Stanford Goes For Sweep At Washington On SundayStanford Goes For Sweep At Washington On Sunday

Stanford Starts Busy Week Versus San Francisco On Monday

Stanford Goes For Sweep At Washington On Sunday

May 14, 2006

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Stanford Cardinal (26-21, 9-11 Pac-10)
at
Washington Huskies (32-22, 9-11 Pac-10)


Fri., May 12

Stanford 5, at Washington 0

Sat., May 13

Stanford 14, at Washington 6

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 37-14
2006 Results: Series - Stanford 2-0 (at Washington, May 12-13) Stanford 5-0, Stanford 14-6
2005 Results: Series - Stanford 3-0 (at Stanford, April 22-24) Stanford 2-1, Stanford 10-6, Stanford 6-3
Previous 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 five straight games overall against the Huskies and can make it back-to-back sweps of Washington with a victory on Sunday • Stanford has already snapped a two-series losing skid to the Huskies with victories in the first two games of the current series

THE MATCHUP
Stanford is looking to stay hot as the Cardinal has won a season-high five in a row and seven of its last eight overall, as well as four straight road games and three consecutive Pac-10 series (Arizona State, California, at Washington) • Stanford has put up much improved numbers in all three primary team statistical areas during the run with a .279 batting average, 2.77 ERA and .972 fielding percentage that are above the team's season numbers of .270 (#8 Pac-10), 4.22 (#5 Pac-10) and .965 (#6 Pac-10) • Washington is in a tough stretch, winning just three of its last 10 contests • The Huskies lead the Pac-10 with 78 homers but rank in the lower half of the conference in all three major team statistical categories (.284, #6; 5.09, #7; .964, #7)

STANFORD SNAPSHOT
• RED HOT - Stanford has won a season-high five straight games overall (its longest winning since winning five in a row from April 27 - May 4, 2004), as well as seven of its last eight, three straight Pac-10 series and four consecutive road games

• THREE STRAIGHT PAC-10 SERIES WINS - Stanford has won each of its last three Pac-10 series against California (5/5-7), Arizona State (4/28-30) and Washington (5/12-14) to mark the first time the Cardinal has won back-to-back conference series since taking seven consecutive Pac-10 series from May 3, 2003 - May 2, 2004

• FOUR STRAIGHT ROAD WINS - Stanford has picked up victories at Santa Clara (5/9), Sacramento State (5/10) and Washington (5/12, 5/13) in its last four road games to mark its longest road win streak since taking five in a row from March 20 - April 3, 2005

• MOVING UP IN THE PAC-10 STANDINGS - Victories in the first two games of the Washington series have moved Stanford out of the Pac-10 cellar and into a fifth-place tie with the Huskies • Oregon State (11-6) is clinging on to first-place by just 1.0 game over Arizona State (10-7), while USC (11-9), UCLA (9-8), Stanford and Washington (9-11), Arizona and Washington State (7-9) and California (9-12) are all within a mere 4.0 games of the first-place Beavers

• LAST GAME VERSUS WASHINGTON - Saturday, May 13, 2006 (Stanford 14, at Washington 6): Stanford scored nine runs in the top of the second inning and cruised to a 14-6 Pac-10 victory over Washington. Chris Minaker (3-6, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) and Chris Lewis (2-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) both had three-run homers in the Cardinal second, while Nolan Gallagher held Washington to one run over 7.0 innings of relief to earn the win after entering the contest to start the second frame • 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 16 of its 26 wins, including 11 of its last 15 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 WINS 1250 THE GAME, 13TH ON ALL-TIME WIN LIST - Mark Marquess ranks 13th on the all-time win list for NCAA Division I coaches and won his 1250th career game in Stanford's most recent contest at Washington (5/13) • He has an all-time record of 1250-611-5 (.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 .270 team batting average that is eighth in the Pac-10 and also the lowest by a Cardinal club since the 1975 team hit .262 • However, the Cardinal looks to be breaking out of its struggles with a .351 batting average and 26 hits in its first two games against Washington (5/12-13)

• DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT - Stanford has been errorless in three of its last eight games and fielded at a .972 clip while winning seven of eight • 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 eight games with a 2.77 ERA during the period • The staff had actually not given up more than five runs for nine consecutive outings until allowing six at Washington (5/13) in its most recent contest

• 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

• 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 47 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 (29), 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 8-0 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 2483-1544-32 (.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
Saturday, May 13
Stanford 14, at Washington 6

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