April 6, 2004
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Cardinal Take On Cross-Bay Rival California: The 11th-ranked Stanford softball team (29-8, 2-1 Pac-10) travel across the bay to take on third-ranked California (33-5, 1-2 Pac-10) on Friday, April 9 at 2 p.m. The Cardinal will then host the Golden Bears for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 10 starting at 2 p.m.
Last Time Out: The Cardinal went 2-1 to open Pac-10 play last weekend. Stanford notched a 2-0 win over Oregon State on Friday night then split its games with Oregon (L, 0-1; W, 6-1). Senior pitcher Dana Sorensen went 2-0 in the circle for Stanford, allowing only one run on five hits over 14 innings of work. She notched 17 K's on the weekend while holding opponent batters to a .114 average at the plate. Leah Nelson hit .429 over three games with three hits and two RBI. Catalina Morris notched a .333 average with three runs scored and two RBI.
Around The Pac-10: Freshman Jackie Rinehart ranks sixth in the conference in batting average (.429) and seventh in hits (51) ... Sophomore Catalina Morris is first in triples (5) and hit by pitches (7) ... Katherine Hoffman is tied for fifth in sac bunts (7) and tied for sixth in stolen bases (12) ... Leah Nelson is tied for second in sac flies (3) ... Jessica Allister is tied for seventh in HBP (4) ... Lauren Lappin is tied for 10th in RBI (30), tied for second in triples (2) and tied for fifth in doubles (9) ... Senior Dana Sorensen is second in strikeouts (184), second in saves (4), fourth in innings pitched (143.0), tied for third in wins (17), and tied for fourth in appearances (26) and fifth in opponent batting average (.156).
About California: The Golden Bears enter this weekend with a 33-5 overall record, 1-2 in the Pac-10 ... They are led by Vicky Galindo (.389/51 H/17 SB) and Lindsay James (.370/47 H/17 SB) ... In the circle, Kristina Thorson is 15-0 with a 0.84 ERA and 126 strikeouts while Kelly Anderson is 18-5 with a 1.20 ERA and 102 K's ... As a team, the Golden Bears are hitting .306 while holding opponents to a .194 average at the plate ... California leads the all-time series with Stanford 22-12 ... Last year, the Cardinal dropped all three meetings with the Golden Bears (L, 1-2; L, 0-1; L, 1-2) by one run.
Up Next: The Cardinal host Arizona at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 16, then take on Arizona State on Sat., April 17 at 2 p.m. and again on Sun., April 18 at 1 p.m.
Catch Me If You Can: In 37 games this season, the Cardinal are 36 of 48 in stolen bases with junior outfielder Katherine Hoffman leading the team with 12 on the year. Jackie Rinehart has nine and Catalina Morris has seven. Eight different players have at least one stolen base on the Stanford team.
This and That: 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 five 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 37 games for the Cardinal ... Sorensen is one of six Pac-10 pitchers this year to record a no-hitter.
Notes From The Dugout: Freshman Jackie Rinehart leads the team with 51 hits ... Sophomore Catalina Morris has proved to be a "triple threat" - the centerfielder leads the squad with four triples and has 16 extra base hits ... The Cardinal have outscored its opponents 144-58 ... Morris also leads the team in hit by pitches with seven ... The Cardinal have outscored its opponents 29-8 in the first inning ... Senior pitcher Dana Sorensen leads the staff with a 1.08 ERA and is 17-4 in the circle with 4 saves ... Stanford has posted 16 shutouts this season including one last week ... The Cardinal have played nine games where they have collected 10 or more hits (season high was 14 vs. CS Northridge) ... Rinehart and Morris lead the team with 27 runs scored.
Sorensen Closing In On 1,000 Career K's: 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 88 and career strikeouts with 980. She also holds the top three spots for lowest ERA in a single season. Her 980 K's ranks fifth in the Pac-10 in career strikeouts surpassing Arizona's Becky Lemke (1998-01) who has 916. Sorensen need just three strikeouts to move into fourth place, currently held by Cal's Leslie Partch (982). She is 17-4 on the year with a 1.08 ERA and a team-leading 184 strikeouts.
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 325-154-1 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.