May 12, 2003
Walnut Creek, Calif. - Stanford junior infielder Jonny Ash (Oakland, CA/Bishop O'Dowd HS) has been named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the week ending May 11, 2003, earning the honor for the first time in his career. In a return to his native East Bay, Ash led the Cardinal to a three-game sweep at California by hitting .545 (6-for-11) with three runs scored, two doubles, a triple, two RBI, two walks, a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice bunt. Ash also posted a .909 slugging percentage and a .643 on-base percentage in addition to fielding all five of his chances at third base.
Ash improved his season batting average to .273 and has added seven doubles, three triples and 13 RBI.
The Pac-10 Player of the Week honor was the 53rd time a Stanford player has won the award, the second week in a row and the third time this season. Ryan Garko won the honor last Monday (May 5), while Danny Putnam was honored on March 4.
Stanford (35-14, 16-5 Pac-10) currently leads the Pac-10 standings by 3.0 games over Arizona State (43-9, 10-5 Pac-10) and 3.5 games over Arizona (33-17, 11-7 Pac-10). Stanford's magic number for a share of the regular season Pac-10 championship is three, while a combination of four Stanford wins and Arizona State losses would give the Cardinal an outright title. Stanford last won the Pac-10 in 2000 when the Cardinal finished in a three-way tie with Arizona State and UCLA for the league championship.
Stanford finished its 2003 regular season road schedule by winning its final 14 games away from Sunken Diamond and has won seven in a row overall. Stanford begins a seven-game homestand that will end its regular season by hosting Saint Mary's in a non-conference game this Tuesday, May 16 (6 pm) before concluding Pac-10 action with a three-game series versus UCLA this Friday-Sunday, May 16-18 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm). Friday's series opener will be telecast live by HDNet.
Stanford finishes its regular season by hosting Cal Poly in a three-game series Friday-Sunday, May 23-25 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm).