cardinal dropped a 2-1 decision to the Aggies in its last trip to Davis on Feb. 15, 2012.
SCOUTING CALIFORNIA: Cal comes into the week with a 35-12 overall record and tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with the Cardinal at 9-9. The Bears have lost four consecutive games, including being swept at then-No. 5 Arizona State last week. Sophomore shotstop Cheyenne Cordes leads the team with a .336 average, including 10 doubles, eight home runs and 30 RBI. Senior catcher Lindsey Ziegenhirt paces the squad with 15 home runs, ranking fourth in the conference, and 49 RBI. However, an injury to Cal's ace in the circle, senior Jolene Henderson, has left the Bears to rely on a pair of freshmen - Nisa Ontiveros and Nikki Owens. The duo has combined to throw only 64.2 of Cal's 316.1 innings this season. Ontiveros is 4-3 with a 4.10 ERA in 18 appearances, while Owens is 2-1 with a 5.73 ERA in seven appearances.
THE SERIES AGAINST THE GOLDEN BEARS: Stanford is 24-37 overall against Bay Area rival California. The Bears swept the Cardinal to open Pac-12 play last year. Cal has won six of the last nine meetings with Stanford.
UP NEXT: Stanford wraps-up the regular season next week, playing host to Santa Clara on Tuesday, May 7 at 6 p.m. The Cardinal will then close out Pac-12 play at home against Arizona, May 9-11.
LAST WEEK: Despite dropping a midweek game at Pacific (9-6), the Cardinal showcased its offensive firepower while sweeping Utah with three consecutive run-rule wins. Stanford outscored the Utes 29-1 in the three games, hitting .500 as a team.
IN THE POLLS: The Cardinal, which has appeared in every regular-season poll for more than a decade, fell to No. 16 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball and remained at No. 17 in the USA Today/NFCA poll top 25 this week. Six Pac-12 schools appear in the top-20 of both polls.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Senior shortstop Jenna Rich recently broke into the top-10 on the Cardinal's career hits list. The El Segundo, Calif., native sits at No. 9 with 233 career hits. She also moved up on the career home runs chart, passing Michelle Smith (`08) for sole possession of second place. She now has 42. Olympian Jessica Mendoza holds the school record with 50.
PAC-12 PLAY: Freshman Kayla Bonstrom has been Stanford's most consistent threat at the plate all season and has carried that over to conference play. She is fourth in the conference with a .415 average in Pac-12 games. She boasts a .755 slugging percentage (6th) and a .484 on-base percentage (6th) against conference opponents. She is also third in RBI (19), tied for seventh in home runs (5) and tied for eighth in hits (22).
CARDINAL ACE: Senior Teagan Gerhart has been Stanford's most consistent presence in the circle this year. On the season, Gerhart leads the team with an 18-8 record and holds a 2.34 ERA, 124 strikeouts and five saves, which is second in the Pac-12. She has given up 56 earned runs in 167.1 innings pitched, and is holding opponents to a .216 batting average.
ROOKIE REVIEW: Freshman catcher Jessica Plaza has been solid offensively in recent outings. In the three-game series against Utah, the Huntington Beach, Calif., native hit .625 (5-8) with a .750 slugging percentage. She tallied a double, two runs scored and two RBI in the Cardinal's sweep over the Utes.
THREE'S COMPANY: This year's Stanford squad has already hit 17 triples, which is the second-most in a single season in school history. The 2012 team set the school record with 20 triples. Sophomore outfielder Cassandra Roulund leads the team with six, also trying for the second-most in a single season at Stanford. Roulund's six triples leads the Pac-12 and ranks eighth nationally.
RBI CHASE: Senior Jenna Rich entered the season already ranked among the top-10 in several career statistical categories for the Cardinal. Recently, Rich passed Jessica Mendoza on the all-time RBI list with 200 and is just two away from breaking Sarah Beeson's (`02) record of 201.
RECORD SETTER: Senior Jessica Mendoza for the most stolen bases in program history. She is now 15-for-17 on the year and has 97 in her career. In 2011, her 35 stolen bases set a new Stanford single season record.
SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Stanford shortstop Jenna Rich has been tabbed a top 10 finalist for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award. She joins California pitcher Jolene Henderson in representing the Pac-12 Conference. Finalists were narrowed down from a list of 30 based on personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete - classroom, community, character and competition. Fan voting at www.seniorCLASSaward.com runs now through May 13 and is also available on the Senior CLASS Award fan page on Facebook.
HEAD COACH John Rittman: In his 17th season at the helm of the Cardinal program, head coach John Rittman is one of the winningest coaches in collegiate softball, boasting a 713-329-3 (.684) career record. Since stepping onto The Farm in July 1996, he has coached the team to 16 consecutive winning seasons, 15 straight NCAA Tournament appearances and 13 40-win seasons. Under Rittman, Stanford has claimed a share of its first conference championship and made two appearances in the Women's College World Series (2001 & 2004).
MILESTONE FOR RITTMAN: Cardinal head coach John Rittman captured his 700th career win on March 8 in a 2-1 victory over Florida Gulf Coast at the Stanford Louisville Slugger Classic. All 700-plus wins have come during his time on The Farm. He is among the top 20 in the nation of the active winingest head coaches (.684).