April 13, 2004
Cardinal Prepare For Upcoming Week: The 11th-ranked Stanford softball team (30-10, 3-3 Pac-10) will host Sacramento State (29-17, 7-1 PCSC) in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday, April 13, at 5 p.m. before taking on No. 1 Arizona (40-1, 4-0 Pac-10) on Friday, April 16 at 7 p.m. The Cardinal will face Arizona State (30-18, 0-4 Pac-10) on Saturday, April 17 at 2 p.m. and Sunday, April 18 at 1 p.m. All games will be held at Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium.
Last Time Out: The Cardinal went 1-2 last week in a three-game series with cross-bay rival California. Stanford beat the Golden Bears, 5-3, in Berkeley on Friday afternoon but dropped a doubleheader (L, 0-1/L, 0-6) to Cal on Saturday. Senior pitcher Dana Sorensen went 1-1 on the weekend with a 1.50 ERA in the circle while fellow senior Jessica Allister had a 7-for-9 effort at the plate with five doubles. Allister strung together six consecutive hits at one point in the series.
About Sacramento State: The Hornets are coached by Kathy Strahan who is in her 12th season at the helm of the program ... They are led by Lindy Winkler (.331/45 H/21 RS) and Erin Coyne (.290/40 H/19 RBI) ... In the circle, Nicole Deatherage is 13-7 with a 0.73 ERA and 111 strikeouts while Brianne Ferguson is 14-8 with a 1.06 ERA and 71 K's ... As a team, the Hornets are hitting .238 while holding opponents to a .210 average at the plate ... Stanford leads the all-time series with Sacramento State 13-5 ... Last year, the Cardinal split its two games with the Hornets (W, 5-1/L, 5-6) on April 2.
About Arizona State: The Sun Devils are coached by Linda Wells ... The team is led by Phelan Wright (.400/54 H/43 RBI) and Val Sevilla (.383/57 H/39 RBI) ... In the circle, Desiree Serrano is 15-6 with a 1.66 ERA and 177 K's while Bre DeSanta is 9-7 with a 2.29 ERA and 120 K's ... As a team, the Devils are batting .280 with 59 stolen bases ... ASU leads the all-time series with the Cardinal 18-9 ... Last year, Stanford dropped two out of three games with the Sun Devils (L, 1-2/W, 4-1/L, 0-1).
About Arizona: The Wildcats are coached by acting head coach Larry Ray, who is filling in for Mike Candrea (currently coaching the U.S. National Team) ... Caitlin Lowe has 60 runs scored in 41 games, putting her within 15 runs of checking in at No. 8 on the Arizona single-season Top 10 chart ... Platoon outfielder Allyson Von Liechtenstein continues to contribute with her bat and base-running ... The junior rightfielder is hitting .444 in 29 games played, plus scored 17 runs and stole 10 bases ... Arizona leads the all-time series with Stanford, 31-3 ... The two teams have already met twice this season (non-conference games), as the Wildcats defeated the Cardinal, 2-1 and 7-5, down in Tucson in tournament play.
Up Next: The Cardinal hit the road for their first conference road trip, taking on UCLA on Friday, April 23 at 1 p.m. Stanford faces Washington on Saturday and Sunday at 2 and 1 p.m. respectively.
Allister Named Pac-10 Player Of The Week: Stanford senior catcher Jessica Allister has been named the Pacific-10 Conference Softball Player of the Week for April 6-12, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced. She had a solid week at the plate for the Cardinal, going 7-for-9 (.778) with five doubles and one RBI. Allister posted a 1.333 slugging percentage and an .800 on-base percentage in the Cardinal's series against Bay Area rival, California. She strung together six consecutive hits over the first two games against the Bears. It is the first weekly honor for the catcher.
Sorensen Poised To Become Only Fourth Pitcher In Conference To Reach 1,000 K Mark: Senior pitcher Dana Sorensen (San Diego, CA) has already left her mark on the Cardinal record book. Sorensen holds the school record for career victories with 89 and career strikeouts with 980. She also holds the top three spots for lowest ERA in a single season. Her 996 K's ranks fourth in the Pac-10 in career strikeouts surpassing Cal's Leslie Partch (1979-82) who has 982. Sorensen need just four strikeouts to hit the 1,000 strikeout mark and become only the fourth pitcher in conference history to do so. She is 18-5 on the year with a 1.11 ERA and a team-leading 200 strikeouts.
ASA Announces Top 25 Finalists For Collegiate Player Of The Year Award: The Amateur Softball Association, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, and USA Softball announced today the 25 finalists for the 2004 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. The award, which is considered the Heisman Trophy in women's collegiate softball and is the only national player of the year award, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country. The final list is comprised of 25 players that represent 18 colleges and six different Conferences. Among those on the list are Cardinal players Dana Sorensen and Lauren Lappin. The list will be reduced to ten players on April 28 and three finalists will be announced May 11.
Catch Me If You Can: In 40 games this season, the Cardinal are 38 of 50 in stolen bases with junior outfielder Katherine Hoffman leading the team with 13 on the year. Jackie Rinehart has nine and Catalina Morris has eight. Eight different players have at least one stolen base on the Stanford team. Hoffman's 13 stolen bases ties her for fifth in the Cardinal single season record book.
This and That: Jessica Allister is currently on a four-game hitting streak ... Her 184 career hits ranks sixth in the Cardinal record books ... Jackie Rinehart leads the team with 15 multiple hit games ... Lauren Lappin is tops on the squad with seven mulitiple RBI games ... Dana Sorensen has orchestrated a shutout in four of her last seven games in the circle ... Stanford is 6-0 in night games this season ... Rinehart has occupied the lead-off spot in the lineup in all 40 games for the Cardinal ... Sorensen is one of six Pac-10 pitchers this year to record a no-hitter.
Notes From The Dugout: Jessica Allister's 24 career homers ties her for third in the Stanford record book ... Freshman Jackie Rinehart leads the team with 51 hits ... Sophomore Catalina Morris five triples this season breaks the school record for triples in a single season (her career total is now seven, which ranks fourth in career triples on The Farm) ... The Cardinal have outscored its opponents 149-68 ... Morris also leads the team in hit by pitches with eight ... The Cardinal have outscored its opponents 20-38 in the second inning ... Senior pitcher Dana Sorensen leads the staff with a 1.11 ERA and is 18-5 in the circle with 4 saves ... Stanford has posted 16 shutouts this season ... The Cardinal have played nine games where they have collected 10 or more hits (season high was 14 vs. CS Northridge) ... Rinehart leads the team with 29 runs scored.
Home Sweet Home: Stanford will be spending a lot of time in the friendly confines of the Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium during the 2004 season as they host four tournaments on the Cardinal campus. The team opened the year with two home tournaments in February and host two more this month before conference play begins.
Head Coach John Rittman: Cardinal head coach John Rittman, now in his eighth year on The Farm, will be an assistant coach for the 2004 USA Softball team, set to compete in the Athens Summer Olympics. Rittman has compiled a 326-156-1 overall record at Stanford. He has led the Cardinal to six consecutive NCAA postseason appearances during his tenure.
Top That...: The Stanford softball squad will once again face one of the toughest schedules in the nation as all eight conference teams are ranked in the preseason top 25. Four Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top five (UCLA, California, Arizona, Washington). In addition, the Cardinal will take on #6 Alabama, #16 CS Fullerton, #21 Fresno State and #22 Oklahoma State.
Listen To Stanford Softball On KZSU: The Stanford softball games this weekend at the Stanford Invitational will be available on KZSU (internet only) at http://kzsulive.stanford.edu. Sean Bruich will handle the play-by-play and color commentary duties.
Pac-10 Preseason Coaches Poll: After winning the national title last season, UCLA has been selected by the Pac-10 Conference softball coaches as the Conference's top team in 2004. The Bruins received 48 points, including six first place votes. In second place, Arizona, last year's Pac-10 Champion, earned 44 points, including the other two first place votes. California finished third with 36 points, while Washington and Stanford finished fourth and fifth with 30 and 22 points, respectively. Rounding out the rest of the poll was Arizona State with 19 points, Oregon with 13 and Oregon State with 12 points.
Lappin Tabbed Alternate For 2004 USA Softball Team: Sophomore Lauren Lappin (Anaheim, CA) was one of three alternates chosen for the 2004 USA Softball Team set to compete in Athens, Greece this summer at the '04 Summer Olympic Games. The 19-year-old Lappin makes her first appearance among the national team ranks. During the 2003 season, the shortstop/catcher led the USA Softball Elite squad to the gold medal at the Canada Cup and a sweep of Olympic bronze medalist Australia in the Pacific Challenge.
TV Time: The Stanford softball team is slated to appear on CSTV on May 9 as the Cardinal game versus UCLA will be televised. Stanford's May 14 game at Oregon will be shown on a tape-delayed basis on FOX Sports Net.