April 21, 2000
This Weekend: The 12th-ranked Stanford softball team (35-12, 3-8 Pac-10) will continue Pac-10 Conference play on Saturday, April 22 when the Cardinal hosts ninth-ranked California at the Stanford Softball Complex at 2 p.m. Stanford and Cal have split their two prior meetings of the season, with both teams earning victories on their home field. The Cardinal enters the weekend after splitting a doubleheader on the road with fourth-ranked Fresno State. Stanford fell 1-0 in game one, before scoring three runs in the ninth inning for a 4-1 win, ending the Bulldogs' 22-game win streak.
Big Hitter: Sophomore OF Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, CA/Camarillo HS) continues to position herself to repeat her freshman performance that landed her first team All-American honors as a freshman. This season, Mendoza is batting .464 (70-for-151), which is tops in the Pac-10 and third in the nation, and when combined with last year's .415 BA, makes her the Cardinal career leader with a .436 average. Mendoza has also established herself as the most prolific power hitter in Cardinal history by smacking 17 home runs, one coming against Fresno State last Wednesday, in less than two seasons. The closest players are junior 3B Jenni Shideler (San Jose, CA/Leland HS) and sophomore 1B Sarah Beeson (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro HS) with 8 home runs. Mendoza is in the top five in five other Stanford career records. Against Fresno State, Mendoza broke the single-season record for doubles in a season with her 14th of the year and built on her records for runs scored (45) and steals (12). She earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors after Stanford's trip to Arizona and recorded a 19-game hit streak earlier this season.
Non-Conference Streak: The Cardinal has posted a 32-4 record against non-conference opponents this season. Stanford carried a 15-game win streak, dating back to a 7-0 win over UMass at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. on March 4, into a doubleheader against Fresno State last Wednesday. But the streak ended in a game one defeat, 1-0, at the hands of the Bulldogs. Stanford rebounded with a 4-1 victory in game two. The Cardinal had last suffered a non-conference loss at the NFCA Leadoff Classic against fifth-ranked Oklahoma, an 8-0 five inning game, on March 4. During the streak, Stanford had out scored its opponents 65-13, while compiling seven wins at home and four on the road and at neutral sites.
Can It Get Any Closer: Pac-10 Conference games have been a little to close for comfort for the Cardinal this season. Of the 11 conference games played by Stanford, eight have been decided by 2 or fewer runs. Against the Oregon schools last week, Stanford came away with a 3-2 victory over Oregon State, but dropped 3-1 and 3-2 decisions to Oregon. Besides the win over OSU, Stanford won close games against No. 8 Cal (2-0) and at No. 2 Arizona (4-3).
Ranking Review: Stanford fell to No. 12 in the April 19 edition of the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25. Stanford had entered the week with a 34-11 record and nine wins over ranked opponents. Stanford had been No. 9 in the April 12 poll. 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 13. All eight Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top 18 in the latest poll and the conference has gone 254-44-1 (.846) against non-league opponents this season.
Cardinal Chronicle: Jessica Mendoza leads the team in multiple hit games with 120, followed by sophomore 1B Sarah Beeson (Tucson, AZ) and Robin Walker with 15 apiece... Mendoza and Walker each have one game in which they have 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... Ramona Shelburne was placed in the leadoff spot in the batting order for the first time this season against Oregon (4/16). The moved dropped Kellie Wiginton to the five spot in hopes of better run production at the middle of the order.
Sorensen's Story: On a pitching staff that features four freshmen, Dana Sorensen (San Diego, CA/Scripps Ranch HS) is beginning to separate herself from the rest of the group. Sorensen has pitched 150.0 innings and is already third in wins (18-5) and fourth in strikeouts (115 K) on the Stanford career-lists. She is six victories shy of tieing the single season record set by Becky Blevins in 1998. Her 1.17 ERA is currently lower than the Cardinal single-season record also set by Blevins in 1998. Sorensen has pitched a team-leading nine complete games in 27 starts and is holding opponents to a .192 batting-average. In the Pac-10, Sorensen had the ninth lowest ERA entering the week.
Homecoming: Senior C Kellie Wiginton (Fresno, CA/Bullard HS) and freshman OF Cassi Brangham (Clovis, CA/Clovis HS) had an opportunity to play close to home when the Cardinal faced Fresno State last Wednesday. Wiginton went 2-for-7 with a walk, while Brangham had a hit in seven at-bats in the two games. At Bullard High School, Wiginton earned all-league, all-section and all-America honors in her final three seasons, leading the team to the 1993 league and section championship. Brangham, from Clovis High School, earned NFCA All-America honors and twice reached All-West Region All-America status.
Scouting California: In their last outing, the Golden Bears (41-14, 3-8 Pac-10) swept a doubleheader at Santa Clara (4/19), 3-1 and 6-4, behind the pitching of Jennifer Deering (9-0) and Nicole DiSalvio (14-7). DiSalvio and Deering rank 10th and 11th in the Pac-10 with 1.28 and 1.49 ERAs, respectively. In its last Pac-10 action, Cal was swept by the Oregon schools and are currently tied with Stanford for eighth place in the Pac-10. Against Oregon State, Cal advanced a runner to second base in four of seven innings, but the Bears could not put one on the board as they went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Veronica Nelson leads the team in hitting with a .347 average, 12 home runs and 35 RBI. California ranks seventh in the Conference in hitting with a .278 average and sixth in pitching with a 1.54 ERA.
Last Week Review: Stanford posted a 1-2 record last week in Pac-10 Conference games. The Cardinal started off the weekend at the Stanford Softball Complex with a victory over 14th-ranked Oregon State 3-2, before falling to 23rd-ranked Oregon 3-1 on Saturday and 3-2 on Sunday.* vs. #14 Oregon State: The Cardinal used a seventh inning rally to makeup for a game-tieing home run OSU's Shelly Prochaska in the top of the inning. Senior C Kellie Wiginton (Fresno, CA/Bullard HS) singled and reached second on an error to lead off the inning and advanced to third on sophomore SS Robin Walker's (La Palma, CA/Mater Dei HS) groundout. Intentional walks to sophomore OF Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, CA/Camarillo HS) and sophomore 1B Sarah Beeson (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro HS) loaded the bases with one out. Freshman 2B Maureen LeCocq (Woodland Hills, CA/Chaminade HS) struckout before freshman OF Cassi Brangham (Clovis, CA/Clovis HS) singles to drive in Wiginton from third. Freshman P Dana Sorensen (San Diego, CA/Scripps Ranch HS) earned the victory, allowing 10 hits and two runs while striking out four batters. Mendoza gave Stanford a one-run lead with a two-run home run in the fifth inning.* vs. Oregon (4/15): Stanford stranded 14 base runners in its 3-1 loss to Oregon in the first game of the series. The Cardinal left the bases loaded in the third and sixth innings and two runners on base in the second, fourth and fifth innings. The Cardinal scored its lone run of the game in the fifth inning when Oregon walked Maureen LeCocq with the bases loaded allowing Jessica Mendoza to cross the plate. The Ducks scored all three of their runs in the second inning.* vs. Oregon (4/16): Stanford took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on consecutive hits by Robin Walker, Jessica Mendoza and Sarah Beeson and a sacrifice fly to left field by Kellie Wiginton drove in the first run. The Cardinal held the lead until the fifth inning, when the Ducks took advantage of two Cardinal errors and then added two hits to tie the score 2-2. In the seventh inning, Oregon hit three consecutive, one-out singles to score the go-ahead run. With two outs in the seventh, junior OF Ramona Shelburne (West Hills, CA/El Camino Real HS) singled and Walker drew a walk, but the rally was crushed when Mendoza groundout to second base.
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.