April 20, 2004
Cardinal Hit The Road: The ninth-ranked Stanford softball team (34-11, 5-4 Pac-10) face St. Mary's in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday, April 20, at 2 p.m. in Moraga, before traveling to Los Angeles to face UCLA (29-6, 2-5 Pac-10) on Friday, April 23 at 2 p.m. The Cardinal will then head to the Pacific Northwest and take on Washington (30-8, 6-1 Pac-10) on Saturday, April 24 at 2 p.m. and Sunday, April 25 at 1 p.m.
Last Time Out: The Cardinal went 4-1 last week beating Sacramento State (4-0/2-0) before taking on Arizona and Arizona State in conference play. The Wildcats defeated the Cardinal, 8-0, on Friday night, but Stanford rebounded to take win both games against Arizona State (7-0/4-0) to end the weekend. Jessica Allister hit .538 for the week (7-for-13) with seven RBI. Catalina Morris also had a good week batting .438 (7-for-16) with four runs scored. Dana Sorensen went 3-1 for the week with 23 strikeouts and two shutouts.
About St. Mary's: The Gaels are coached by Megumi Takasaki who is in her first season at the helm of the program ... They are led by Jenn Arnold (.355/44 H/19 RBI) and Claudia Williams (.264/33 H/21 RBI) ... In the circle, Jennifer Eaton is 5-21 with a 2.30 ERA and 104 strikeouts while Lisa Bautista is 4-11 with a 4.57 ERA and 36 K's ... As a team, the Hornets are hitting .218 with 94 runs scored ... Stanford leads the all-time series with St. Mary's, 18-5 ... Last year, the Cardinal won its only matchup with the Gaels, 5-0, at Stanford.
Up Next: The Cardinal hit the road again taking on Arizona State on Friday, April 30 in Tempe, Ariz. Stanford travels to Tucson to face Arizona at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 1 and Sunday May 2 at 1 p.m.
Sorensen Joins The 1,000 K Club: 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 92 and career strikeouts with 1,019. She also holds the top three spots for lowest ERA in a single season. Her 1,019 K's ranks fourth in the Pac-10 in career strikeouts surpassing Cal's Leslie Partch (1979-82) who has 982. Sorensen becomes only the fourth pitcher in conference history to do so. She is 21-6 on the year with a 1.18 ERA and a team-leading 223 strikeouts. Her 21 wins in 2004 ties for fifth on the Cardinal single-season list.
Catch Me If You Can: In 45 games this season, the Cardinal are 48 of 62 in stolen bases with junior outfielder Katherine Hoffman leading the team with 16 on the year. Jackie Rinehart has 11 and Catalina Morris has nine. Nine different players have at least one stolen base on the Stanford team. Hoffman's 16 stolen bases puts her fourth in the Cardinal single season record book.
This and That: Jackie Rinehart is currently on a five-game hitting streak ... Jessica Allister's 191 career hits ranks fifth 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 along with Allister ... Dana Sorensen has orchestrated a shutout in seven of her last 11 games in the circle ... Stanford is 8-1 in night games this season ... Rinehart has occupied the lead-off spot in the lineup in all 45 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 25 career homers ranks third in the Stanford record book ... Freshman Jackie Rinehart leads the team with 56 hits ... Sophomore Catalina Morris six triples this season breaks the school record for triples in a single season (her career total is now eight, which ties her for third in career triples on The Farm) ... The Cardinal have outscored its opponents 166-76 ... Morris also leads the team in hit by pitches with eight ... The Cardinal have outscored its opponents 24-5 in the second inning ... Senior pitcher Dana Sorensen leads the staff with a 1.18 ERA and is 21-6 in the circle with 4 saves ... Stanford has posted 20 shutouts this season ... The Cardinal have played nine games where they have collected 10 or more hits (season high was 14 vs. CS Northridge) ... Morris leads the team with 33 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 in March 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 330-157-1 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.
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.