May 19, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Upcoming Series
Stanford Baseball (28-20, 11-10 Pac-10), tied for third in the Pac-10 standings, travel to No. 26-ranked Arizona (31-18, 10-11) this weekend for a three game series in the Desert. Friday and Saturday’s games are at 6 p.m. with Sunday’s game at noon. Friday, Stanford will send to the hill LHP Brett Mooneyham (2-5, 5.24) against RHP Kurt Heyer (6-2, 2.82) and on Saturday RHP Jordan Pries (3-3, 3.53) will twirl against RHP Kyle Simon (8-4, 3.68). Neither starter has been announced for Sunday. Washington State, Stanford, and Cal are in a tie for third place at 11-10, Arizona is a game back at 10-11. The final week of the regular season is next week with four home games, hosting UC Davis on Tuesday, May 25 and Arizona State May 27-29. The NCAA Selection Show will be May 31 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific on ESPN. Kenny Diekroeger and Jonathan Kaskow batting .370 on the season.
Leading Off
• Freshman Kenny Diekroeger continues to hit, riding a 22-game hit streak into the Tuesday game with Hawai’i. Over the streak he is batting .444, passing Jonathan Kaskow for the team leading in batting over the weekend.
• Stanford has 10 wins over top-25 opponents this season, one of the highest win totals in the country against top teams.
• The Cardiac Kids have won 10 games in its last at-bat this season after another victory last weekend against WSU. Stanford starts four freshmen and has 12 underclassmen on its pitching staff
• Entering the final two weekends of the regular season Stanford has lost four and won three Pac-10 series and are currently tied for third.
Scouting the Wildcats
• Arizona comes in having dropped each of its last four weekend series, including last weekend’s in-state matchup with Arizona State. The Wildcats are hitting .330 as a team paced by Steve Selsky’s .400 averagge and 46 RBIs and Robert Refsnyder’s .372 average. Jett Bandy is batting .365 with a team-best 20 doubles. Selsky also has 11 steals as one of five Wildcats in double digits in steals. On the mound, Arizona has a 4.54 ERA paced by its two starters Heyer and Simon.
Upcoming Series Records
• Stanford leads the all-time series with the Arizona Wildcats 96-62, dating back to 1975. Stanford has dropped two out of three to the Wildcats every year since 2003 (7-14 mark). This was after a stretch from 1994 to 2002 in which Stanford won 33 of 40 meetings.
Pac-10 Standings
• With two weekends remaining, Arizona State (15-5) has a 2.5 game lead over UCLA (13-8) and a 4.5 game lead over Washington State, Cal and Stanford (all 11-10). Depending on the week, seven Pac-10 teams have been ranked in the top-25 this season.
In the Rankings
• After being ranked No. 25 last week, Stanford is back out of the rankings this week. They have spent three 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.
Stanford Falls to Washington State
• Kenny Diekroeger continued his hit streak with three hits, pacing the Cardinal in a midweek win over Hawai’i. Diekroeger, who extended his hit streak to 22 games, ignited a three-run rally in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie. The Cardinal bullpen pitched 4.2 shutout innings making a winner out of Brian Busick (5-1).
Stanford Falls to Washington State
• After winning the first game with a five-run eighth inning, No. 25-ranked Stanford dropped the next two games to visiting Washington State (W 8-7, L 2-4, L 3-9) to fall into a tie for third place in the Pac-10 standings. In the opener, after trailing 7-3, Stanford put up five runs in the eighth, ignited by a two-run triple by Kenny Diekroeger to win the opener on FSN West. On Saturday, WSU’s Jason Wise pitched eight shutout innings for the Cougars, before Stanford sent the tying run to the plate in the ninth following two runs. But an inning ending double play evened the series in the 4-2 loss. On Sunday, Dean McArdle’s only blemish was a two-run homer in the sixth as the freshman pitched 5.2 shutout innings prior with six strikeouts, leaving with a 3-2 lead. WSU though got to closer Alex Pracher, scoring seven runs in the ninth to win the series. Michael Weber’s two-run shot off of McArdle and a grand slam off of Pracher were two of three homers on the weekend for the WSU first baseman.
Storen Makes Quick Accent to the Majors
• Last year’s closer, Drew Storen, is already in the Major Leagues after spending barely a full season in the Washington National minor leagues. Storen was called up late Sunday after 41 games in the minors where he had a 1.68 ERA. Storen, the tenth overall selection last season, went 7-3 with a 3.80 ERA last year and struck out 116 over 99.0 innings in his two-year career.
Streak for Diekroeger Continues
• Freshman Kenny Diekroeger continues to produce one of the longest hit streaks in school-history, checking in at 22 straight games, to enter the week. The last game Diekroeger did not have a hit was in the first game of a doubleheader with Oregon on April 10. During the streak, Diekroeger is batting .444 with 12 multi-hit games. Overall he leads the team with a .370 average and has a team-leading 21 multi-hit games after three hits on Tuesday.
Longest Cardinal Hit Streaks Since 1988*
37, Jeffrey Hammonds, 1990
28, Troy Paulsen, 1988
26, Carlos Quentin, 2003
22, DIEKROEGER, 2010
21, Brian Hall, 2004
20, Ryan Garko, 2001
19, Josh Hochgesang, 1997
17, Sam Fuld, 2003
16, John Mayberry, Jr., 2003
Mooneyham Continues Strong Second Half
• Brett Mooneyham continues to pitch a strong second half as he has a 3.76 ERA and 1-2 record over his last six starts. He has 39 strikeouts over his last four starts. He has pitched into the sixth in five of the last six games after reaching the sixth just once previously (eight starts) to start the year. He struck out seven over 6.2 innings in a no-decision this past Friday.
Ready to Bloom
Freshman Sahil Bloom nearly picked up his first two collegiate wins of the weekend. On Friday his two-pitch double play ball in the eighth sent it into the eventual game-winning five run rally, in which Bloom was credited with the win before nearly picking up another win the next day against the Cougars. He pitched a scoreless ninth on Saturday as Stanford scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth and had the winning run at the plate before a game ending double play ball. Bloom has thrown just 5.1 innings this season.
McArdle Shows Promise on Sunday
• Freshman Dean McArdle, one of a dozen underclassmen on the pitching squad had his best performance of the season last Sunday against Washington State. He pitched 5.2 shutout innings until a two-run homer cut the Stanford lead to 3-2 and forced McArdle from the game. McArdle, mostly used out of the bullpen this season, struck out six for the second time this year. Overall he has a 4-0 record and 4.97 ERA.
Clutch Performances
• The Cardinal have won 10 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). The tenth game was a five-run eighth against Washington State, in which the go-ahead run scored on an error.
11 Cardinal in the Majors
• With Chris Carter (Mets) returning to the Majors in late May and Drew Storen (Nationals) getting his first callup a week later, Stanford had eight former players playing in the Majors and three more, Kenny Williams (White Sox) and Ruben Amaro, Jr. (Phillies), to a manager, A.J. Hinch (Diamondbacks), in management. The other players to have played in 2010 are starting pitcher 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). With Storen, the Cardinal now have 85 Stanford affiliated people to have played in the Majors.
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.
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.
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.
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.