April 10, 2007
April 7, 2007
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NEVADA WOLF PACK (20-17)
2007 SERIES
Tuesday, April 10 (2 pm, PT) - RHP Austin Yount (2-0, 4.50) vs. RHP Ben Colton (1-1, 7.04)
Live Game Coverage: Gametracker
STANFORD-NEVADA SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Series: Stanford 18-8
2006 Results: Series - Stanford 1-0 (at Stanford, February 21) - Stanford 5-2
Previous Meeting At Nevada: (May 3, 2005 - Stanford 13-0
Current Game Win Streak: Stanford - 3 (February 17, 2003 - February 21, 2006)
Current Series Win Streak: Stanford - 1 (February 2DH, 1980)
Current Regular Season Series Win Streak: Stanford - 3 (2003-06)
Other Series Notes: Stanford has won three in a row in the series since the last Nevada victory by a score of 13-12 in Reno on May 14, 2002. Stanford has averaged 14.8 runs per game the last four games the teams have played in Reno, with 13-0 (May 3, 2005), 18-13 (April 10, 2001) and 16-14 (May 4, 1999) victories to go along with the 13-12 Nevada victory.
THE HALFWAY POINT
Stanford is currently at the halfway point of its 2007 regular season with 28 games in the books and 28 remaining on the schedule.
LOSING STREAKS
Stanford has dropped a season-high six straight games overall to mark its longest losing streak since dropping eight straight from March 24 - April 7, 1982. The 1982 squad came back to win an NCAA Regional and eventually finish fifth at the College World Series as the first team taken to Omaha by head coach Mark Marquess. Stanford has also dropped four in a row at home to mark its longest home losing streak since also losing four straight at Sunken Diamond from April 13-20, 1995, as well as three straight on the road.
STANFORD SWEPT IN BACK-TO-BACK SERIES
Stanford has been swept in its last two three-game series at home by UCLA (March 30 - April 1) and then on the road at Arizona State (April 5-7), marking the first time the Cardinal has been swept in back-to-back series since 1984 when Stanford dropped three in a row at USC (March 30 - April 1) and at home versus Arizona State (April 6-8). The sweep by UCLA at home marked the first time the Cardinal had been swept at Sunken Diamond since Arizona State took three games April 11-13, 1997. The streak ran a span of 71 consecutive three-game regular season home series.
TOUGH STARTS
Stanford started the season with an 0-3 record to mark the first time since 1989 the Cardinal had lost its first three games of the season. The sweep at Cal State Fullerton was also the first time Stanford had been swept in a three-game season-opening series in the school's recorded history. The team was also 2-5 after seven games. The 2-5 start was Stanford's worst mark after seven contests since a 1974 club began the season 2-8. Stanford has also started with an 0-6 league mark after being swept at home by UCLA (March 30 - April 1) and on the road at Arizona State (April 5-7) in its first two Pac-10 series of the season. The Cardinal has not started 0-6 in conference play since the first season Mark Marquess was the team's head coach back in 1977 when Stanford also began league action with an 0-6 mark by suffering back-to-back road sweeps at UCLA and USC.
FIFTH ALL-TIME WINNINGEST PROGRAM
Stanford is the fifth all-time winningest program in the history of college baseball with an all-time record of 2503-1565-32 (.614) in 4100 games over 114 seasons including 2007. Fordham, Texas, USC and Michigan are the only teams with more all-time wins than the Cardinal.
WINNERS
Stanford has posted winning campaigns for 13 straight seasons (1994-2006), as well as 41 of the last 42 years and 58 of the past 60 prior to 2007. Stanford is currently one game under .500 (13-15) in 2007.
MARK MARQUESS 11TH ON ALL-TIME WIN LIST
Mark Marquess ranks 11th on the all-time win list for NCAA Division I coaches with a career record of 1270-632-5 (.667) in 1907 games coached (all at Stanford). Marquess, in his 31st season as Stanford's head coach, also ranks sixth among active NCAA Division I coaches. In addition, Marquess has impressive postseason (112-52, .683, 24 Appearances), Regional (68-25, .731, 24 Appearances, 14 Titles), Super Regional (10-4, .769, 6 Appearances, 5 Titles), College World Series (34-23, .596, 13 Appearances, 2 Titles) and Pac-10 (501-333, .601, 12 Titles) records.
A LOOK AT TEAM STATS
OFFENSE - Stanford has struggled most of the season offensively with a current .276 team average that ranks eighth in the Pac-10. The club has also failed to produce much power with only 17 homers, ranking seventh in the conference. The club's 162 runs scored, 267 hits and 15 stolen bases all rank last.
PITCHING - Stanford has also struggled on the mound with uncharacteristically high ERA (5.86) and opponents' batting average (.314) marks that are both last in the Pac-10. The Cardinal has had its ERA under 5.00 for only four days this year from March 2-5.
FIELDING - Stanford ranks last in the Pac-10 in fielding percentage (.958) and has made 15 errors in its last five contests, including 11 in the team's most recent series at Arizona State (April 5-7). Stanford had been improving with a four-game errorless streak from March 10-25 and only one error in six games from March 10-30 before its regression in its last five contests, including a season-high-tying four at Arizona State on both April 5 and April 7.
TEAM LEADERS
OFFENSE - Sean Ratliff is having a big season and has been the team's most consistent hitter for most of the season. Ratliff is leading the Cardinal in several offensive categories, including batting average among regulars (.313), runs scored (31), hits (35), stolen bases (8), total bases (57), slugging percentage among regulars (.509), on-base percentage among regulars (.379), at bats (112), games played (28) and games started (28). Michael Taylor paces the club in home runs (5) and RBI (25). Other offensive team leaders or co-leaders include Cord Phelps (9 2B, 3 3B, 13 BB), Brian Juhl (4 HBP, co-leader; 2 SF, co-leader), Ryan Seawell (4 HBP, co-leader), Brent Milleville (2 SF, co-leader) and Joey August (2 SAC).
PITCHING - Andrew Clauson (2-0, 3.60, 10.0 IP, 8 SO), Max Fearnow (2-1, 4.32, 2 SV, 16.2 IP, 12 SO), Austin Yount (2-0, 4.50, 14.0 IP, 5 SO), Jeffrey Inman (2-2, 6.02, 40.1 IP, 33 SO) and Nolan Gallagher (2-4, 7.03, 39.2 IP, 29 SO) each have two of the team's 13 wins. Inman also leads the team in strikeouts while Jeremy Bleich (1-5, 5.23, 53.1 IP, 30 SO) paces the club in innings pitched and co-leads the team along with Gallagher in starts (9), and also has the lowest ERA among any pitcher with at least one inning pitched per team game played. Gallagher has the team's only complete game and only shutout. David Stringer (0-1, 3.97, 6 SV, 22.2 IP, 17 SO) leads the club with six saves and 17 appearances.
A LOOK AT THE LAST SERIES STATS (ASU)
OFFENSE - Stanford struggled offensively in the series, scoring just 13 runs (4.3 per game) and posting a .250 team batting average. Adam Sorgi (.417, 5-12, 2B, RBI), Sean Ratliff (.333, 4-12, 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI), Jeff Whitlow (.333, 1-3, RBI) and Brent Milleville (.300, 3-10) hit .300 or better in the series.
PITCHING - Stanford had problems on the mound again with a team ERA of 7.88, an opponents' batting average of .350 and 19 walks in 24.0 innings of work, inlcluding a season-high 11 in the second game of the series April 6. Brandt Walker (0-0. 0.00, 0.2 IP, 1 BB) was the only pitcher with an ERA under 5.40 during a brief outing.
FIELDING - Stanford had its worst fielding series of a season that has been challenging defensively. The Cardinal made 11 errors in the three-game series, equaling a season-high four errors in both the series opener and finale, with a fielding percentage of just .902.
POWER SHORTAGE
Stanford has hit just 17 home runs this season but does have six homers in the last seven games with Ryan Seawell (March 27, at San Jose State), Michael Taylor (March 30 and 31, vs. UCLA), Joey August (April 1, vs. UCLA) and Sean Ratliff (2, April 6, at Arizona State) providing the homers during the recent productive stretch.
SEAN RATLIFF'S BIG DAY AT ASU (APRIL 6)
Sean Ratliff hit a pair of homers for the first time in his career and drove in a career-high seven runs at Arizona State on April 6. The two-homer game was the first for Stanford since Chris Minaker hit two long balls against California at Sunken Diamond on May 5, 2006. Ratliff's seven RBI were the most by a Stanford player since Danny Putnam (March 2, 2003) and Ryan Garko (May 4, 2003) both had seven in games versus USC during the 2003 campaign, while his eight total bases were a 2007 team season-high. Ratliff hit his first career grand slam with an inside-the-park homer in the seventh inning and then blasted a long three-run shot down the right field line in his next at bat in the eighth.
MICHAEL TAYLOR PRESEASON HONORS
Michael Taylor earned 2007 Third Team Preseason All-American honors from Baseball America and is also on the Watch List for the College Baseball Foundation's Brooks Wallace Award Watch List. Taylor leads the club in home runs (5) and RBI (25), while also adding five doubles, two triples, a .284 batting average, 55 total bases and a .505 slugging percentage. After a slow start that had Taylor hitting just .216 after the first nine games, he has hit safely in 15 of his last 18 games, including a career-best 10-game hit streak from February 23 - March 11. Taylor also made 140 consecutive starts (February 4, 2005 - March 31, 2007) before not starting versus UCLA (April 1, 2007) and has started 145 of 147 possible games during his three-year Cardinal career.
ADAM SORGI TIES CAREER-HIGH HIT STREAK
Adam Sorgi played his first game in the field since the 2005 season against California on March 4 and has started 11 of the 13 games at the position since, including all nine since the Cardinal returned from a 12-day break on March 24. Sorgi, who missed the entire 2006 season with a shoulder injury, has hit safely in each of those 11 starts for a current career-high-tyinmg 11-game hit streak that also ties Joey August for the longest hit streak by a Stanford player in 2007. He is hitting .425 (17-40) with three doubles, six RBI and nine runs scored during the streak and is .388 (19-49) with four doubles, nine RBI and 10 runs scored on the season.
WINNING THE CLOSE ONES
Stanford has a 9-7 record in games decided by three runs or less this season and also won its only extra-inning contest of the season at San Jose State on March 27. The Cardinal is 4-3 in one-run games, as well as 3-2 in two-run contests and 2-2 in three-run affairs.
LONG GAMES
Stanford has clocked in at 3:00 or over in 15 of its first 28 games this season, including a current stretch of four in a row. Stanford has gone 3:41 or more seven times including a season-long 4:12 against UCLA on March 31.
CORD PHELPS DOING SOMETHING EXTRA
Cord Phelps shares the Stanford lead along with Michael Taylor and Sean Ratliff with 12 extra base hits this season, leading the club in both doubles (9) and triples (3). Last year, all 18 of Phelps' hits were singles.
COMEBACK KIDS
Stanford has come from behind in eight of its 13 wins this season. Stanford's biggest comeback of the year came versus USC (March 11) when the Cardinal was down 8-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning before scoring four times to the game at 8-8 and six more in the eighth in an eventual 14-9 win.
CAREER-BEST HIT STREAKS
Stanford has had 10 players post career-best hit streaks this season with Joey August (11) and Adam Sorgi (11) leading the way, followed by Michael Taylor (10), Adam Gaylord (8), Brian Juhl (6), Sean Ratliff (6), Toby Gerhart (5), Brent Milleville (5), Brendan Domaracki (4) and Austin Yount (3). The streaks by Sorgi and Gerhart are currently active.
SUNDAY SUCCESS
Stanford won six straight Sunday games from February 11 - March 25 before having its run snapped with a loss to UCLA in its most recent Sunday contest on April 1. Stanofrd is 6-2 overall on Sundays in 2007.
UP NEXT
Stanford will return home for 10 of its next 13 games after Tuesday's contest at Nevada and won't play outside the Bay Area again until visiting Washington State for a three-game series May 5-7. The stretch begins with four straight games at Sunken Diamond against league leader Arizona (April 13-15) and Santa Clara (April 17). Stanford will then travel across the Bay to play California in a three-game set (April 20-22) before returning home for six more contests against San Jose State (April 24), Fresno State (April 25), Oregon State (April 27-29) and Santa Clara (May 1).
CATCH THE CARDINAL ON TV
Stanford has three upcoming televised games, beginning with back-to-back televised contests versus Oregon State on April 27 (CSTV) and April 28 (Fox Sports Net). The Stanford-Washington game on May 13 will also be televised by CSTV.
SUNKEN DIAMOND - HOME SWEET HOME
Sunken Diamond has served as a host site for 13 NCAA Regionals, as well as NCAA Regionals on five occasions. Stanford has clinched 10 of its 15 trips to the College World Series at Sunken Diamond. Stanford has also made Sunken Diamond a tough place for opponents in recent years, winning at least 17 games at home in each of the last 11 seasons prior to 2007 with an amazing 302-91 (.768) record during the stretch. Stanford is 10-6 at home this season.
2006 STANFORD-NEVADA GAMES
February 21, 2006 - at Stanford 5, Nevada 2
David Stringer faced the minimum number of batters and pitched a one-hitter through the first five innings to lead Stanford to a 5-2 victory over Nevada in a non-conference game at Sunken Diamond. Making his first collegiate start on the mound, Stringer allowed a leadoff single to prep Durell Williams and then got 15 consecutive outs before Leo Radkowski reached on an error to start the sixth. Stringer (5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 7 SO) struck out seven batters - including two each in the third, fourth and fifth innings - without issuing a walk to earn the victory.
Relievers Austin Yount (2.2 IP, 1 BB, 2 SO) and Jeremy Bleich (1.0 IP, 1 SO) closed out the victory with Bleich picking up the save by setting down the Wolf Pack in order in the top of the ninth. Yount got Stringer out of a jam in the sixth inning, recording the final two outs of the frame after coming in with two runs already across, another runner on first base and the tying run at the plate.
Michael Taylor (2-3, 2 RBI) and Chris Minaker (2-4) had two hits each for the Cardinal, who won for the third straight time.
Stanford jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with two runs in both the bottom of the first and second innings.
Jim Rapoport started Stanford's first with a one-out walk, moved to second on a Minaker single and scored on an RBI single from Taylor. John Hester was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before Brent Milleville's sacrifice fly plated Minaker.
The Cardinal took advantage of a key Nevada error to score twice in the second. Brian Juhl drew a leadoff walk and Rapoport singled two batters later to put runners on first and second with one out. Minaker then dribbled a slow roller to the right side that Wolf Pack second baseman David Ciarlo threw away while trying to get Minaker on a bang-bang play at first. Minaker was credited with an infield single and Juhl came all the way home to score on Ciarlo's throwing error, while Minaker and Rapoport moved to second and third. Taylor then hit a ball into shallow center field that Ciarlo chased down from his second base position but Rapoport hustled home ahead of his throw to score an unearned run.
Nevada got both of its runs in the game off Stringer in the sixth. Radkowski reached safely to start the inning when he hit a routine groundball to Cord Phelps that the Cardinal third baseman couldn't get a handle on in time to make a play at first base. Ryan Foley followed two batters later with an RBI triple to rightcenter field to score Radkowski and Williams bounced a single up the middle to plate Foley and end Stringer's afternoon before Yount came in to shut the door.
Nevada was able to get runners on in both the seventh and eighth innings but could advance them no further than first base.
Williams (2-4, RBI, SB) had two of Nevada's three hits.
Quote of the Day ... "This was a dream come true for me. I was a little nervous, but it was more fun and exciting than anything else." - David Stringer
STANFORD HEAD COACH MARK MARQUESS
One of the nation's premier collegiate coaches and the winningest coach in Stanford Baseball history, Mark Marquess is in his 31st season at the helm of the Cardinal and his 39th associated with the program in 2007. Marquess has won more games than any coach in any sport ever at Stanford with the amazing numbers he has posted during his long tenure on The Farm. Marquess has a 1270-632-5 (.667) all-time record in 1907 career games, as well as equally impressive marks in postseason (112-52, .683), NCAA Regional (68-25, .731), NCAA Super Regional (10-4, .714), CWS (34-23, .596) and Pac-10 (501-333, .601) action. He is currently ranked sixth among all active NCAA Division I coaches in victories and 11th on the all-time list among Division I coaches. Marquess became the 23rd coach in the history of NCAA Division I baseball to reach the 1000-win mark with a victory over Florida State on February 9, 2001. Just over two years later, he picked up win No. 1100 versus Nevada on February 17, 2003. He became the 16th NCAA Division I head baseball coach to win 1200 collegiate games just over another two years after that when the Cardinal defeated California at Sunken Diamond on March 5, 2005. He also won his 100th career postseason game in Stanford's NCAA Super Regional clinching victory over Long Beach State (June 7, 2003). The 1969 Stanford graduate has led the Cardinal to two CWS titles and three runner-up showings in five CWS championship appearances, as well as 13 College World Series trips, five NCAA Super Regional titles, 14 NCAA Regional championships and 12 Pac-10 crowns (includes Southern Division and shared titles). Stanford's two CWS championships under Marquess came in back-to-back fashion in 1987 and 1988 as the Cardinal is just one of four teams to have ever won back-to-back Division I College World Series titles. The three runner-up showings have all come this decade with the Cardinal taking second in Omaha in 2000, 2001 and 2003. Maybe even more amazing, all 13 teams that Marquess has taken to the College World Series have won at least one game. Stanford has qualified for the NCAA Championships 24 times in the first 30 seasons under Marquess with a current school record run of 13 straight appearances in postseason play. He has been named NCAA Coach of the Year three times and has received Pac-10 or Pac-10 Southern Division Coach of the Year honors on nine occasions, most recently with his Pac-10 selection in 2003. The Cardinal has also recorded 29 winning seasons in the first 30 campaigns under his leadership. His clubs have finished either first or second in the prestigious Pacific-10 (formerly Pac-10 Southern Division) 22 times in the last 26 seasons including 2006. Stanford has had 134 players drafted by professional baseball in the past 22 campaigns, including 18 in the last 20 years that were drafted either in the first round or as a Compensation A pick. Stanford has had more first round picks (6) since 2000 than any other school in the nation, most recently with the selection of Greg Reynolds as the No. 2 overall pick in 2006. A member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Marquess was the head coach of the 1988 United States Olympic baseball team that captured the gold medal. He was also an accomplished football and baseball standout on The Farm, and is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. He is one of only 10 people to have ever both played and coached in the College World Series. Marquess was the starting first baseman and a First Team All-American on Stanford's 1967 CWS squad and played four seasons in the minor leagues with the Chicago White Sox organization.
STANFORD COACHING STAFF
Dean Stotz is in his 31st season with Stanford Baseball and his eighth as the team's associate head coach after he was promoted to the position prior to the 2000 season following 23 years of service as an assistant. Stotz currently coaches third base while also handling various offensive and defensive aspects of the game. Tom Kunis is in his eighth season as Stanford's pitching coach, while Dave Nakama is also in his eighth campaign over two stints as an assistant.