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Stanford Returns To No. 1 In National Polls

No. 4 Stanford And Arizona Continue Series Saturday

April 26, 2003

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Gametracker | Listen Live | TicketsArizona Wildcats (29-15, 8-5 Pac-10)
at
No. 4 Stanford Cardinal (27-12, 9-4 Pac-10)

*Friday, April 25 - Arizona 4, at Stanford 3
Saturday, April 26, 1 pm - RHP Sean Rierson (7-1, 4.50) vs. LHP Mark Romanczuk (8-0, 3.57)
Sunday, April 27, 1 pm - TBA vs. TBA
*Televised by College Sports Television Network (CSTV)

The two remaining games of the Stanford-Arizona series are scheduled to be broadcast on the air at KZSU (90.1 FM) as well as online at gostanford.com ... Chad Goldberg and Sam Stefanki will call the action ... A Gametracker with live stats for all three games will also be available from a link at gostanford.com.

STANFORD BASEBALL QUICK TEAM NOTES
After dropping a 4-3 decision to Arizona last night, Stanford will need to win the final two games of the series to keep a trio of series win streaks going ... The Cardinal has won both eight straight overall and eight consecutive Pac-10 series, as well as 15 home Pac-10 series in a row ... The last Pac-10 team to win a series at Sunken Diamond was USC when the Trojans took two-of-three from April 16-18, 1999 ... Stanford has also won nine of its last 11 and 24 of its last 31 games overall ... Stanford (9-4 Pac-10) holds a one game lead over Arizona and Arizona State (both 8-5 Pac-10) in the conference standings ... Stanford has won 16 career Pac-10 championships (includes Southern Division and shared titles) and finished either first or second in the conference 20 times in the last 22 years ... Stanford maintained its No. 4 ranking in the latest Baseball America poll released April 21 for the fourth straight week and is also ranked No. 3 by Collegiate Baseball, as well as No. 4 by the NCBWA and No. 6 by Sports Weekly/ESPN ... The Cardinal has won seven straight road games and is also 18-8 in non-conference games this year ... Stanford has reached double-digits in hits in 18 of its last 23 games and is hitting .317 (#3 Pac-10) as a team, which would rank fourth on the school's all-time single-season list ... The Cardinal has also averaged 8.4 runs per contest over the 23-game stretch ... Stanford's pitching staff has moved up a spot to second in the Pac-10 with a 4.08 ERA and has held its opponents to a Pac-10 low .244 batting average ... Stanford is 46-11 at Sunken Diamond over the past two seasons and 17-7 this year ... Stanford is looking to extend its school record of consecutive appearances at the College World Series to five.

STANFORD BASEBALL QUICK INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Carlos Quentin leads the Pac-10 with a .426 batting average and is just .004 percentage points behind Stanford's single-season record of .430 set by Tom Williams in 1971 ... Quentin is also attempting to become the first Stanford player to hit .400 or better since David McCarty finished the 1991 season with a .420 mark ... Quentin's career-high 26-game hit streak (.495, 51-103) that lasted two months (February 22 - April 22) came to an end last night as he was 0-for-3 with two walks ... Quentin paces the team in hits (63), doubles (20), walks (28), hit-by-pitches (9), extra-base hits (26), total bases (100) and on-base percentage (.535) ... Ryan Garko is the team's co-leader in homers (9) and paces the club with 50 RBI ... John Hudgins (7-3, 3.00) leads the conference in innings pitched (99.0) and strikeouts (94) ... Today's starter Mark Romanczuk (8-0) paces the Pac-10 in victories and was recently named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week (4/20) for the second time this month ... Danny Putnam has three homers and 12 RBI in the team's last five games.

STANFORD-ARIZONA PREVIEW AND SERIES HISTORY
After winning Friday night's series opener, 4-3, Arizona has won two straight games versus the Cardinal dating back to last year. Stanford leads Arizona in the all-time series, 90-51. Last year, Stanford won two-of-three in Tucson (April 5-7; W, 5-4 in 18 inn.; W, 19-1; L, 13-15). Stanford also won two-of-three the last time the teams played at Sunken Diamond (May 11-13, 2001; W, 6-5, L, 4-5; W, 8-2).

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHER NOTES

#21 - MARK ROMANCZUK (L/L, 6-1, 190, Fr.)
FRESHMAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR/FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN CANDIDATE
2003 Season Notes: Leads the Pac-10 in wins with a perfect 8-0 record, while also recording two saves and posting a 3.57 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 53.0 innings ... Did not give up a run in 9.2 innings of work last week ... Has made the third start in each of the team's last six series with today's scheduled appearance as the team's No. 2 starter his first in that slot this season ... Has been named Pac-10 Player of the Week twice in April (4/1, 4/20) ... Has one of the team's six complete games ... 2003 Individual Game Highlights: Impressive in his most recent outing versus Oregon State (4/19), earning the victory with 7.2 innings of two-hit scoreless work and striking out a career-high nine ... Credited with the win as the first of three or more predetermined Stanford pitchers in a 4-2 victory over San Jose State (4/15), striking out three and giving up just one hit in 2.0 innings ... Took a no-decision and was taken off the hook for the loss when Stanford rallied for two ninth inning runs in a game the Cardinal eventually won 8-5 in 11 innings at Washington State (4/7) ... Touched for six runs and eight hits in the first 3.0 innings of a no-decision start versus Washington (3/30) in a game Stanford eventually won, 12-11 ... Tossed his first career complete game in a 4-2 win at Arizona State (3/24) in a rubber game of a three-game set, giving up just five hits and two runs with five strikeouts ... Picked up his second straight win as a starter versus California (3/9), scattering six hits and two runs with seven strikeouts over the first 6.0 innings ... Made his first collegiate start versus USC (3/2), earning the victory after scattering four runs and seven hits with four strikeouts over the first 6.0 innings ... Picked up a win at Texas (2/22 - Game 2) despite allowing four runs and five hits in 3.0 innings of relief work ... Earned a win with 1.1 scoreless one-hit innings and two strikeouts versus Nevada (2/17) ... Picked up back-to-back saves in the first two games of the Fresno State series (2/14, 2/15), combining to throw 3.0 scoreless innings, striking out two and allowing just one hit ... Pitched 3.0 hitless innings with four strikeouts versus Florida State (2/7) to earn his first collegiate win ... Made his collegiate debut at Cal State Fullerton (2/2), striking out four and allowing just one hit in 2.1 innings.

2003 STANFORD-ARIZONA GAME REVIEWS

Arizona 4, at Stanford 3 (April 25, 2003)
Brian Anderson's solo homer with one out in the top of the eighth broke a 3-3 tie and lifted Arizona to a 4-3 victory over Stanford in the opener of a key three-game Pac-10 series at Sunken Diamond. The Wildcats moved to within one game of the first-place Cardinal in the Pac-10 standings along with No. 11 Arizona State (40-9, 8-5 Pac-10), a 21-0 winner over Washington State in Tempe on Friday. Stanford's Carlos Quentin had his career-best 26-game hit streak snapped by going 0-for-3 with a pair of walks.

Arizona starter Richie Gardner earned the victory by scattering three runs and seven hits over the first 8.1 innings before John Meloan came on to retire both batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth to earn the save.

Stanford's John Hudgins (7-3) took the loss despite pitching a complete game.

Arizona's Brad Boyer (2-5, 3B, RBI) and Stanford's Jonny Ash (2-4, 2B) were the only players in the game with more than one hit. Moises Duran also hit a key two-run homer for Arizona in the top of the fifth inning, while Ryan Garko drove in a pair of runs for Stanford.

2002 STANFORD-ARIZONA GAME REVIEWS

at Arizona 15, Stanford 13 -- 8 inn. (April 7, 2002)
Administrators from Arizona and Stanford consulted with Pac-10 officials and declared a 15-13 victory in favor of the Wildcats. The contest was suspended after eight innings on Sunday in order to accommodate Stanford's travel plans. Stanford led the contest 10-1 after two and a half innings before Arizona rallied to score 14 of the next 15 runs in the game. Chris Goodman (2-2) picked up the victory with 4.2 innings of relief, holding the Cardinal to one run and four hits with three strikeouts. Wes Zlotoff was credited with his first save of the season by pitching a scoreless eighth inning. J.D. Willcox (1-1) suffered the loss for the Cardinal. Chris O'Riordan (4-5, RBI, SB) tied a career-high four hits in the contest, while Jason Cooper (3-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) and Carlos Quentin (3-4, 2B, 3 RBI, SB) had three hits for the Cardinal. Andy Topham (2-4, HR, 2 RBI, SB) and Tobin Swope (2-4, 2B, RBI, SB) collected two hits each. Pat Reilly (3-6, 2B, 2 RBI) led the Arizona attack with three hits. Seven other Wildcats had two hits each - John Hardy (2-3, 3 RBI), Marc Kaiser (2-4, 2B), Ken Riley (2-4, RBI), Brad Hassey (2-5, 2 RBI), Brian Anderson (2-5, HR, RBI), Chris Cunningham (2-5, 3B), Justyn St. Clair (2-6, HR, 2 RBI).

Stanford 19, at Arizona 1 (April 6, 2002)
Stanford exploded for a 19-1 victory over Arizona by producing season-highs in both runs and hits (26). Sam Fuld (3-5, 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI) drove in a career-best six runs, while Chris O'Riordan (3-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI) had the first two-homer game of his career and Tobin Swope (5-5, 2B, 3 RBI) picked up a career-high five hits. Carlos Quentin (4-6, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI) also tied a career-best with four hits. Tim Cunningham (5-1) earned the victory by limiting the Wildcats to five hits and one run over the first 7.0 innings.

Stanford 5, at Arizona 4 -- 18 inn. (April 5, 2002)
Chris Carter raced home from third base on a passed ball with two outs in the top of the 18th inning as Stanford outlasted Arizona by a final score of 5-4 in an 18-inning marathon that lasted 5:19. Carter doubled to lead off the top of the 18th inning, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on the passed ball by Wildcat catcher Chris Cunningham. Andy Topham (5-8, HR, RBI) led Stanford's offensive attack with a career-high five hits. Ryan McCally (2-0) picked up the victory. Moises Duran (3-5, HR, RBI) and Brad Hassey (3-7) had three hits each for the Wildcats. Arizona's Pat Reilly set a new NCAA Division I single-game record with 29 putouts.