May 12, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Stanford Cardinal (24-21, 7-11 Pac-10)
at
Washington Huskies (32-20, 9-9 Pac-10)
Fri., May 12 (6:30 pm, PT) - RHP Greg Reynolds (5-3, 3.49) vs. RHP Tim Lincecum (11-2, 1.93)
Live Game Coverage: Webcast
Sat., May 13 (2 pm, PT) - TBA vs. RHP Kyle Parker (3-1, 5.81)
Live Game Coverage: Webcast
Sun., May 14 (1 pm, PT) - TBA vs. RHP Elliott Cribby (6-5, 2.90)
Live Game Coverage: Webcast
STANFORD-WASHINGTON SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Series: Stanford 35-14
2005 Results: Series - Stanford 3-0 (at Stanford, April 22-24) Stanford 2-1, Stanford 10-6, Stanford 6-3
Last Meeting At Washington: Series - Washington 2-1 (May 7-9, 2004) Washington 3-2 (10), Stanford 7-2, Washington 9-2
Series Notes: Stanford is coming off a sweep of the Huskies at Sunken Diamond last season but Washington has won four of the last six games played in Seattle, taking two-of-three in each of the last two series (2003, 2005) between the clubs in the Emerald City
THE MATCHUP
Stanford is looking to stay hot as the Cardinal has won five of its last six games, two straight on the road and taken two-of-three in each of its last two Pac-10 series (Arizona State, California) heading into today's contest Stanford has managed the hot stretch thanks to improved pitching and defensive during the run with a 2.70 ERA and a .975 fielding percentage over the last six games that are much improved over the team's season numbers of 4.27 (#5 Pac-10) and .965 (#6 Pac-10) Ironically, the team's .254 batting average over the same stretch is actually 12 points lower than the .266 (#8 Pac-10) overall team batting average the Cardinal has struggled to this season Washington has won just three of its last eight games The Huskies lead the Pac-10 with 74 homers but rank in the lower half of the Pac-10 in all three major team statistical categories (.284, #6; 4.94, #7; .964, #7)
STANFORD SNAPSHOT
PLAYING MUCH BETTER - Stanford has won three straight games overall, as well as five of its last six, two straight Pac-10 series and two consecutive road games
TWO STRAIGHT PAC-10 SERIES WINS - Stanford has won each of its last two Pac-10 series against California (5/5-7) and Arizona State (4/28-30), marking the first time the Cardinal has won back-to-back conference series since ending the 2004 regular season with series wins over USC and Arizona State The Cardinal had gone over two months without winning a series since taking two-of-three at Fresno State (2/24-26), running its series losing streak to five in a row (at USC, Washington State, USC, at Oregon State, at Arizona)
BACK-TO-BACK ROAD WINS - Stanford picked up non-conference victories at Santa Clara (5/9) and Sacramento State (5/10) to win back-to-back victories in true road games for the first time since winning three in a row at UC Davis (5/2/05), Nevada (5/3/05) and California (5/6/05)
A QUICK LOOK AT THE PAC - Stanford is in an unfamiliar last-place spot in the Pac-10 race in last place with a 7-11 league record but has gained significant ground on most of the field since the Cardinal sat at 3-9 at the halfway mark of its league schedule Oregon State (11-4) is in sole possession of first-place and followed by USC (10-8), Arizona State (8-7) and UCLA (8-7), Washington (9-9), Washington State (7-8), California (9-11), Arizona (6-9) and Stanford (7-11) Stanford has finished last or tied for last just twice (1979, 1993) during the 30-year tenure of current head coach Mark Marquess
LAST GAME VERSUS SACRAMENTO STATE - Wednesday, May 10, 2006 (Stanford 5, at Sacramento State 4): Brian Juhl's first career homer lifted Stanford to a 5-4 non-conference victory over Sacramento State (20-29) when he snapped a 4-4 tie with his two-out solo shot over the right field wall in the top of the sixth. Juhl finished the game 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, driving in the first run of his career with a two-out third inning single. David Stringer earned the victory with a brilliant relief outing, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits with three walks. Austin Yount pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth to notch his first collegiate save
RECENT STANFORD-CALIFORNIA SERIES RECAP - Sunday, May 7 (at Stanford 6, California 4): Chris Lewis (2-4, HR, 3 RBI) hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning and then drove in another run with a two-out RBI single in the eighth to lift Stanford to a 6-4 victory over California. Jeremy Bleich earned the win, allowing just one run on two hits and two walks over 4.1 innings of sparkling relief before a Sunken Diamond season-high crowd of 2586. Erik Davis picked up his second save of the season by thwarting a ninth inning California rally when he forced Chris Errecart to hit into a bases loaded game-ending 5-2-3 double play after the Golden Bears had already scored a run in the frame Saturday, May 6 (California 5, at Stanford 1): California evened the three-game series by holding on for a 5-1 victory. Tyson Ross earned the victory by giving up just one run on six hits and three walks, while striking out eight over the first 7.1 innings. Jeremy Burchett came on to retire Michael Taylor on a game-ending a groundout with the bases loaded and Taylor representing the tying run to pick up his fifth save of the season. Chris Minaker (2-3) extended his hit streak to a new season-high 12 games for the Cardinal Friday, May 5 (at Stanford 3, California 2): Chris Minaker (3-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI) hit two solo home runs before leading off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single and scoring the game-winning run on Randy Molina's one-out RBI single to lift Stanford to a dramatic 3-2 victory over California. Stanford ace Greg Reynolds tossed his second consecutive complete game to outduel California ace Brandon Morrow
COMEBACK KIDS - Stanford has come from behind in 15 of its 24 wins, including 10 of its last 13 victories
BUSY SECOND HALF - Rescheduled games caused by earlier weather-related postponed contests and a normally more compacted second half of the schedule have combined to contribute to Stanford having its final 27 games scheduled over the last 42 days of its regular season after playing its first 28 contests in the first 72 days Stanford played 17 games in April and has 17 more scheduled for May with one contest versus Santa Clara still a possibility to be rescheduled
MARQUESS 13TH ON ALL-TIME WIN LIST - Mark Marquess has moved into sole possession of 13th place on the all-time win list for NCAA Division I coaches, reaching the mark in a win over Arizona State on April 30 He has an all-time record of 1248-611-5 (.671) and is in his 30th season as Stanford's head coach Next up on the list for Marquess is Georgia Southern's Jack Stallings, who recorded 1255 victories in 39 seasons at Georgia Southern
OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES - Stanford has had plenty of offensive struggles this season with a current .266 team batting average that is eighth in the Pac-10 and also the lowest by a Cardinal club since the 1975 team hit .262 The Cardinal has even struggled offensively during its current stretch of five wins in six games, hitting just .254 during the period
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT - Stanford has been errorless in three of its last six games and fielded at a .975 clip while winning five of six The numbers are much improved over a defense that is fielding just .965 this season after posting a .971 or better mark in each of the past six years to account for six of the top eight fielding percentages in school history
PITCHING PROWESS - Stanford's pitching has been top notch over the last six games with a 2.70 ERA during the period The staff has actually not given up more than five runs in any of its last eight outings
REYNOLDS WRAP - Stanford ace Greg Reynolds has posted back-to-back complete game victories in his last two outings, while also winning three straight decisions and four of his last five starts Reynolds was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week on May 2 after throwing the first complete game of his career and the first by a Stanford pitcher this season with a three-hitter in a 7-1 win over Arizona State on April 28 He followed that performance by outdueling California ace Brandon Morrow in a 3-2 Stanford win on May 5
Chris Minaker NAMED PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Chris Minaker was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Tuesday, May 9 Minaker hit .467 (7-15) with three homers and five RBI from May 2-7
STURDY SENIORS - Three of Staford's four seniors have started all but one possible game between them Position players Chris Minaker and Chris Lewis have each started all 45 contests with Minaker playing every inning at shortstop Pitcher Matt Manship has made starts in 13 of the team's 14 weekend pitching rotations
ROOKIE CLASS - Joey August (27), Jason Castro (26) and Cord Phelps (26) have all started more than half of the team's games, while Brent Milleville (18), Austin Yount (9), J.J. Jelmini (2) and Sean Ratliff (1) have also made starts as position players Jeremy Bleich has a team-high seven saves and had been the team's closer for most of the season before being inserted into the starting rotation for four consecutive starts at Oregon State (4/14), at Arizona (4/21), versus Arizona State (4/29) and against San Jose State (5/2) Max Fearnow, Ratliff and Yount have also seen action on the hill
IT'S SIMPLE ... HIT THE LONG BALL AND WIN - Stanford is 7-0 in games in which the Cardinal has two or more home runs
THE STANFORD 9 - The All-Time Starting 9 that represted the best of the first 30 years of the distinguished coaching career of Mark Marquess as voted upon be fans throughout the 2006 season was announced on Saturday. The team consisted of Mike Mussina (Pitcher, 1988-90), Ryan Garko (Catcher, 2000-03), John Gall (First Base, 1997-2000), Jed Lowrie (2nd, 2003-05), Ed Sprague (Third Base, 1996-98), Eric Bruntlett (Shortstop, 1997-2000), Joe Borchard (Outfield, 1998-2000), Sam Fuld (Outfield, 2001-04) and Jeffrey Hammonds (Outfield, 1990-92)
STANFORD BASEBALL HISTORY - Stanford has captured two College World Series titles (1987, 1988) and advanced to the CWS 15 times, including 13 appearances in Omaha in the past 24 seasons and a school record five in a row from 1999-2003 when the Cardinal finished as runners-up three times (2000, 2001, 2003) The Cardinal has also won five NCAA Super Regionals, 13 NCAA Regionals and 20 Pac-10 titles Stanford Baseball is in its 113th year of existence with an all-time record of 2481-1544-32 (.615)
STANFORD BASEBALL IN THE BIGS - Stanford has sent 74 players on to play Major League Baseball, including six (Joe Borchard - Florida Marlins, Seattle Mariners Eric Bruntlett - Houston Astros Mike Gosling, Cincinnati Reds John Gall - St. Louis Cardinals Jeremy Guthrie - Cleveland Indians Rick Helling - Milwaukee Brewers Mike Mussina - New York Yankees) that have played in The Show in 2006
STANFORD IN THE MINOR LEAGUES - Stanford has 21 former players currently in Minor League Baseball (Jonny Ash - Corpus Christi Hooks, Houston Astros AA Chris Carter - Tucson Sidewinders, Arizona Diamondbacks AAA Jason Cooper - Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Indians AAA Scott Dragicevich - Dunedin Blue Jays, Toronto Blue A Advanced Pete Duda - Unassigned, Arizona Diamondbacks Sam Fuld - Daytona Cubs, Chicago Cubs A Advanced Jody Gerut - Unassigned, Pittsburgh Pirates Jeff Gilmore - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Seattle Mariners A Mike Gosling - Cincinnati Bats, Cinncinnati Reds AAA Brian Hall - Unassigned, Toronto Blue Jays Jed Hansen - Fresno Grizzlies, San Francisco Giants AAA John Hudgins - Oklahoma RedHawks, Texas Rangers AAA Mark Jecmen - Lake County Captains, Cleveland Indians A Jed Lowrie - Wilmington Blue Rocks, Boston Red Sox A Advanced Donny Lucy - Winston-Salem Warthogs, Chicago White Sox A Advanced John Mayberry, Jr. - Clinton LumberKings, Texas Rangers A Chris O'Riordan - Mobile Bay Bears, San Diego Padres AA Danny Putnam - Midland RockHounds, Oakland A's AA Carlos Quentin - Tucson Sidewinders, Arizona Diamondbacks AAA Mark Romanczuk - Unassigned, Arizona Diamondbacks)
STARS AT SUNKEN - Mike Mussina took in Stanford's game against USC at Sunken Diamond on April 2 and brought teammate (and 2005 AL MVP) Alex Rodriguez with him
RECENT STANFORD RECAPS
Wednesday, May 10
Stanford 5, at Sacramento State 4
Tuesday, May 9
Stanford 8, at Santa Clara 4 (15)
Sunday, May 7
at Stanford 6, California 4
Saturday, May 6
California 5, at Stanford 1
Friday, May 5
at Stanford 3, California 2