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Stanford Continues Pac-10 Series At Washington Saturday

Stanford Continues Pac-10 Series At Washington Saturday

May 13, 2006

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Stanford Cardinal (25-21, 8-11 Pac-10)
at
Washington Huskies (32-21, 9-10 Pac-10)


Fri., May 12 (6:30 pm, PT)

Stanford 5, at Washington 0

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 36-14
2006 Results: Series - Stanford 1-0 (at Washington, May 12) Stanford 5-0
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 has won four straight overall against the Huskies and needs just one more win in the final two games of the current series to end a two-series losing skid to the Huskies in Seattle

THE MATCHUP
Stanford is looking to stay hot as the Cardinal has won a season-high-tying four in a row, six of its last six games, three straight road games and taken two-of-three in each of its last two Pac-10 series (Arizona State, California) • Stanford has managed the hot stretch thanks to improved pitching and defensive during the run with a 2.35 ERA and a .975 fielding percentage over the last seven games that are much improved over the team's season numbers of 4.18 (#5 Pac-10) and .966 (#6 Pac-10) • Ironically, the team's .263 batting average over the same stretch is actually five points lower than the .268 (#8 Pac-10) overall team batting average the Cardinal has struggled to this season • Washington has a tough stretch, winning just three of its last nine contests • The Huskies lead the Pac-10 with 75 homers but rank in the lower half of the Pac-10 in all three major team statistical categories (.283, #6; 4.94, #7; .965, #7)

STANFORD SNAPSHOT
• RED HOT - Stanford has won a season-high-tying four straight games overall, as well as six of its last seven, two straight Pac-10 series and three 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 • Stanford needs just one more win in its current series versus Washington to win its third straight conference series for the first time since taking seven consecutive Pac-10 series from May 3, 2003 - May 2, 200

• THREE STRAIGHT ROAD WINS - Stanford has picked up victories at Santa Clara (5/9), Sacramento State (5/10) and Washington (5/12) in its last three true road games to mark its first three-game road win streak since the Cardinal won at UC Davis (5/2/05), Nevada (5/3/05) and California (5/6/05)

• OUT OF THE PAC-10 CELLAR - Stanford moved out of the Pac-10 cellar with Friday's win at Washington • Oregon State (11-5) is in first-place, followed by USC (11-8), Arizona State (9-7), UCLA (8-8), Washington (9-10), Washington State (7-8), California (9-12), Stanford (8-11 and 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 WASHINGTON - Friday, May 12, 2006 (Stanford 5, at Washington 0): Greg Reynolds pitched his first career complete game shutout to lift Stanford to a 5-0 win over Washington. Reynolds struck out nine while scattering eight hits and walking just one batter to out pitch Washington's Tim Lincecum (11-3) in the highly anticipated matchup between two of the nation's top pitchers. The complete game effort was the third in a row for Reynolds, who won his fourth consecutive start and for the fifth time in his last six outings. Michael Taylor (2-5, 2B, 2 RBI) had a pair of hits and two RBI for the Cardinal, while Jim Rapport (2-4, RBI) and Chris Minaker (2-5, 2B) each added a pair of hits.

• COMEBACK KIDS - Stanford has come from behind in 15 of its 25 wins, including 10 of its last 14 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 1249-611-5 (.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 .268 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 broke out of its struggles with 11 hits in its most recent game at Washington (5/12) but is still hitting just .263 during its current run of six wins in its last seven contests

• DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT - Stanford has been errorless in three of its last seven games and fielded at a .975 clip while winning six of the seven • The numbers are much improved over a defense that is fielding just .966 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 seven games with a 2.35 ERA during the period • The staff has actually not given up more than five runs in any of its last nine outings and recorded its first shutout in its most recent game at Washington (5/12) since a 10-0 blanking of Saint Mary's on May 17, 2005 (55 games)

• REYNOLDS WRAP - Stanford ace Greg Reynolds has posted three consecutive complete game victories in his last three outings to become the first Stanford pitcher to throw three or more straight complete games since Jeremy Guthrie tossed four in a row (the last three victories) from April 26 - May 17, 2002 • Reynolds has also won straight starts and five of his last six • 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 and Washington ace Tim Lincecum with his first career complete game shutout in a 5-0 Stanford victory on May 12

• 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

• HOT HITTERS - Randy Molina and Michael Taylor both have current six-game hit streaks with Molina's tying a career-best

• STURDY SENIORS - Three of Stanford's four seniors have started all but one possible game between them • Position players Chris Minaker and Chris Lewis have each started all 46 contests with Minaker playing every inning at shortstop • Pitcher Matt Manship has made starts in 12 of the team's 13 weekend pitching rotations

• ROOKIE CLASS - Jason Castro (28), Joey August (27) 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

• 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 2482-1544-32 (.616)

• 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, May 6 • 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 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
Friday, May 12
Stanford 5, at Washington 0

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