May 13, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Upcoming Series
Stanford Baseball (26-18, 10-8 Pac-10) will host Washington State (26-17, 9-9 Pac-10) this weekend with Friday’s game telecast on FSN West with Barry Tompkins and Morgan Ensberg calling the action. Friday’s game is at 6 p.m., Saturday is at 2 p.m. and Sunday is at 1 p.m. Friday is also fireworks night. The Cardinal are coming off a series win at Long Beach State this past weekend and a win at San Jose State on Wednesday, winning the first two games of the last weekend’s series by a single run. Friday will feature LHP Brett Mooneyham (2-5, 5.07) against RHP Chad Arnold (4-2, 3.28). Stanford will throw RHP Jordan Pries (3-2, 3.44) on Saturday against RHP James Wise (1-1, 5.23). Sunday’s starters have not been announced.
Leading Off
• Stanford enters the week having won five of six and 13 of its last 18.
• Stanford has 10 wins over top-25 opponents this season, according to Baseball America, just three top-25 teams have more wins against their brethren.
• Brett Mooneyham and Jordan Pries combined to strike out 18 batters in their two starts at Long Beach State. Mooneyham has struck out 32 over his last three.
• Stanford continues to win games in its last at-bat, as pinch-hitter Eric Smith produced the team’s ninth win its last at-bat with a 10th inning vitory. Stanford has won three games in extra innings.
• Kenny Diekroeger enters the weekend on a 18-game hit streak, the longest since Josh Hochgesang in 1997 (19 games), hitting .434 over the stretch. Former Major Leaguer Jeffrey Hammonds set the known Stanford record with 37 games in 1990. Diekroeger is hitting .362.
Upcoming Opponents
• The Cougars enter the weekend series with a .295 team batting average and 4.66 team ERA led by Brett Jacobs’ .372 average and Cody Bartlett’s .341 mark. Paris Shewey has a 6-1 record and 2.70 ERA out fo the bullpen, while Friday starter, Chad Arnold is 4-2 with a 3.28 ERA. Derek Jones leads the club with eight homers. Washington State last weekend swept Cal and also has series wins over Arizona State and Oregon State and series losses to Oregon and Arizona.
Pac-10 Standings
• With three weekends remaining in the regular season, Arizona State (14-4) remains on top with UCLA, Cal and Stanford all four games out. In addition, Arizona, Oregon and Washington State are within 5.5 games of first place.
In the Rankings
• Stanford is back in the rankings at No. 25 in Baseball America. They have spent two weeks completely out of the top-25 this season. The team’s highest ranking was No. 18 during week two and during the last week of April. The Cardinal began the season ranked as high as No. 25 nationally in USA Today in the preseason.
Friday WSU Game on Fox Sports West
• Friday’s game with Washington State on May May 14 at 6 p.m. will be broadcast on Fox Sports West on a tape delayed basis and prelude fireworks night at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond. The game will be on FSN’s family of networks on Saturday at 9 a.m. and Comcast Bay Area at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Cardinal Sweep San Jose State Series
• Dave Giuliani had four hits and Zach Jones drove in three runs as Stanford (26-18) swept the two-game series with its county rival, San Jose State (18-30) with an 8-3 victory. Kenny Diekroeger extended his hit streak to 18 games with a single through the left side of the infield in the ninth inning after scoring two runs on two errors and having a hard hit liner caught by third baseman Nick Borg.
Strong Pitching in Series Win at Long Beach State
• Stanford won its last non-conference weekend of the series, taking the first two games of its series at Long Beach State behind strong pitching, before dropping the Sunday finale (W 3-2, W 4-3 (10), L 5-10). In the opener, Brett Mooneyham struck out nine over six innings and Brian Busick pitched the final three scoreless innings for his first save as Mooneyham continued a strong second half of the season. In the Saturday clincher, Jordan Pries struck out nine and allowed just two runs over eight innings but it was not until late that the real fireworks occurrred. Trailing 2-1, Jonathan Kaskow worked a 12-pitch two-out walk against Jake Thompson, who was trying to complete a nine-strikeout complete game. Kenny Diekroeger then followed with a two-run homer to give Stanford a brief 3-2 lead. The bullpen relinquished the lead before Eric Smith, following another two-out walk, delivered an RBI double in the 10th. On Sunday, Mark Appel gave up five runs in the second and Stanford could not recover for the sweep. Kenny Diekroeger’s second home run of the weeknd extended his hit streak to 17 games.
Washington State Series
• Since 1964, Stanford leads the all-time series with the Cougars 35-17. Since 1999, the Cardinal have won nine of 11 series with the Cougars.
Streak for Diekroeger Continues
• Freshman Kenny Diekroeger, one of four freshmen starters, enters the weekend on a 18-game hit streak. Over that time, he is batting .434 raising his average to .359 with 38 runs and 32 RBIs. He hit two homers at pitcher friendly Blair Field last week, tying for the team lead with five. His homer on Saturday, briefly gave the Cardinal the lead in the ninth, in a game won in extra innings. Diekroeger has won three games himself this season. He also has a team-best 19 mutli-hit games.
Longest Cardinal Hit Streaks Since 1988*
37, Jeffrey Hammonds, 1990
28, Troy Paulsen, 1988
26, Carlos Quentin, 2003
21, Brian Hall, 2004
20, Ryan Garko, 2001
19, Josh Hochgesang, 1997
18, DIEKROEGER, 2010
17, Sam Fuld, 2003
16, John Mayberry, Jr., 2003
Mooneyham Turns the Corner
• Brett Mooneyham scored his second win of the season on Friday, striking out nine over six innings to give him 32 strikeouts in his last three starts. Even better, over his last five starts, the lefthander is 2-1 with a 3.18 ERA with 42 strikeouts and 21 walks. Overall, Mooneyham, one of three sophomore starters in the rotation this season is 2-5 with a 5.07 ERA.
Young Guns of the Farm
• Stanford features a number of young up and coming stars. Four freshmen are starters, including on most weekends outfielders Stephen Piscotty, Jake Stewart and Tyler Gaffney. On the pitching staff, including weekend starters and sophomores Jordan Pries and Brett Mooneyham, the Cardinal feature 12 underclassmen on the regular pitching staff.
Kaskow Amongst League’s Top Hitters
• First baseman Jonathan Kaskow continues to lead the club with a .387 average and .511 on-base percentage thanks to 28 walks. He ranks third in the league in hitting and is second in on-base percentage.
Newbies Homer During the Midweeks
• Two Stanford Cardinal hit their first career home runs over the previous two midweek games with Santa Clara. Scott Colton’s three-run shot in Santa Clara last Monday was his first in his two-year career, while Dave Giuliani hit a three-run homer this Monday for his first homer in three seasons. Giuliani hit another homer the next night against San Jose State
Balanced Lineup
• Stanford has had a very balanced lineup all season, with five players with at least 25 RBIs, four with at least 10 doubles and five with at least 24 runs. In addition, three players have walked at least 20 times this season.
Garko Named to All Legends Team
• Former Stanford star and current major leaguer Ryan Garko was one of the 28 players selected to be a part of the College World Series Legends Team, to be honored during the 2010 championship series at Rosenblatt Stadium. Garko was one of two catchers selected, joining South Carolina’s Landon Powell. Garko, currently playing for the Rangers, starred for the Cardinal during Stanford’s three-straight CWS seasons in 2001, 2003 and 2003. He finished his Stanford career ninth all-time in batting (.350), fifth in doubles (60), ninth in homers (39) and seventh in RBIs (191) over a four-year career. He was a third round pick of the Indians in 2003, making his major league debut two seasons later.
Clutch Performances
• The Cardinal have won nine games in its last at-bat, with six different players, Zach Jones (GW hit versus Pepperdine, GW single versus USC), Kenny Diekroeger (GW double versus Rice, GW Sac fly versus Cal-4/23, GW RBI double versus Cal-4/25), Jonathan Kaskow (GW hit versus UCSB), Jake Schlander (walk-off solo homer in the 11th vs. UCSB), Colin Walsh (two-run homer at OSU) and Eric Smith (two-out, RBI double in 10th at LBSU).
10 Cardinal in the Majors
• Chris Carter returned to the Majors in early May with the Mets, coming through with an RBI in his first plate appearance since playing for the Red Sox in 2008. Opening Day around Major League Baseball had nine Stanford alumni within its ranks, from general managers Kenny Williams (White Sox) and Ruben Amaro, Jr. (Phillies), to a manager, A.J. Hinch (Diamondbacks) to six Major Leaguers: starter Jeremy Guthrie (Orioles), first baseman Ryan Garko (Rangers), outfielder Carlos Quentin (White Sox), outfielder Jody Gerut (Brewers), catcher Donny Lucy (White Sox) and catcher John Hester (Diamondbacks). Carter in May (Mets) made it seven current players.
Tickets Available
• Tickets for the team’s home games are available at www.gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD.
On the Web
• All Stanford home games are streamed through CBS All-Access through the gostanford.com website. In additional, all audio for allgames are through kzsu.stanford.edu. Live stats are available through CBS’ Gametracker software through the website.
Cardinal Picked Fourth by Pac-10 Coaches
• Stanford Baseball was picked to finish fourth in the preseason Pacific 10 Conference coaches poll. The Cardinal received 59 points, behind three-time defending champion, Arizona State (78 points and 7 first place votes), Oregon State (67, 2) and UCLA. The rest of the Pac-10 preseason picks are: Arizona (fifth), Washington State, Cal, USC, Washington and Oregon.
Two-Sport Tradition
• Including Heisman runner-up Toby Gerhart (running back and outfielder), current head coach Mark Marquess (who was a quarterback, defensive back and punt returner) and NFL Hall of Famer John Elway (and outfielder and quarterback), the Cardinal have had a number of great two-sport stars. One of the first was Ernie Nevers, who starred for the Cardinal in the early part of the 20th Centruy. That list has included: Major League pitcher Joe Borchard (also a QB), NFL and MLB player Chad Hutchinson (RHP and QB), 1940s Major Leaguer Lloyd Merriman, Brian Johnson (QB) and John Lynch (QB and RHP). Backup running back Tyler Gaffney, a freshman outfielder on the team, is the latest two-sport athlete.
Quentin One of Decade’s Best
• Stanford Major Leaguer Carlos Quentin was named one of Baseball America’s players of the decade for the first 10 years of the new century, joining four other Pac-10 players on the national publication’s look back at the decade. A four-year Major Leaguer with the Diamondbacks and White Sox. Pac-10 players included: UCLA second baseman Chase Utley, Oregon State outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, USC pitcher Mark Prior and Washington pitcher Tim Lincecum.