May 14, 2007
Stanford, Calif. -
Stanford Softball Postseason Guide in PDF Format
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UP NEXT: The Cardinal received an at-large bid to the NCAA Softball Championships on Sunday and will be making a tenth-straight postseason appearance when the team begins play on Thursday night. Stanford was selected as one of 16 host sites for the 2007 Regionals, and will welcome Fresno State, LSU and Cal State Northridge to the Farm for the first three days of tournament action. The Cardinal will meet Fresno State in the team's first postseason contest, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. on Thursday at Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium.
ON DECK: The winner of this weekend's Stanford Regional will advance to play the winner of the BYU Regional in the May 25-26 Super Regionals at local campus sites. The eight Super Regional winners will head to the 2007 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, May 31 thru June 6.
SEASON TO DATE: Stanford enters the postseason with a 33-19-1 overall record, after finishing sixth in the Pac-10 with a 7-13-1 conference mark. On Feb. 9, the Cardinal opened the season at the Kajikawa Classic in Phoenix, Ariz., and went 3-2, with a trio of solid wins and a pair of losses to No. 4/4 Northwestern and No. 17/18 Texas. Stanford closed out the weekend with a decisive win over Northwestern State, however, and came home to dominate six games on its home field. After topping Sacramento State in the home-opener, the Cardinal went a perfect 5-0 and shutout two opponents at the Stanford Invitational to claim the tournament championship. The Cardinal won another title at the FIU/Adidas Invitational the following weekend, with a perfect 5-0 record at the Golden Panthers' tournament in Miami, Fla. The squad shutout four opponents during the weekend, behind an impressive performance by Missy Penna. At the Worth Classic in Fullerton, Stanford went 2-3, with wins over Texas Tech and Minnesota. At the Stanford Classic, the team picked up five wins and another home tournament title. At its final home tournament, the team went 2-1 and dropped its first home contest of the season to Portland State. During the first weekend of conference play, Stanford topped No. 17/19 Oregon State, 2-1, before splitting with the No. 13/13 Oregon Ducks. Stanford continued Pac-10 play against Cal, and dropped the series, two games to one, but came home to dominate Saint Mary's, 8-0, later in the week. The Cardinal was then swept by the Arizona schools on the road before winning two of three against UCLA and Washington. The team then picked up a 5-3 non-conference win over San Jose State, before going 1-1-1 against the Arizona schools and upsetting No. 4 Arizona. Next, Stanford went 1-2 on the Washington/UCLA trip, and upset the No. 12 Bruins, 4-1, before blowing by UC Davis on the road, 11-5. In the team's final regular-season weekend, the Cardinal was swept by the Oregon schools despite tallying a combined 28 hits. The Cardinal has outscored opponents 227-167 this season and is batting .275 as a team.
EVERY LITTLE HIT COUNTS: Senior Jackie Rinehart and junior Tricia Aggabao may not be the power hitters on the Cardinal roster, a lot of little hits by the pair added up this weekend. In the first two games, both hit over .700 with Rinehart going 7-for-9 (.778) and Aggabao going 6-for-8 (.750). The duo's efforts were converted into six of the nine Cardinal runs in the two games. Rinehart and Aggabao are currently two of Stanford's top three hitters, with .316 and .321 overall averages, respectively.
BLOWING OUT THE HIT COLUMN: The Cardinal recorded one of its most prolific hitting runs of the season recently, with four-straight 10+ hit games against UCLA, UC Davis, Oregon and Oregon State. Prior to the run, the Cardinal had just 11 double-digit hit games on the year, but brought that total up to 15 after the four-game streak. Despite the flood of hits, the Cardinal lost two games in the period. Stanford's losses to Oregon and Oregon State on Thursday and Friday marked just the second and third games this year that the Cardinal out-hit an opponent and lost. The games also marked just the second and third games this year that the Cardinal has notched double-figures in hits and lost. The only other contest of its kind was an 11-hit loss to Texas on Feb. 10.
A THREAT FROM ALL SIDES: Nine Cardinal players notched hits in the Oregon-Oregon State series last weekend, proving that every player on the Stanford roster can be a threat at the plate. All 13 active players on the Cardinal roster have notched extra-base hits this season, and eight players have blasted at least one homerun.
POWER PLAY: Junior Michelle Smith is responsible for most of the power in the Stanford line-up. The third baseman leads the team in homeruns and RBI with eight and 43 on the season, respectively. As a freshman in 2005, Smith set a new single-season homerun record with 19 long balls and has since etched her name among the best homerun hitters in Stanford history. On May 8, she joined Jessica Mendoza `02, Catalina Morris `06 and Jessica Allister `04 in the 30+ career homerun club.
FRESHMEN SENSATIONS: Stanford freshmen Alissa Haber, Shannon Koplitz, Rosey Neill and Michelle Schroeder have stepped in and made an immediate impact for Stanford this season. Haber is Stanford's top offensive player with a .373 batting average, a .462 on-base percentage, a .548 slugging percentage, 38 runs, 13 doubles and two triples. Neill is second on the team with six homeruns and 32 RBI and leads the team in earning free trips to first with 27 walks. Koplitz doubled in back-to-back at bats last weekend and is third on the team with a .405 on-base percentage. Schroeder has appeared mainly as a pinch runner for Stanford and has scored 11 runs and stolen four bases. As a class, the freshman have accounted for nearly half of the team's homeruns, nearly half of the team's doubles, 70 of the team's RBI, and 85 of the team's runs. Neill, Koplitz and Haber are also three of the four most likely players to get on base for the Cardinal.
WHEN THE GAME IS ON THE LINE: Stanford has been on the better side of eight of the team's 11 one-run contests this season, and has won two of three contests that were decided in the last inning. Freshman Alissa Haber is the best bet at the plate for the Cardinal in clutch situations. The Newark, Calif. native is hitting a team-high .492 (29-for-59) with runners on base and a team-high .486 (17-for-35) with runners in scoring position. She is the most likely to come through for the Cardinal with two outs, as well, with a .383 (18-for-47) average under two-out pressure. The experience of seniors Jackie Rinehart and Lindsay Key has also proved to be key for the Cardinal. Other than Haber, the two seniors are the most successful at advancing runners and two of the most likely players to hit with runners on and runners in scoring position.
SWIPING SECOND: After stealing just three bases in the previous 18 Pac-10 games, Stanford proved to Oregon and Oregon State that opponents shouldn't get lazy when Stanford runners are on base. In two games, the Cardinal swiped five bases in five tries, and three of those runners went on to score. Jackie Rinehart, who stole two over the weekend, leads the team with seven steals on the year. Nearly every player on the Stanford roster is capable of stealing a base, however, as nine different players have taken one already this year.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Cardinal is 18-7-1 at home this season, and has upset three ranked opponents at Smith Family Stadium. Stanford has outscored opponents at home by more than 60 percent (110-67) and has 43 extra-base hits there. Tricia Aggabao is the best offensive player at home. The junior is batting .400 and has four of her five doubles at Smith. Jackie Rinehart is also hitting significantly better at home, with a .360 average within the friendly confines of the team's home park.
BACK FOR ROUND TEN: The Stanford softball program will make it an even ten this year, appearing in the postseason for the tenth-straight year. Head Coach John Rittman led the squad to its first NCAA Championship appearance in 1998, and the squad has earned a Regional bid every year since. Stanford has advanced to Super Regionals both years since the round was added in 2005, and has been to two Women's College World Series (2001 and 2004). Last year, Stanford won the Fresno Regional with a 4-1 record, before falling to Alabama at the Super Regional in Tuscaloosa.
STREAK WATCH: Alissa Haber is the only player with a double-digit hitting streak this season. The freshman has recorded two of them: a ten-gamer in February and an 11-gamer in April. Tricia Aggabao recently ended a seven-game hitting streak and Jackie Rinehart went seven games in early March. Rosey Neill hit in every game this weekend, and that three-game streak is the longest current run on the squad.
CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS: The Pac-10 led all conferences this year with all eight teams selected to the 64-team NCAA field. Arizona, the defending National Champion, earned the tournament's No. 1 overall seed after winning the 2007 Pac-10 Championship. Four conference teams were seeded, and three Pac-10 teams, including the Cardinal, were selected as hosts. Stanford finished sixth in the conference for the second-straight season. Last year, the Pac-10 set a record with seven teams, including Stanford, winning NCAA Regionals. Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon State, UCLA and Washington all advanced to Super Regionals last season, with the Wildcats, Sun Devils, Beavers and Bruins moving on to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City. Pac-10 teams represented half of last year's WCWS field, the most of any conference in the nation.
ON PACE FOR GREATNESS: Senior Jackie Rinehart is on pace to do what few before her have done: finish a Stanford softball career with a batting average above .300. Rinehart enters her final postseason in a Cardinal uniform with a .340 career average, a mark which would rank third all-time. To date, Jessica Mendoza `02 (.416), Sarah Beeson `02 (.350), Lauren Lappin `06 (.337) and Catalina Morris `06 (.336) have been the only players to accomplish the feat.
SCALING THE CAREER CHARTS: Seven Stanford players, including both pitchers, have etched their names on the Stanford career top-10 charts and are continuing to climb. Jackie Rinehart's seven hits against Oregon and Oregon State this weekend moved her into fourth place on the career hits chart (250), passing greats Lauren Lappin `06 and Robin Walker `02. Rinehart is also now alone in sixth in career runs scored (124), tied for fifth on the career stolen bases chart (26), stands seventh on the career at bats chart (735), ranks ninth on the career games played list (236) and is listed eighth on the career triples chart (4), three behind teammate Anna Beardman who stands sixth all-time (7). Junior Michelle Smith's collegiate homerun tally (31) is good for fourth on the career chart and her 25 doubles stand tenth. Smith also added to her fifth place career RBI total this weekend, and now has 134 to date. The junior also remains in seventh place with 311 career assists. As just a sophomore, Maddy Coon has already made the top-10 chart with 12 homeruns. Junior Erin Howe remains fifth in the career putouts category, with 784.
PITCHING RECORDS: Although Stanford has just two active pitchers, the staff is one of the most successful combinations in Stanford history. As just a sophomore, Missy Penna stands third with 455 career strikeouts, a mark bested only by the standout careers of All-Americans Becky Blevins `99 and Dana Sorensen `04. Penna is also fifth in Stanford history with 45 career wins. She has 276 K's this season alone, the fourth highest single-season tally in Stanford history. Penna's 23 wins this year bests her 2006 total and stands fifth on the Cardinal single-season charts. Junior Becky McCullough stands fifth on the career strikeouts chart with 287 and ranks eighth on the career wins chart with 41.
MAKING A NAME FOR 2007: As a team, the 2007 squad has already posted some of the best tallies in Stanford history. Michelle Smith's homeruns against UC Davis on May 8 brought the team total to 31, sixth in the all-time team marks. Pitchers Missy Penna and Becky McCullough have combined for 349 strikeouts this season, the fourth-best team mark in program history. The team is also already one of the top-10 squads in program history in runs, doubles, triples, RBI, walks drawn, shutouts and complete games as well.
LEADERS OF THE PAC: Stanford freshman Alissa Haber finished the regular-season as one of the top offensive players in the conference, with a batting average (.373) and an on-base percentage (.462) that both made the top-10. Haber also finished third in the doubles category (13) and eighth with 62 total hits. Haber, Maddy Coon and Shannon Koplitz were some of the most likely players to be hit by a pitch in the conference, and catcher Rosey Neill led the conference in pick-offs and stood third among conference catchers in runners caught stealing. Missy Penna remains one of the top pitchers in the conference with the fourth-best opposing batting average (.194) in the league, the fourth-most wins (23) and the fourth most strikeouts (276). She also ranks ninth in the conference with a 2.39 ERA.
PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME: In Pac-10 play, freshman Alissa Haber stepped up and became the most dangerous offensive player on the Cardinal roster. The Newark, Calif. native was second in the conference with six doubles in league play and third with 25 hits. Haber also finished in the top-10 with a .391 conference batting average, a .656 conference slugging percentage, a .461 conference on-base percentage and 42 total bases. In the month of April, she hit .395, recorded nine extra-base hits and posted her second double-digit hitting streak of the season, with an 11-game run between Apr. 1 and Apr. 22. Overall, the rookie leads Stanford with a .373 batting average, 62 hits, 38 runs scored, two triples and 13 doubles.
NOTES FROM THE DUGOUT: Stanford's longest winning streak was 12 games between Feb. 11 and Mar. 2 ... The team scored a season-high 15 runs against Oregon on Apr. 1 ... The squad's 16 hits against the Ducks were also a season-high, as were the five homeruns ... The team's six doubles against Minnesota (3/4) was a season-high ... Alissa Haber leads the team with 17 multiple-hit games, and Jackie Rinehart has 15 ... Michelle Smith leads the team with 11 multiple RBI games ... Haber's 11-game hitting streak from Apr. 1 to Apr. 22 was the longest so far by a Cardinal player ... The streak was Haber's second double-digit streak of the season, as she also went on a ten-game run between Feb. 10 and Feb. 22 ... Stanford has posted 13 shutouts this season, including a 12-inning scoreless game with No. 4 Arizona on Apr. 29 ... Stanford has scored 10 or more runs five times this season and run-ruled eight opponents ... Stanford now has posted 15 games with 10 or more hits, with five of those coming against Pac-10 opponents and four in the last five games ... Jackie Rinehart's five hits against Syracuse (2/24) tied a Stanford single-game record for hits against a Division I opponent ... Missy Penna's 16 strikeouts against Northwestern (2/10) tied a single-game school record.
SCOUTING THE FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS: The Bulldogs will be appearing in their 26th-straight NCAA Tournament, and enter the 2007 version with a 46-16 overall record. The squad won the WAC Tournament on Saturday to earn an automatic bid, after coming in as the No. 2 seed and knocking off top-seeded Hawaii. Seven Fresno State players are batting over .300, and sophomore Haley Perkins leads the way with a .385 average. Junior Jenna Cervantez is the team's homerun leader with 12 on the year, but junior Kristin Sylvester leads the team with 49 RBI. In the circle, sophomore Robin Mackin does most of the work for the Bulldogs. The Canadian ace enters the postseason with a 1.41 ERA, 35 wins, 12 shutouts and 350 strikeouts. Stanford is 11-6 all-time against Fresno State, and last met the Bulldogs at the 2006 Regional, where the Cardinal picked up a 3-0 win in the Regional title game.
SCOUTING THE LSU TIGERS: The Tigers earned an automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Championships with a win over Florida in the SEC title game on Saturday, and come in as the tenth overall seed with a 52-10 overall record. Jazz Jackson is the leading hitter for LSU. The freshman is batting .394 and has notched 74 hits this year. Leslie Klein and Rachel Mitchell are the biggest long ball threats for the Tigers with eight apiece on the year, and Klein leads the team with 58 RBI. The Tigers have used four pitchers this year, and all four have ERAs under 2.00. Dani Hofer has been the best bet for LSU so far, with a 23-2 record, 234 strikeouts and a 1.27 ERA. Stanford is 3-1 all-time against LSU and last faced the Tigers in February of 2006, when Stanford picked up a 1-0 win at the Palm Springs Classic.
SCOUTING THE CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE MATADORS: The Matadors tied for third in the Big West and received an at-large spot in the 2007 field. The team carries a 23-21-1 overall record and is led by Christina Saenz' .375 batting average. The hit leader for the Matadors is Amanda Peek, however, a sophomore who has 43 hits and 29 RBI on the year. Peek is also the team's homerun leader. Her 13 blasts are more than double the total of any other player on the Northridge roster. Mercedes Lovato is the primary pitcher for the Matadors, carrying a 3.26 ERA, a 15-11 record and a team-leading strikeout total of 98. Stanford is 5-3 all-time against the Matadors and beat the team, 7-3, in the programs' most recent meeting in 2004.
TAKING ON THE BEST: For the 2007 season, Head Coach John Rittman lined up another one of the most challenging schedules in the nation. Nine opponents appeared in the preseason top-25, and 15 were coming off NCAA Championship appearances. This year, the Cardinal has played 21 games against ranked opponents and 31 games against teams that made the 2007 NCAA field.
HEAD COACH John Rittman: With his 11th season at the helm of the Cardinal nearly complete, Head Coach John Rittman carries a 463-218-2 (.679) career record. Since stepping onto the Farm in 1996, he has brought Stanford softball from a non-scholarship club-level program to a fully-funded championship contender. He has coached the team to nine consecutive 40-win seasons and now ten-straight postseason appearances. Under Rittman, Stanford has claimed a share of its first conference championship and made two appearances in the Women's College World Series. Recently, Rittman was named an Assistant Coach for the 2007 Women's National Team that will compete this summer at the World Cup of Softball and Pan American Games.