vs.
Santa Clara Broncos (18-22)
Tuesday, April 26
RHP Erik Davis (2-0, 3.49) vs. RHP Anthony Rea (3-5, 3.84)
TUESDAY'S LIVE GAME COVERAGE
Webcast
Audio Broadcast - KZSU 90.1 FM/gostanford.com (Scott Allen and Christopher Anderson)
Gametracker
STANFORD-SANTA CLARA SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Series: Stanford 175-153-7
2005 Results: Series - Stanford 1-0 (at Stanford, April 5) Stanford 7-6
2004 Results: Series - Stanford 4-0 (at Santa Clara, March 24, April 27) Stanford 18-4, Stanford 12-8 (14 inn.); (at Stanford, April 13, May 11) Stanford 12-3, Stanford 3-1
Series Notes: Stanford and Santa Clara continue a long-time series with the 336th career meeting between the teams tonight Stanford has dominated the series in recent history, winning five in a row and 30 of its last 32 outings versus the Broncos Stanford had won 20 straight over Santa Clara before the Broncos came up with a 13-9 win in Santa Clara to end the run on February 23, 2002 The only other Bronco win in the last 32 meetings was a 2-0 Santa Clara victory at Sunken Diamond on April 29, 2003 Last year, the Cardinal swept a four-game series, including a memorable 12-8 victory in 14 innings at Santa Clara on April 27, 2004 This season, the Cardinal mounted its biggest comeback win of the season versus the Broncos by rallying from a 6-0 deficit for a 7-6 victory at Sunken Diamond on April 5
STANFORD NOTES
Pac-10 Update - Two-time defending Pac-10 champion Stanford moved up into sole possession of fifth-place after sweeping Washington last Friday-Sunday to finish its first half of conference play with a 7-5 league mark Stanford is still within striking distance of the top of the Pac-10 standings, sitting 3.0 games behind league-leader Arizona (10-2 Pac-10) Arizona State and Oregon State are tied for second with 9-3 conference marks, while USC (8-4 Pac-10) is one game ahead of the Cardinal Stanford has won at least a share of a Pac-10 or Pac-10 Southern Division title in six of the last eight years and has picked up 20 conference titles in school history The Cardinal has finished either first or second in the prestigious Pac-10 a total of 22 times in the last 24 seasons Pac-10 Stanford was picked in a preseason poll of the Pac-10 coaches to win the conference title again in 2005
Four In A Row - Stanford has won four straight games to equal its longest win streak of the season After being swept at Arizona State from April 15-17, the Cardinal has won the first four contests of its current five-game homestand, beating San Jose State last Tuesday before sweeping Washington Friday-Sunday
Home Sweet Home - Despite losing more games at home this season than the Cardinal did all of last year (29-5 home record in 2004), the Cardinal is back on a roll at Sunken Diamond with six straight wins at home and an 18-6 overall mark at Sunken Diamond in 2005 Stanford, which will conclude a current five-game homestand by hosting Santa Clara on Tuesday, has a 58-12 record in its last 70 games on The Farm
Rankings - Stanford has moved back up four spots to No. 20 in this week's Baseball America poll (April 25) after winning all four of its games last week Stanford had fallen 14 places from No. 10 to No. 24 in the previous two Baseball America polls after winning just two of seven games from April 9-17 Stanford picked up one spot and is now ranked No. 18 in this week's Sports Weekly/ESPN rankings (-5), while resurfacing in the Top 25 of both the Collegiate Baseball poll (No. 22, +4) and NCBWA tally (No. 25, +3) Stanford has been ranked No. 1 in the Baseball America poll at some point in the season during seven of the last eight campaigns prior to this season but has not reached the top in 2005 with the highest spot the Cardinal has reached being No. 6 Texas is the No. 1 team this week in the Baseball America, NCBWA and Sports Weekly polls, while Tulane is Collegiate Baseball's top squad
This Week's Opponent (Santa Clara) - Santa Clara is 18-22 overall and has really struggled in West Coast Conference action with a 4-13 mark The Broncos dropped two-of-three conference games at Saint Mary's last Friday-Sunday and have lost three-of-four overall after a brief three-game win streak Santa Clara is hitting .276 as a team, while posting a 4.99 ERA and fielding at a .962 clip Kevin Drever leads the team with a .402 batting average and shares the squad's lead along with Robert Perry with seven stolen bases, while playing in 32 of 40 games with 25 starts Dustin Realini has the club's top offensive numbers among regulars (.326, 5 HR, 30 RBI) Michael Thompson shares the team's home run lead along with Realini with five
2005 Stanford vs. Santa Clara - (April 3 - at Stanford 7, Santa Clara 6) Brendan Domaracki's RBI triple in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Michael Taylor with the game-winning run to lift Stanford to a 7-6 comeback victory over Santa Clara. Domaracki (2-2, 3B, RBI), Jim Rapoport (2-3, SB) and Taylor (2-4, SB) had two hits each for the Cardinal, while John Mayberry, Jr. and Jed Lowrie both drove in a pair of runs. Stanford trailed 6-0 after four innings after Will Thompson hit a grandslam for the Broncos in the third inning before Kevin Drever and Jason Matteucci brought home two more Bronco runs in the fourth with an RBI single and a run-scoring groundout. Matt Manship recorded the victory as the third of five Stanford pitchers by shutting the Broncos out in the sixth and seventh frames, allowing just one hit and striking out two. Nolan Gallagher protected the Cardinal lead with a perfect ninth to earn the save. Patrick Overholt took the loss as the fourth and final Bronco hurler, giving up Taylor's game-winning run and a pair of hits despite striking out four of the nine batters he faced over the final 2.1 frames.
Recent Action - (April 24 - at Stanford 6, Washington 3) Stanford completed a three-game sweep of Washington with a 6-3 victory over the Huskies in the series finale. Chris Minaker (3-4, 2B, 2 RBI) and Ben Summerhays (2-3, 2B, 2 RBI) drove in two runs each, while John Hester (2-4, 2B, HR, RBI) homered and also had a two-hit game to lead the Cardinal offense. Matt Leva recorded the victory, allowing just one run and four hits over the first 5.1 innings before Blake Holler finished the game to earn a save (April 23 - at Stanford 10, Washington 6) Stanford held off Washington for a 10-6 win as John Mayberry, Jr. (3-4, 2B, RBI) collected three hits and Chris Minaker (2-5, 2B, 3 RBI) drove in three runs to spark the Stanford offense. Nolan Gallagher earned his first collegiate victory, while Matt Manship notched the save. Stanford was behind 2-0 before putting up back-to-back four-run innings in the fourth and fifth to take control of the game. The Cardinal also held off a late Washington threat as the Huskies scored once in the ninth and got the tying run into the on-deck circle (April 22 - at Stanford 2, Washington 1) Jeff Gilmore pitched his first complete game of the season and the third of his career to lead Stanford to a 2-1 victory over Washington. Gilmore allowed just four hits and struck out a career-high nine without walking a batter to outduel Washington starter Tim Lincecum, who also threw a complete game and allowed just two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out 11. Stanford scored both of its runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to erase a 1-0 Husky lead (April 19 - at Stanford 8, San Jose State 2) Michael Taylor (4-4, 3 RBI) hit for the cycle and tied a career-high four hits to lead Stanford to an 8-2 victory over San Jose State. Taylor became the first Stanford player to hit for the cycle since Edmund Muth pulled it off at UCLA on February 22, 1998. Taylor's home run was one of a season-high four hit by the Cardinal as John Mayberry, Jr., Brendan Domaracki and Jed Lowrie also went deep with Domaracki's the first of his collegiate career. Erik Davis picked up the victory as the first of three pitchers in a predetermined rotation, allowing just one run and scattering five hits with three strikeouts and a walk over the first 4.0 frames
Stanford Starts New Series Streak At Sunken Diamond - Stanford had won 14 straight regular season home series before Oregon State took two-of-three at Sunken Diamond on April 9-10 The Cardinal rebounded by sweeping Washington in its most recent home three-game set (April 22-24)
Head Coach Mark Marquess Nearing 1800th Game - Head coach Mark Marquess, in his 29th season at the helm of the Stanford program, will coach the 1799th game of his career when the Cardinal hosts Santa Clara this Tuesday with his 1800th contest scheduled to be at UC Davis on Monday, May 2 Marquess has an all-time record of 1214-579-5 (.677) On March 5, 2005, he became just the 16th NCAA Division I head coach to reach the 1200-career win mark when Stanford defeated California by a score of 10-3 at Sunken Diamond He is currently ranked ninth among active Division I coaches in wins and is 16th on the NCAA's all-time list
Jed Lowrie - Stanford's National Player of the Year candidate and First Team Preseason All-American has put up nice offensive numbers this season, leading the team in homers (11, #2T Pac-10), RBI (44, #5 Pac-10), slugging percentage (.623, #6 Pac-10), total bases (86), sacrifice flies (8, #1 Pac-10), walks (27, #6T Pac-10) and multiple-RBI games (14) to go with a .319 batting average that ranks third on the club Defensively, he has made just two errors (neither on groundballs) in 178 chances for a .989 fielding percentage while leading the team in assists (106, #4 Pac-10) and ranking second in fielding double plays (25, #9 Pac-10)
John Mayberry, Jr. - Stanford's First Team Preseason All-American paces the club in doubles (13) and multiple-hit games (17), while co-leading the team in hits (49) and ranking second in batting average (.329), RBI (40), multiple-RBI games (12) and home runs (5, tied for second with Chris Lewis)
Jim Rapoport - Leads the team with a .366 batting average despite going just 2-for-14 in the team's most recent three-game set versus Washington (April 22-24) Rapoport raised his average 168 points during a previous stretch in which he hit safely in 19 of 20 games from February 27 - April 17, including a career-high and team season-high 13-game hit streak (March 26 - April 17) in which he hit .521 (25-48) He has still hit safely in 21 of his last 23 games He also paces the club with eight stolen bases, five sacrifice bunts and a .437 on-base percentage, while co-leading the team along with John Mayberry, Jr. in hits (49)
Jeff Gilmore - Moved into the team's No. 1 starter role versus Washington on April 22 and responded with his first complete game of the season and the third of his career to post a 2-1 victory over the Huskies Co-leads the team and tied for sixth in the Pac-10 with six wins (6-1), while posting a 3.67 ERA and a .232 opponents' batting average (#8 Pac-10) that are both the lowest among Stanford pitchers that have pitched at least one inning per team game played Also paces the club in innings pitched (76.0, #4T) and strikeouts (59, #10) Also has the lowest opponents' batting average (.243) among Stanford pitchers with at least one inning pitched per team game played Second on the team with 11 starts (#8T Pac-10)
Mark Romanczuk - Has won 28 career games at Stanford (28-9), good for a sixth-place tie on Stanford's all-time win list with Brian Mignano (1979-82) and is just nine victories behind all-time school-leader Jeff Ballard's 37 from 1982-85 Romanczuk has 5-4 record and a 4.95 ERA this season, while leading the team in starts (12, #1T Pac-10), and ranking second in innings pitched (72.2, #7 Pac-10) and strikeouts (57) He is on the Roger Clemens Award Watch list for the award given annually to the nation's top pitcher
Blake Holler - Has developed into one of Stanford's top relievers, ranking tied for sixth in the Pac-10 in victories with a 6-2 record and posting a 3.35 ERA that is second on the club Leads the team with 14 appearances and has a 9.32 strikeout per nine innings ratio that is second on the club behind Nolan Gallagher's 10.23 that would be third on the school's single-season list
Matt Manship - Was finally charged with his first run of the season in his 12th outing of the campaign on April 23 versus Washington but still recorded his 14th career save to move into sole possession of sixth-place on Stanford's all-time save list Now has a 2-0 record with two saves and an 0.51 ERA this season, striking out 13 and allowing a team-low opponents' batting average of .215
Outstanding Defense - Stanford has been errorless in 20 of its 38 contests this season, including in five of its last seven games and now has an overall team fielding percentage of .981 that leads the Pac-10 and is four percentage points higher than the school record pace of .977 set by the 2001 club Stanford has played outstanding defense in the past five seasons with five of its top seven team fielding percentages recorded during the period
Offense Coming Around - Stanford's offense continues to come around from its early season woes as the Cardinal has its team batting average back up to .296, the highest its been since it stood at .324 after the team's third game of the season versus Fresno State but dropped all the way to .275 after getting just three hits the next game at Cal State Fullerton Stanford has 10 or more hits in four of its last five contests Stanford is trying to extend a string of consecutive seasons with a batting average of .300 or better to 10 in a row with the Cardinal actually hitting .307 or better in each of its last nine campaigns Stanford's current 6.6 run per game average is down 1.7 runs from last season's final average, when the Cardinal scored 8.3 runs per contest
Pitching Staff - Stanford is attempting to record an ERA under 4.00 for the fourth time in the last six seasons The Cardinal staff has a current 4.10 mark and opponents are hitting just .260 against Cardinal pitching
Tight Battle For Team Lead In Hits - Stanford has a tight battle going on for the team lead in hits with seven players having collected between 42 and 49 hits this season Jim Rapoport and John Mayberry, Jr. co-lead the team with 49, followed by Chris Minaker and Adam Sorgi (45), John Hester and Jed Lowrie (44) and Michael Taylor (42)
Comeback Kids - Stanford has come from behind in 11 of its 24 victories this season The team came from behind in two of its three wins during its most recent series versus Washington (April 22, April 23) The club's biggest comeback win (turning a 6-0 deficit into a 7-6 victory) came against Santa Clara on April 5 Stanford has also trailed at one point in victories over Fresno State (January 29, January 30 - Game 2), Kansas (February 12), USC (February 26), California (March 5), Pacific (March 20), Washington State (April 3) and Oregon State (April 10)
Soggy Season - Stanford has had seven games postponed due to wet weather conditions this season The Cardinal had its season-opener versus Fresno State (January 28) postponed, as well as series-openers against Kansas (February 11), California (February 25), Pacific (March 19) and Oregon State (April 8), and a single game against San Jose State (March 22) Stanford evened had its game versus Washington on April 23 pushed back five hours due to wet weather conditions Stanford made up the first four games as part of doubleheaders and played the Pacific contest on March 24 The San Jose State rainout has not been rescheduled yet
Winners - Stanford has won 40 or more games in a school record 10 consecutive campaigns and posted 11 consecutive winning seasons, as well as 39 in the last 40 years and 56 in the past 58 The Cardinal needs six more victories to guarantee a winning season in 2005
Omaha - Stanford has captured two national titles (1987, 1988) and advanced to the College World Series 15 times, including 13 appearances in the last 23 years and for a school record five consecutive seasons from 1999-2003
Bay Area Boys - Stanford has an unusually high number of local products on its 2005 team this season with eight players from the Bay Area donning a Cardinal uniform (Erik Davis, Mountain View/Mountain View HS Darren Gemoll, San Jose/Leland HS Zach Gianos, Menlo Park/Menlo-Atherton HS Cameron Matthews, Mountain View/Los Altos HS Rex Petrill, Los Altos/St. Francis HS Greg Reynolds, Pacifica/Terra Nova HS Ryan Seawell, Menlo Park/Menlo School David Stringer, Palo Alto/Palo Alto HS)