May 27, 2004
Wichita, Kan. - Stanford junior catcher Donny Lucy (Fallbrook, CA/Fallbrook HS) has been named one of 15 semifinalists for the 2004 Johnny Bench Award the Greater Wichita Sports Commission announced. The award is presented annually at the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet to the nation's top collegiate catcher, as voted on by a panel of sportswriters, sportscasters, Division I coaches and scouts. The three finalists will be announced on June 3 and Johnny Bench will present the fifth annual award at the Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 30.
Lucy is hitting .317 with 11 homers (#7 Pac-10), 43 RBI and five stolen bases, while starting 49 of Stanford's 53 games at catcher. He has also added 59 hits, 51 runs scored, eight doubles, 15 walks and a team-high 10 hit-by-pitches (#9T Pac-10) to go with a .538 slugging percentage and a .387 on-base mark. He highlighted his season with a career-high 15-game hit streak (3/28 - 4/30; .458, 27-59, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 1 SB) that was the second longest run by a Cardinal player this season.
Lucy's selection gives Stanford a national semifinalist for three consecutive years. Ryan Garko became the first Stanford player to win the honor in 2003 and was a semifinalist the previous season.
Stanford will conclude its 2004 regular season schedule with a three-game home series versus No. 16 Arizona State (Friday-Sunday, May 28-30, 6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PDT) with the Sixth Annual Town & Country Village Fireworks Show scheduled to take place after Friday's series-opener.
Stanford heads into the series needing to win two-of-three against Arizona State to pick up its second consecutive outright Pac-10 title. The Sun Devils had won 11 in a row before falling 13-7 at Arizona last Sunday. One Stanford win in the series would assure the Cardinal of at least a share of the conference championship with Washington. Arizona State (39-14, 12-9 Pac-10) is currently tied for third-place in the Pac-10 with UCLA (31-26, 12-9 Pac-10) and would need a sweep of the Cardinal to gain a piece of the Pac-10 title. UCLA, who plays at Oregon State in its final regular season series next Friday-Sunday, could still earn a share of the Pac-10 title with a sweep of the Beavers if Arizona State wins at least two games against the Cardinal.
Tickets are available for the Arizona State series and all 2004 regular season Stanford Baseball home games online at gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD.