April 24, 2000
This Week: The 12th-ranked Stanford softball team (36-12, 4-8 Pac-10) will face Sacramento State in a doubleheader on Tuesday at the Stanford Softball Complex, with the first game beginning at 2 p.m. The Cardinal and Hornets have split the doubleheader the last three years, after Stanford swept two-games in 1996. After its non-conference doubleheader with the Hornets, Stanford will return to Pac-10 play as they travel for a game against third-ranked UCLA and top-ranked Washington. The Cardinal was swept in its weekend series with the Bruins and Huskies on March 31-April 2. Stanford has posted an 11-7 record against ranked opponents this season.
Pac-10 Honors: Sophomore All-America OF Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, CA/Camarillo HS) and freshman P Dana Sorensen (San Diego, CA/Scripps Ranch HS) were named Pac-10 Player and Co-Pitcher of the Week for April 17-22. This is the second player of the week honor for Mendoza and the first for Sorensen this season. Mendoza hit .444 (4-for-9), with two home runs, three RBI and three runs scored last week. Sorensen, who shares honors with UCLA's Amanda Freed, did not allow an earned run in defeating No. 4 Fresno State and No. 9 California for a 2-0 record for the week.
Cardinal Chronicle: Jessica Mendoza leads the team in multiple hit games with 21, followed by sophomore 1B Sarah Beeson (Tucson, AZ) and Robin Walker (La Palma, CA) 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.
Big Hitter: Sophomore All-America OF Jessica Mendoza's ninth home run of the season against Cal in the fourth inning tied the Stanford single-season record which she set as a freshman. Mendoza's home run to leadoff the inning broke a 0-0 tie in Stanford's 2-0 victory over the Golden Bears. Mendoza now sits atop the career home run list with 18. By going 4-for-9 last week, Mendoza held her average at .464 for the season and is on pace to break the Stanford single-season record. 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. Mendoza has already broke the single-season records for doubles (14), runs scored (46) and stolen bases (12).
Sorensen's Story: Freshman P Dana Sorensen (San Diego, CA/Scripps Ranch HS) went 2-0 last week, posting her victories over fourth-ranked Fresno State and ninth-ranked California. The two wins mark the first time this season Sorensen has tallied victories over top 10 opponents in the same week. Sorensen did not allow an earned run in 16 innings pitched, recording the first shutout of her career versus Cal. Versus the Bulldogs, Sorensen threw nine innings,striking out two batters and allowing four hits and two bases on ball. The Golden Bears recorded seven hits, but Sorensen had 10 strikeouts and stranded 8 Cal runners on base as she improved to 19-6 for the season. Sorensen lowered her ERA to 1.11, which is on pace to break the single-season school record of 1.24.
Win 150: Head Coach John Rittman is closing in on his 150th-career coaching victory, needing two more to reach the mark. Rittman has a 148-82-1 (.643) record in his four seasons on The Farm and is the all-time wins leader at Stanford. Rittman has led the Cardinal to two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and 30 or more wins in each of his four seasons as head coach, including a school record 41 in 1998.
Most Games Played: When senior All-America C Kellie Wiginton (Fresno, CA/Bullard HS) takes the field against Sacramento State on Tuesday, she will become Stanford's all-time leader in games played with 232. Wiginton will surpass the record set by Michelle Schneider who played in 231 games in her career from 1996-99. This will be the third all-time record that Wiginton will hold after grabbing the top spot in career putouts (1,052) and at-bats (715).
Double Threat: Freshman P/2B Maureen LeCocq (Woodland Hills, CA/Chaminade HS) has given Stanford not only a threat at the plate, but a force in the circle. LeCocq has appeared in 47 of Stanford's 48 games this season, splitting time between second base and designated player. For the season, she is hitting .264 (34-for-129) with one home run and 29 RBI. In the circle, LeCocq is second on the team in appearances (20) and ERA (1.17), posting a 5-3 record. She has pitched 72.0 innings and combined on three shutouts, while pitching three complete games. Her last outing came against fourth-ranked Fresno State, where she pitched a complete game seven-hitter, allowing only one run in the game.
Can It Get Any Closer: Stanford continued the trend of close Pac-10 games with its 2-0 victory over ninth-ranked Cal last Saturday. In 12 conference games played by Stanford, nine have been decided by 2 or fewer runs. Stanford and Cal had played two previous games decided by three runs -- a 6-5 Cal victory on March 25 and a 2-0 Stanford win on March 26.Non-Conference Record: The Cardinal has posted a 32-4 record against non-conference opponents this season, after splitting a doubleheader with Fresno State last week. 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. while compiling seven wins at home and four on the road and at neutral sites.
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.
Scouting Sacramento State: Sacramento State (20-21, 5-13) will arrive at the Stanford Softball Complex on Tuesday after dropping two of three games at home against Pacific last weekend. In Hornets' only victory, was a 5-4, nine-inning win in game two. This will be the first non-conference game for Sacramento State since sweeping a doubleheader from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 23. Versus Pac-10 schools, the Hornets have posted a 2-3 record, with wins over UCLA (2/17) and Oregon (3/21). Jillian Bivert is the only player to play in all 41 Sacramento State games and is leading the team in hitting with a .339 (39-for-115) average. In the circle, Amy Barker is leading the Hornets in wins with an 8-11 record and brings a 2.08 ERA into the contest.
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.