April 11, 2000
This Weekend: The ninth-ranked Stanford softball team (33-9, 2-6) is coming off a 4-3 victory over second-ranked Arizona last Sunday. The Cardinal will attempt to continue its streak when they host 12th-ranked Oregon State (26-12-1, 0-6 Pac-10) and 22nd-ranked Oregon (24-16, 1-5 Pac-10) April 15-17 at the Stanford Softball Complex. In 18 games since 1994, Stanford and Oregon have each won nine, but Stanford took the season series in 1999 by winning three of four games. However, Stanford leads Oregon State by a 12-9 margin in the all-time series, despite falling in three of four games to the Beavers a season ago. Oregon and Stanford tied for 6th place last season with a 10-18 Pac-10 record, trailing Oregon State which finished fourth with a 14-14 conference mark.
Pac-10 Player of the Week: Sophomore CF Jessica Mendoza earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career after she helped Stanford to a 3-2 record last week. Mendoza hit .647 (11-for-17) in the five games, recording five doubles, two singles, a triple and a home run. She started the week with a home run in the eighth inning to give Stanford a 2-1 victory over Saint Mary's in the second game of a doubleheader. Mendoza continued her torrid pace with a triple to drive in a run at Arizona State, before going 6-for-7 at Arizona. Batting against two of the nation's best pitchers, Jennie Finch (20-0, 0.57 ERA) and Becky Lemke (22-4, 0.87 ERA) of Arizona, Mendoza hit four doubles, two singles and scored two runs as the Cardinal split a two game series with the Wildcats.
Arizona Review: Stanford broke a five game losing streak with a 4-3 win over second-ranked Arizona last Sunday. The Cardinal trailed 2-0 after the first inning and were held to one hit, a double by senior C Kellie Wiginton, through three innings of play. The turning point in the game took place in the fourth inning. After sophomore SS Robin Walker singled and Jessica Mendoza hit her third double of the series, sophomore 1B Sarah Beeson hit her third home run of the season to put the Cardinal on top 3-2. But the lead didn't last long, as the Wildcats responded with a run in the fifth inning on a two-out double by Lindsey Collins, who later scored on a single by Chrissy Gil. In the eighth inning, Stanford took the lead for good as Walker led off the inning with a walk and was then replaced by freshman pinch-runner Deborah Splansky. Mendoza followed with a walk, but was then called out when a ball hit between first and second by Beeson struck her on the leg. However, Splansky advanced to third and would score on a ground ball to shortstop off the bat of freshman 2B Maureen LeCocq. Freshman P Dana Sorensen sat down the Wildcats in order in the bottom of the eighth inning for her sixth complete game of the season. She gave up 10 hits, one earned run and struckout three pushing her record to 16-5. Stanford lost the first game against Arizona 8-4 and fell in a close game at Arizona State, 3-2, concluding the trip with a 1-2 record.
Ranking Review: Stanford dropped to No. 9 in the April 5 USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 with a 32-7 record and seven wins over ranked opponents. The Cardinal began the 2000 season ranked 21st and has appeared in the top 25 of every regular-season poll since early in the 1998 season, reaching a high of No. 7 during 1999. Pac-10 teams hold four of the top five spots in the poll, and seven of the top 12. All eight Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top 22 in the latest poll and the conference has gone 245-44-1 (.846) against non-league opponents this season.
Scouting Oregon: The Ducks head into the weekend with a 24-16 overall and a 1-5 record in Pac-10 play. Oregon has landed only one victory over a ranked opponent this season, a 10-0 win over then-No. 5 Arizona State (4/1). Triawn Custer leads the Ducks in hitting at .400, while Jill Robinson supplies the power with 10 home runs and 33 RBI on the year. Andrea Vidlund leads the team with a 12-4 record in 19 appearances, but Connie McMurren has done the bulk of the pitching with 137.0 innings pitched for a 9-11 record and 1.99 ERA. The Ducks have outscored its opponents by a 230-105 margin.
Scouting Oregon State: The Beavers will arrive at the Stanford Softball Complex for one game against the Cardinal on Friday, April 14. Oregon State began the week with a 26-12-1 record and a 0-6 record against Pac-10 opponents. The Beavers boast the Pac-10's leading hitter in Tarrah Beyster, who is hitting .483 (42-for-87) with 11 home runs for the season. Oregon State has used a two pitcher rotation this season, which includes Beyster (16-8, 3.27 ERA) and Crystal Draper (10-4, 2.09 ERA), and brings a team ERA of 2.72 into the week. OSU is 5-9 against ranked opponents and have a 1-5-1 record on the road this season.
Impact Freshman: Freshmen P Dana Sorensen and P/IF Maureen LeCocq have been major contributors to the success of Stanford softball this season. Sorensen has developed into Stanford's top pitcher by posting a 16-5 record and leading the team in starts (24), innings pitched (127.0) and strikeouts (102). Her 16 victories already place her third on the career wins list and fourth for the most wins in a season. The season record for lowest ERA is well within Sorensen's reach, as she currently allows 1.16 runs per seven innings. The current record was set in 1998 by Becky Blevins at 1.24. LeCocq has made her impact felt at the plate and in the circle. In splitting her time between second base (22 games) and designated player (18), Le Cocq is hitting .279, with 31 hits and 28 RBI in 111 plate appearances. LeCocq has made 18 appearances (15 relief) for Stanford this season and is tied for the team lead in saves (4) and leads the squad in games finished.
Pac-10 Rankings: The Cardinal ranks sixth in team batting (.297), fifth in team pitching (1.35 ERA) and fourth in fielding (.968) in the Pac-10 Conference statistics released on April 10. Arizona leads the Pac-10 in hitting with a .362 batting average and fielding with a .978 percentage. Washington overtook the Wildcats for top honors in pitching with a 0.67 ERA. With her dazzling performance last week, Jessica Mendoza now ranks third in the conference in hitting with a .470 average, second in hits (63) and second in runs scored (40). Dana Sorensen ranks eighth with a 1.16 ERA, followed by freshman teammate Tori Nyberg's 1.28 ERA.
Home Cooking: Sophomore 1B Sarah Beeson, a native of Tucson, Ariz., hit .444 (4-for-9) in the three games against Arizona State and Arizona last week. Beeson recorded her third home run of the season in Stanford's 4-3 victory over Arizona. Beeson drove in four runs, had two walks and a .545 on base percentage for the weekend.
Cardinal Chronicle: Jessica Mendoza leads the team in multiple hit games with 18, followed by sophomore 1B Sarah Beeson (Tucson, AZ) and Robin Walker with 14 apiece... Mendoza and Walker each have games in which they had four hits... Beeson has 12 games this season in which she has totaled two or more RBI, including four 3 RBI games and two 4 RBI games... Kellie Wiginton currently leads the team with a six game hit streak... Jaime Forman- Lau and Tori Nyberg have each earned a complete game shutout this season, while Maureen LeCocq, Dana Sorensen and Nyberg have combined to secure six shutouts for the Cardinal.
Head Coach John Rittman: Year four of the John Rittman era began on Jan. 29. Rittman has led the Cardinal to a 142-74-1 (.657) record through three-plus seasons. He posted his 100th career victory on April 1, 1999, 16-0 over Utah State. Rittman earned a 7-3 win over Utah State on Feb. 27 of this year in his 200th game as a head coach. Rittman took over a Stanford program that had never had more than 24 wins in a season and directed the team to 30 wins, and its first-ever winning record, in his rookie campaign. Rittman's squad has won at least 40 games in each of the past two full years, advancing to the NCAA tournament each year. The Cardinal had never been ranked before, but Rittman has seen his team climb as high as seventh in the NFCA coaches poll, one year ago, and attain a current national ranking of No. 9.