Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
May 24, 2005
at
No. 24 USC Trojans (34-18, 13-8 Pac-10)
Friday, May 27 (7 pm, PT)
LHP Mark Romanczuk (5-5, 4.22) vs. RHP Ian Kennedy (10-2, 2.55)
Saturday, May 28 (2 pm, PT)
RHP Jeff Gilmore (9-2, 3.61) vs. LHP Jack Spradlin (5-3, 4.39)
Sunday, May 29 (1 pm, PT)
TBA vs. RHP Brett Bannister (4-2, 4.81)
FRIDAY-SUNDAY'S LIVE GAME COVERAGE
Audio Broadcast: KZSU 90.1 FM/gostanford.com/kzsu.stanford.edu (Sean Bruich)
Gametracker: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
STANFORD-USC SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Series: USC 201-155-3
2005 Results: Series - Stanford 2-1 (Non-Conference at Stanford, February 25-27) Stanford 6-0, Stanford 4-3, USC 8-2
2004 Results: Series - Stanford 4-2 (Non-Conference at USC, May 5-7) Stanford 10-2, Stanford 8-7 (13 inn.), UISC 11-8; (Conference at Stanford, May 21-23) USC 9-3, Stanford 5-4, Stanford 8-2
Series Notes: Stanford has won eight consecutive season series and seven straight regular season three-game sets against USC Stanford has posted a 41-14 record against the Trojans since the season series win streak began in 1997 after the Trojans had swept all six games between the clubs in 1996 The last time the Trojans won a series against the Cardinal was from April 20-22 in Los Angeles when USC took two-of-three games Earlier this season, Stanford won two-of-three when the teams played three non-conference games at Stanford (February 25-27) and will need to do the same this Friday-Sunday to keep both long streaks going Mark Romanczuk pitched a four-hit complete game shutout with a season-high 12 strikeouts in a 6-0 Cardinal win in the first 2005 meeting between the clubs On Saturday, Jim Rapoport scored the game-winning run when John Mayberry, Jr. beat out a potential inning-ending double play for an RBI fielders choice in a 4-3 Stanford victory USC avoided being swept with an 8-2 victory in Sunday's series finale
STANFORD NOTES
Pac-10 Update
Stanford is currently tied for fifth in the Pac-10 with an 11-10 league mark after dropping two-of-three games in its most recent and final home series of the season versus Arizona last Friday-Sunday (May 20-22) Stanford has an opportunity to move up at least one spot in the standings when the Cardinal travels to third-place USC (13-8 Pac-10) in its final regular season series this Friday-Sunday but will need a sweep to move past the Trojans in the standings Stanford has dropped four of its first seven conference series with the four series losses (Oregon State, at Arizona State, at California, Arizona) marking the first time since 1993 and since the conference reduced its number of series to eight (from 10) with the Pac-10 North and South Division merger in 1999 that Stanford has lost more than three series in a season Oregon State has finished its Pac-10 slate with a 19-5 conference record and has assured itself of at least a co-title Arizona (16-5 Pac-10) can pick up a co-title by sweeping California (11-10 Pac-10) this Friday-Sunday in Tucson Arizona State (12-9) is in fourth-place one game ahead of the Cardinal and Golden Bears Washington (9-12 Pac-10), UCLA (4-17 Pac-10) and Washington State (1-20 Pac-10) are seventh, eighth and ninth 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 a total of 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 but will not finish in the top two this season for the first time since a sixth-place showing in 1993 Stanford was picked in a preseason poll of the Pac-10 coaches to win the conference title again in 2005
Home Sweet Home
Stanford finished its 2005 regular season home schedule with a 22-10 record at Sunken Diamond and is 62-16 overall (.795) in its last 78 games on The Farm
Winners
Stanford has reached the 30-win mark and assured itself of a winning campaign for the 12th straight season in 2005 Stanford has also had winning campaigns in 40 of the last 41 years and 57 of the past 59 The Cardinal has also won 40 or more games in a school record 10 consecutive campaigns but still needs nine more victories this season to extend the string
Stanford Unranked For First Time Since 1993
Stanford dropped out of the Baseball America rankings for the first time since the final poll of the 1993 season on May 16 (a span of 227 consecutive polls) and was unranked this Monday for the second consecutive week Stanford is still ranked No. 25 in the Sports Weekly/ESPN poll, moving down three spots Stanford is unranked in both the Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA polls Stanford has been ranked No. 1 in the Baseball America poll at some point during seven of the last eight campaigns prior to this season but has not reached the top in 2005 with No. 6 the highest ranking the Cardinal has attained Tulane held onto its top spot in the Collegiate Baseball, Sports Weekly/ESPN and NCBWA polls this week, while Cal State Fullerton retained its No. 1 ranking on the Baseball America list
This Week's Opponent
(USC) The Trojans are ranked No. 24 in the nation by Baseball America with a 34-18 overall record and are in third-place in the Pac-10 with a 13-8 conference mark USC managed to take the final game of a hard-fought series at league-leader Oregon State last Friday-Sunday The Trojans had pulled off five straight wins prior to going 2-3 in five games last week, which included a split of a pair of non-conference contests at Notre Dame (May 17-18) USC is hitting just .288 but has a solid pitching staff that ranks third in the Pac-10 with a 4.01 ERA, while fielding at a respectable .974 clip that is fourth in the conference Jeff Clement leads USC in most offensive categories, including batting average (.358), homers (11) and RBI (44) Ian Kennedy (10-2, 2.55 ERA, 135 SO, 95.1 IP) leads the Pac-10 in strikeouts, while ranking tied for second in victories and fourth in earned run average
2005 Stanford vs. USC
(February 25 - at Stanford 6, USC 0) Mark Romanczuk pitched the first complete game shutout of his collegiate career and struck out 12, while allowing just four hits in a 6-0 Stanford victory. Chris Minaker (4-4, 2 2B, RBI) led the Cardinal offense in the opener of a non-conference series.
(February 26 - at Stanford 4, USC 3) Jim Rapoport scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning when John Mayberry, Jr. beat out a potential inning-ending double play for an RBI fielders choice in a 4-3 Stanford win. Chris Minaker drove in a pair of runs for the Cardinal, while Billy Hart was 3-for-4 for USC.
(February 27 - USC 8, at Stanford 2) USC avoided a sweep and handed Stanford its first loss of the season with an 8-2 victory over the Cardinal. Brett Bannister earned the victory by holding the Cardinal scoreless for the first 5.0 innings as the Trojans pushed across the game's first eight runs. Four players from each team had two hits each as the Cardinal actually outhit the Trojans, 12-10.
2004 Stanford vs. USC
(March 5 - Stanford 10, at USC 2) Mark Romanczuk pitched 7.0 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, while Donny Lucy (3-4, SB) led the Cardinal offense in a 10-2 victory over USC in a non-conference series-opener.
(March 6 - Stanford 8, at USC 7 ... 13 inn.) Stanford rallied for a dramatic 8-7 comeback win in 13 innings in a four-hour, 30-minute marathon. Danny Putnam's two-out RBI single in the top of the 13th inning brought home Jonny Ash with the game-winning run. Stanford had trailed 7-3 before scoring four runs in the top of the ninth to sent the game into extra innings. Putnam and Ash both homered in the contest with Ash's a two-run shot that keyed the Cardinal ninth.
(March 7 - at USC 11, Stanford 8) A ninth inning rally by Stanford fell short as USC held on for an 11-8 victory over the Cardinal to avoid being swept. The Cardinal trailed by four runs heading into the ninth inning for the second consecutive game but were unable to complete the comeback as it did the previous day. Stanford did bring the tying run to the plate but Sam Fuld's line drive was snared by USC first baseman Joey Metropoulos to end the game. Blake Sharpe (3-4, 2B, SB) and Jeff Clement (3-5) had three hits each for the Trojans, while Stanford had three players - Brian Hall (3-5, 2B, RBI), John Mayberry, Jr. (3-5, 2B) and Sam Fuld (3-6, RBI) - picked up three hits each.
(May 21 - USC 9, at Stanford 3) Stanford had its 16-game home win streak snapped and lost for just the second time at home in 2004 with a 9-3 loss to USC in the opener of a Pac-10 series. Ian Kennedy picked up the victory, allowing just two runs while spreading out seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts over the first 6.0 innings. Jon Brewster (3-5, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI) and Billy Hart (3-5, 2 RBI) had three hits each for the Trojans, while Jed Lowrie (3-4, 2 RBI) and Jonny Ash (3-5, 2 2B) posted three-hit games for the Cardinal.
(May 22 - at Stanford 5, USC 4) Stanford scored twice on a dramatic play in the bottom of the eighth inning to earn a 5-4 comeback win over USC. Pinch-hitter John Hester doubled with two outs in the Cardinal eighth and Sam Fuld grounded a single up the middle to score pinch-runner Chris Lewis with the tying-run. Fuld came all the way around to score on the play when the ball rolled past USC centerfielder Daniel Perales as he was trying to field the ball to make a possible play on Lewis at the plate.
(May 23 - at Stanford 8, USC 2) Jonny Ash (3-4, 3B, 4 RBI) had three hits and tied a career-high with four RBI to lead Stanford to an 8-2 game in the rubber game of the series, while Matt Leva picked up the victory with 4.0 hitless innings of work as the Cardinal starter in a predetermined pitching rotation, retiring 12 of the 13 batters he faced.
Last Series vs. Arizona
(May 20 - Arizona 9, at Stanford 4) Arizona scored six runs in the third inning and never trailed in a 9-4 win over Stanford before a season-high crowd of 3223 on Town & Country Village Fireworks night in a game televised live by College Sports Television. Stanford starter Jeff Gilmore suffered just his second loss of the season by allowing career-highs of nine runs, eight earned runs and 13 hits. Arizona starter John Meloan earned the victory, scattering four runs on nine hits and two walks with six strikeouts over the first 7.1 innings. Five Arizona players had two hits each, while three Cardinal players picked up a pair of hits.
(May 21 - at Stanford 5, Arizona 4) Chris Minaker's clutch two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth scored Jim Rapoport with the game-winning run to deliver Stanford to a dramatic 5-4 victory over Arizona. Minaker also drove in a run in a three-run Stanford fifth with a sacrifice fly, while Chris Lewis (2-4, HR, 2 RBI, SB) hit a long two-run homer well up the light pole earlier in the inning.
(May 22 - Arizona 11, at Stanford 8) Arizona jumped out to an early seven-run lead and held off a Stanford comeback in the series rubber game. The Wildcats broke a 2-2 tie with a six-run fourth and survived six unanswered Stanford runs at one point while collecting 18 hits that were the most off Stanford's pitching staff in 2005. Bryan Kervin (3-3, 2B), Trevor Crowe (3-6, 3B, RBI) and Nick Hundley (3-6) had three hits each for the Wildcats, while Jed Lowrie (3-4, 2B, 3 RBI) and Adam Sorgi (3-5, HR, RBI) collected three hits a piece for Stanford.
Big Crowds Versus Arizona
Stanford drew its biggest crowds of the season for its final regular season home series of 2005 against Arizona May 20-22, drawing 8460 fans for the three-game set The series-opening Town & Country Village Fireworks Night drew a season-high 3223 spectators, followed by 2076 for Saturday's contest and the second-biggest crowd of the year (3161) for Fan Appreciation/Senior Day on Sunday
Pitching Staff Going For Another Under 4.00 ERA Season
Stanford's pitching staff has a current team ERA of 3.82 that would make it four of the past six years that the club has recorded an ERA under 4.00 Prior to allowing 19 earned runs in its most recent three-game series versus Arizona, Stanford's pitching staff had given up just 19 earned runs in previous 94.1 innings of work over 10 games (May 2-17) for a 1.81 ERA during the run The 10-game stretch was highlighted by a string of 37.0 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run from April 26 - May 7, a streak that started with the final inning of a game versus Santa Clara on April 26 and lasted through the ninth inning of Stanford's game at California on May 7 Stanford had three of its five shutouts this season during the span, posting back-to-back blankings at UC Davis (May 2) and Nevada (May 3) before shutting out Saint Mary's (May 10) in its most recent contest The back-to-back shutouts marked the first time Stanford had accomplished the feat holding San Jose State and UCLA scoreless in two straight games on April 23 and 26, 1996
Month Of May
Stanford has traditionally played some of its best baseball in May but has struggled to a 7-6 mark in its 13 games in May 2005 The Cardinal is still 83-24 (.776) in May games since the Pac-10 North and South Divisions merged prior to the 1999 campaign
Head Coach Mark Marquess 15th On All-Time Win List
Head coach Mark Marquess, in his 29th season at the helm of the Stanford program, is now in 15th place on the all-time win list with career record of 1221-586-5 (.675) 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 also currently ranked eighth among active Division I coaches in wins with all of them coming at Stanford
Jeff Gilmore
Jeff Gilmore has turned into the team's top starter this season, leading the squad (#4T Pac-10) in wins with a 9-2 record Also has posted a 3.61 ERA (#9 Pac-10) and a .245 opponents' batting average (#10 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 (102.1 IP, #3 Pac-10), while co-leading the team in complete games (2), starts (15, #4T Pac-10) and strikeouts (75, #9T Pac-10) Has been the team's No. 1 starter since April 22 Earned his first career Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week selection on May 10 after going 2-0 without giving up an earned run in 10.0 innings for the week of May 2-9 Ranks tied for ninth on Stanford's all-time won-loss percentage list (.826) with a 19-4 career record
Jed Lowrie
Stanford's National Player of the Year candidate (USA Baseball Golden Spikes Watch List, Wallace Award Watch List) and First Team Preseason All-American has put up solid offensive numbers this season, leading the team in homers (12, #4T Pac-10), RBI (61, #3T Pac-10, #29T NCAA), slugging percentage (.595, #7 Pac-10), total bases (116), sacrifice flies (10, #1 Pac-10), walks (36, #4T Pac-10) and multiple-RBI games (18) Defensively, he ranks second on the team in both assists (150, #5 Pac-10) and fielding double plays (38, #8 Pac-10) while fielding at a .977 clip with just six errors in 256 defensive chances
John Mayberry, Jr.
Stanford's First Team Preseason All-American paces the club in multiple-hit games (22), while ranking second in hits (64), RBI (48, #8 Pac-10), doubles (17, #6T Pac-10) and multiple-RBI contests (13), as well as tied for second in homers (6) Defensively, he leads the Pac-10 in putouts (472) and the squad in fielding double plays (43, #3 Pac-10), while making just two errors in 501 defensive chances (#4 Pac-10) for a .996 fielding percentage (#9 Pac-10) Has hit safely in eight of his last nine games
Jim Rapoport
Leads the team with a .425 on-base percentage, 13 stolen bases (#9T Pac-10) and six sacrifice bunts (6, #8T Pac-10), while ranking second in walks (32, #8T Pac-10) and third in batting average (.323) Walked a career-high and team-season-high five times that was one shy of the NCAA single-game record at UC Davis (May 2) Raised his average 168 points from .224 to a season-high .392 during a stretch in which he hit safely in 19 of 20 games from February 27April 17, including a career-high and team season-high 13-game hit streak from March 26 - April 17 (.521, 25-48)
Chris Minaker
Currently on a career-high 10-game hit streak (May 7-22) with multiple-hit games in his three of his last five contests Leads the team in doubles (19, #3T Pac-10), runs scored (48), at bats (219, #6T Pac-10) and assists (157, #3 Pac-10), while ranking second in stolen bases (8)
 Mark Romanczuk (5-5, 4.22) is scheduled to move back into the team's Friday starter role versus USC  | |
Mark Romanczuk
Has allowed just six earned runs in his last 26.1 innings of work (2.05 ERA), posting a 5-5 record and a 4.21 ERA on the season while co-leading the team in complete games (2), starts (15, #4T Pac-10) and strikeouts (75, #9T Pac-10) Ranks second on the club in innings pitched (98.0, #5T Pac-10) Has won 28 career games at Stanford (28-9), good for a sixth-place tie on the school's all-time win list with Bruce Mignano (1979-82)
Adam Sorgi
Paces the club with 68 hits and three triples, while co-leading the team in runs scored (48) ranking second in sacrifice flies (7, #2T Pac-10), as well as third in walks (28) and fourth in RBI (35) Posted a career-high 11-game hit streak (21-45, .467, 13 RBI) from April 17 - May 9
Matt Manship
Has a 2-0 record with team-lows in both ERA (0.99) and opponents' batting average (.227) Charged with only one run in his first 23.1 innings of work Has also recorded a team-high-tying three saves and has 15 in his career, good for a tie for fourth-place on Stanford's all-time list
Outstanding Defense
Stanford has played errorless baseball in 23 of its 52 contests this season and has a .978 fielding percentage that ranks fourth in the nation and second in the Pac-10 Stanford's current .978 mark is also one percentage point ahead of the school record pace of .977 set by the 2001 club Stanford has also played outstanding defense in the five seasons prior to 2005 with five of its top seven team fielding percentages recorded during the period
Offensive Struggles
Stanford's team batting average currently stands at .289, which is 18 points below the lowest mark the Cardinal has had in any of the previous nine seasons Stanford's current 6.5 run per game average is down 1.8 runs from last season's final average, when the Cardinal scored 8.3 runs per contest
Comeback Kids
Stanford has come from behind in 13 of its 31 victories this season The club's biggest comeback win (turning a 6-0 deficit into a 7-6 victory) came against Santa Clara on April 5, while its most dramatic was its when it came from behind 2-0 with three runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 3-2 win over UCLA (May 13) In its most recent comeback win with a 5-4 win over Arizona on May 21, Stanford won the game in its final at bat for the third time this season 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), Oregon State (April 10) and Washington (April 22, 23)
Soggy Season
Stanford has had eight games postponed due to wet weather conditions this season The weather has moved back contests versus Fresno State (January 28), Kansas (February 11), California (February 25), Pacific (March 19), San Jose State (March 22), Oregon State (April 8), Washington (April 23, start delayed five hours) and California (May 8) The Cardinal made up the first four games as part of doubleheaders, while playing the Pacific contest on March 24 and the second California postponement on May 9 The San Jose State rainout will not be replayed
Four In A Row
Stanford has put together three win streaks of four games this season but has yet to win five straight contests The Cardinal won four in a row from February 6-13, April 1-5 and April 19-24
Tough Time In Close Ones
Stanford has lost 15 of its 21 games this season by two runs or less The Cardinal is 8-10 in one-run games and 2-5 in two-run contests for a record of just 10-15 in an amazing 25 games decided by two runs or fewer
Day And Night
Stanford has fared much better in day games than night contests this season, going 22-12 in day games and 9-9 at night
Same Starters
Stanford has had five players - Jed Lowrie (2B), Chris Lewis (LF/RF), John Mayberry, Jr. (1B), Chris Minaker (SS), Adam Sorgi (3B) -- start all 52 games this season John Hester (C) and Michael Taylor (RF) have started 51 contests, while Jim Rapoport (CF) has been in the starting lineup on 50 occasions All of the players except for Lewis (51 LF, 1 RF) have made every one of their starts at the same position Mayberry and Minaker have played every inning at their respective spots
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 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)
Southern California Ties
With USC on the docket this Friday-Sunday, a scan of the Stanford roster reveals seven players with hometown ties to the Southern California area (Jeff Gilmore, Huntington Beach, CA/Edison HS Ryan Kissick, Pacific Palisades/Harvard Westlake HS Chris Lewis, Santa Margarita/Northwood HS Randy Molina, South Gate, CA/South Gate HS Jim Rapoport, Westlake Village, CA/Chaminade College Prep Adam Sorgi, Mission Viejo/Capistrano Valley HS Jeff Stimpson, Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union HS)