May 21, 2006
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Stanford Cardinal (29-22, 11-12 Pac-10)
at
UCLA Bruins (29-22, 11-9 Pac-10)
Fri., May 19
at UCLA 8, Stanford 1
Sat., May 20
Stanford 6, at UCLA 2
Sun., May 21 (1 pm, PT) - LHP Jeremy Bleich (4-4, 3.45) vs. RHP Tyson Brummett (6-6, 4.43)
Live Game Coverage: Audio Broadcast (Alex Gyr) | Gametracker
STANFORD-UCLA SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Series: Stanford 183-136
2005 Results: Series - Stanford 2-1 (at Stanford, May 13-15) Stanford 3-2, UCLA 4-3, Stanford 11-1
Last Meeting At UCLA: Series - UCLA 2-1 (April 2-4, 2004) Stanford 11-4, Stanford 15-13, UCLA 6-5
Series Notes: A victory in the final game of its current series versus UCLA will extend Stanford's series win streak over the Bruins to nine in a row UCLA last took a series over Stanford by taking two-of-three against the Cardinal at Stanford from April 19DH-20, 1997 Stanford had also captured the three prior series to make its current run over the Bruins 10 of the last 11 series Stanford has also won five of the last seven games between the clubs
THE MATCHUP
Stanford has won eight of its last nine games overall and six of its past seven road games after splitting the first two games of its current series at UCLA A victory in Sunday's rubber game of the series would extend Stanford's series win streak to four Stanford has put up much improved offensive and pitching numbers while winning eight of its last nine contests with a .308 batting average and a 3.14 ERA that are well above the team's season numbers of .275 (#8 Pac-10) and 4.19 (#4 Pac-10) Ironically, Stanford has even struggled more defensively during the last nine games with a .961 fielding percentage during the period compared to .965 (#6 Pac-10) on the year UCLA had won four in a row before falling to the Cardinal on Saturday The Bruins need a victory in Sunday's rubber game to win their sixth Pac-10 series in seven tries UCLA leads the Pac-10 with a .976 fielding percentage (#9 NCAA) and ranks third in the conference with a 3.76 ERA The Bruins have also shown power at the plate with 48 homers (#2 Pac-10), while hitting a respectable .289 (#6 Pac-10)
STANFORD SNAPSHOT
GOING FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT PAC-10 SERIES WIN - Stanford is looking for a win in the finale of its current series at UCLA to extend its string of series victories to four (all in the Pac-10) The current three-game streak started by winning two-of-three at home against California (5/5-7) and Arizona State (4/28-30), before sweeping a road series at Washington (5/12-14) The series streak is the first time the Cardinal has won three consecutive conference series since taking seven Pac-10 series in a row from May 3, 2003 - May 2, 2004
WINNING WAYS - Although Stanford had its season-high seven-game win streak snapped with its 8-1 loss at UCLA on Friday, the Cardinal rebounded with Saturday's 6-2 victory and has now won eight of its last nine games overall, as well as 10 of 11 and six of its last seven on the road
ANOTHER WINNING SEASON ASSURED - Stanford's win at UCLA on Saturday assured the Cardinal of its 29th winning campaign in the first 30 seasons under current head coach Mark Marquess
A QUICK LOOK AT THE PAC-10 STANDINGS - Stanford moved up one spot to fifth in the Pac-10 standings after winning Saturday at UCLA Stanford has won eight of its 11 games in the second half of league play heading into its final conference game of the season at UCLA on Sunday The Cardinal second half followed a 3-9 first half that put Stanford in last place at the midway point of the conference schedule Oregon State (14-6) has increased its lead over both Arizona State and UCLA (11-9) to 3.0 games and can wrap up at least a share of its second straight Pac-10 title with one more victory, or one more loss for both ASU and UCLA while the Beavers' magic number for an outright Pac-10 title over both clubs is two USC (11-10, 3.5 GB) is the only other team over .500 in the standings and is followed by Stanford (11-12, 4.5 GB), Washington State (9-11, 5.0 GB), Washington (9-12, 5.5 GB), California (9-12, 5.5 GB) and Arizona (8-12, 6.0 GB)
CURRENT SERIES AT UCLA - Saturday, May 20, 2006 (Stanford 6, at UCLA 2): Stanford evened its series at UCLA and won for the eighth time in the last nine games with a 6-2 victory over the Bruins. Nolan Gallagher pitched his first career complete game and struck out a career-high seven to earn the victory, allowing just two runs (one earned) and scattering seven hits with just one walk. Chris Minaker, Michael Taylor and Chris Lewis all went deep as the three homers tied Stanford's season-high with Minaker also driving in three runs. Lewis (2-4, HR, RBI) and John Hester (2-4, SB) had two hits each, while eight of Stanford's nine starters collected at least one Friday, May 19, 2006 (at UCLA 8, Stanford 1): UCLA snapped a season-high seven-game win streak for Stanford with an 8-1 victory over the Cardinal. The Bruins jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first three innings to support winning pitcher Hector Ambriz, who gave up just one run while scattering eight hits and striking out eight without walking a batter over 8.0 frames. Ambriz also doubled and contributed a pair of RBI at the plate. Sean Smith (3-3, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI) and Ryan Babineau (3-4, HR, 3 RBI) both homered to lead the Bruins' offense, while Jermaine Curtis (2-4, 3B, RBI) and Brandon Crawford (2-5, 3B) each had a pair of hits including first inning triples that set the tone for the contest. Chris Minaker (3-4, RBI) and Grant Escue (2-4) had multiple-hit games for the Cardinal with Minaker extending his hit streak to seven in a row. Jason Castro extended his career-high hit streak to eight games with a fifth inning single, while Michael Taylor was held hitless to end his career-high hit streak at nine. Greg Reynolds took the loss for Stanford to snap a four-game win streak, allowing career-high-tying totals of seven runs and 10 hits over 6.0 innings. LAST SERIES AT WASHINGTON - Sunday, May 14, 2006 (Stanford 10, at Washington 2): Stanford stayed hot by extending its longest win streak of the season to six games with a 10-2 victory over Washington to complete a three-game sweep of the Huskies. The Cardinal scored seven runs in the top of the fourth inning and then rode the pitching of winner Jeremy Bleich and reliever Matt Manship to the victory. Michael Taylor (3-4, HR, RBI), Jason Castro (2-4, HR, career-high 3 RBI) and Ryan Seawell (2-6, HR, RBI) homered for the Cardinal, while Grant Escue (3-5, RBI) and Chris Lewis (2-3, 2 2B) added multiple-hit game with Chris Minaker driving in a pair of runs 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 a complete game shutout to lift Stanford to a 5-0 win over Washington. Reynolds struck out nine while scattering eight hits and a walk. 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.
MARQUESS MOVING UP ON ALL-TIME VICTORY LIST - Mark Marquess ranks 13th on the all-time win list for NCAA Division I coaches with an all-time overall record of 1253-612-5 (.671) in his 30th season as Stanford's head coach Marquess is now just two wins shy of Georgia Southern's Jack Stallings, who recorded 1255 victories in 39 seasons at Georgia Southern to rank 12th on the current list
COMEBACK KIDS - Stanford has come from behind in 19 of its 29 wins, including 14 of its last 18 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 is also scheduled to play 17 in May
OFFENSE COMING ALIVE - Stanford has put up much improved offensive and pitching numbers while winning eight of its last nine contests with a .308 batting average and a 3.14 ERA that are well above the team's season numbers of .275 (#8 Pac-10) and 4.19 (#4 Pac-10) Stanford had its most prolific offensive series of the season against Washington in its previous three-game Pac-10 set last Friday-Sunday, May 12-14, scoring 29 runs, hitting .357 and blasting five homers Stanford has had plenty of offensive struggles for most of the season with a current .275 team batting average that is just eighth in the Pac-10 and the lowest by a Cardinal club since the 1989 squad hit .276 Stanford also has only 34 homers this season but has hit 11 in the last seven games to move within six long balls of extending its string of consecutive 40-homer campaigns to 20
HOT HITTERS - Several individuals have keyed the team's recent hot hitting Jason Castro has a current career-high nine-game hit streak, while Chris Minaker has an eight-game streak and has hit safely in 20 of his last 21 games Minaker also has three homers and 12 RBI in his last five contests Michael Taylor has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 contests
DEFENSIVE WOES - Stanford has a fielding percentage of 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 IMPROVEMENT - Stanford has a 3.14 ERA during the last nine games of which the Cardinal has won eight, compared to a 4.19 season mark
REYNOLDS WRAP - Stanford ace Greg Reynolds had posted three consecutive complete game victories before going just 6.0 innings in an 8-1 loss at UCLA in his most recent outing on May 19 Reynolds became 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 also won four straight starts prior to the UCLA loss 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 over the Huskies in Seattle on May 12, taking his second Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors on May 16
STURDY SENIORS - Senior position players Chris Minaker and Chris Lewis have each started all 51 contests with Minaker playing every inning at shortstop each of the last two seasons Both players have long consecutive games started streaks going with Minaker at 148 and Lewis at 110
SOGGY SEASON - Stanford has made 11 changes to its schedule this season due to soggy weather but is still on track to get 55 of its 56 scheduled regular season contests in
ROOKIE CLASS - Jason Castro (31), Joey August (27) and Cord Phelps (26) have all started more than half of the team's games, while Brent Milleville (20), 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 making five of his last six appearances as a starter at Oregon State (4/14), at Arizona (4/21), versus Arizona State (4/29), against San Jose State (5/2) and at Washington (5/10) Max Fearnow, Ratliff and Yount have also seen action on the hill
BIG INNINGS - Stanford has put up some big innings offensively of late with one inning of seven runs or more in three consecutive games from May 13-16 as the Cardinal put up a season-high-tying nine-spot on the scoreboard at Washington in the second inning on May 13, seven at Washington in fourth inning on May 14 and eight in the fifth inning versus Santa Clara on May 16 to come from behind to win in all three contests Other innings of five or more runs for the Cardinal this season include a season-high-tying nine-run third versus Texas (2/20), six runs in the seventh in the first game of a doubleheader versus USC (4/1), a five-run sixth at San Jose State (4/8) and an eight-spot in the fifth inning versus Arizona State (4/30)
IT'S SIMPLE ... HIT THE LONG BALL AND WIN - Stanford is 11-0 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 2486-1545-32 (.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 votedupon 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 27 former players that have either been on a Minor League Baseball roster (includes Independent leagues) in 2006 or are a member of a professional baseball organization and yet to be assigned to a team for the 2006 campaign (Jonny Ash - Corpus Christi Hooks, Houston Astros AA Jeff Bruskch - Long Beach Armada, Independent Chris Carter - Tucson Sidewinders, Arizona Diamondbacks AAA Tony Cogan - Sioux Falls Canaries, Independent 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 John Gall - Memphis Redbirds, St. Louis Cardinals AAA Ryan Garko - Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Indians AAA Jody Gerut - Unassigned, Pittsburgh Pirates Jeff Gilmore - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Seattle Mariners A Mike Gosling - Cincinnati Bats, Cinncinnati Reds AAA Jeremy Guthrie - Buffalo Bisons, Cleveland Indians AAA Brian Hall - Unassigned, Toronto Blue Jays Jed Hansen - Fresno Grizzlies, San Francisco Giants AAA John Hudgins - Mobile BayBears, San Diego Padres AA; Oklahoma RedHawks, Texas Rangers AAA Mark Jecmen - Lake County Captains, Cleveland Indians A Andrew Lorraine - Long Island Ducks, Independent 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 Darin Naatjes - Brockton Rox, Independent Chris O'Riordan - Mobile Bay Bears, San Diego Padres AA Jay Pecci - Gary Southshore Railcats, Independent Danny Putnam - Midland RockHounds, Oakland A's AA Carlos Quentin - Tucson Sidewinders, Arizona Diamondbacks AAA Mark Romanczuk - Unassigned, Arizona Diamondbacks Jason Van Meetren - Chico Outlaws, Independent)
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 20
Stanford 6, at UCLA 2
Friday, May 19
at UCLA 8, Stanford 1
Tuesday, May 16
at Stanford 11, Santa Clara 7
Sunday, May 14
Stanford 10, at Washington 2
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