April 18, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Leading Off
• The No. 26-ranked Stanford (16-12, 3-6 Pac-10) after being swept at home against now No. 3-ranked Oregon State, travel to Santa Clara (14-18) on Tuesday before hosting No. 11-ranked UCLA (19-12, 9-3 Pac-10) in a three-game Easter series on Thursday and Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. Stanford has dropped five of its last six and six-straight Pac-10 games, its longest losing streak in the conference since 2007, when it lost eight in a row to UCLA, At No. 15 ASU and to No. 13 Arizona. The Cardinal are 7-0 in midweek games this year. Stanford, which won nine of 11 from March 21 to April 8, is 10-7 since its extended finals break beginning in early March. Stanford has a busy week following Easter, hosting Cal on April 25, playing at Saint Mary’s on April 26 and at Arizona State next weekend. All home games will be webcast on CBS College Sports’ All-Access paid service through the gostanford.com website. All games will be on KZSU, kzsu.stanford.edu and on your iPhone by downloading the Stanford App and then listening to KZSU.
Stanford-Santa Clara Series
(March 1 Stanford 8-4; March 22 at Stanford, April 19 at SCU)
• Series: 130-75-1 (since 1959); Last: Stanford 2-0 in 2011
Stanford leads the all-time series since 1959, 130-75-1 against its county rival, winning both games this year, 9-1 and 8-4. Since 2003, Stanford has won 17 of 24 meetings, including seven of the last eight meetings. Stanford is 10-5 at Santa Clara since 2002.
• About the Broncos: Mark O’Brien’s Broncos come into the final midweek game at 14-18 and 2-4 in the WCC following a series win over Saint Mary’s. It dropped three-straight against LMU to begin conference play. Third baseman Kyle DeMerritt is batting a team-best .328 with 21 RBIs and eight dobules and 23 runs, while outfielder Lucas Herbst is batting .307 with 19 RBIs. SCU is batting .273 as a team with a .970 fielding percentage and 4.90 team ERA. RHP J.R. Graham has a 3.09 ERA and three saves as the closer. Five pitchers have ERA’s under 5.00.
Stanford in the Rankings
• Stanford is holding onto the No. 26 spot in the USA Today / Coaches Poll and are unranked in Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball for the first time this season. Stanford began the season No. 10 and moved up to No. 8 on February 21. Stanford’s RPI according to boydsworld to begin the week is 15.
Stanford Swept by Red Hot Oregon State
• No. 9-ranked Oregon State remained red hot following its series sweep over No. 17-ranked Stanford (L 0-1, L 1-8, L 4-6), leaving town with nine-straight wins. On Friday, Sam Gaviglio struck out eight over 8.0 innings, outdueling Mark Appel, who struck out six over 6.2 innings, in a 1-0 series win for the Beavers. Tony Bryant got the first of two saves on the weekend with three strikeouts. After coming through with the only RBI (in the first) in the opener, Kavin Keyes drove in three more runs to give OSU the series win in an 8-1 victory. On Sunday, the Beavers pulled off its first sweep ever at Sunken Diamond. Stanford pounced first with two first inning runs, but OSU came back with three in the third and held on after Stanford scored two in the ninth to close to within 6-4. Jake Stewart had two hits in each game. OSU moved up to No. 3 nationally following the wins.
Three Runs in Eighth Give Cardinal Seventh Midweek Win
• No. 17-ranked Stanford scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth and Chris Reed (1-1) pitched two perfect innings for the win as the Cardinal beat Pacific 3-1 for its seventh midweek win of the season. A.J. Vanegas pitched three scoreless innings, before Elliott Byers followed with three perfect innings. UOP scored its only run in the seventh off Scott Snodgress after a string of 11 in a row were retired.
Playing Them Close
• Friday night starter Mark Appel has lost three one-run games this season to top-10 teams, the latest, a 1-0 decision against Sam Gaviglio last Friday despite one run in the first on seven hits with six strikeouts. Stanford as a team is 4-4 in one-run games this year and 3-4 in two-run contests.
Striking Out on Friday Night
• Sophomore righthander Mark Appel has struck out 20 batters over his last three starts, twice tying a career-high at Washington State and at USC with seven strikeouts before producing six in his last start against Oregon State.
Potential Throughout the Lineup Card
• Of Stanford’s everyday starters, eight have driven in at least 12 runs on the season, led by Brian Ragira’s 25 and Kenny Diekroeger and Stephen Piscotty’s 16 a piece. Nine players have scored at least 10 runs.
Still Very Young
• Stanford’s lineup consists nearly entirely freshmen and sophomores. The left side of the infield consists of sophomores Kenny Diekroeger and Stephen Piscotty and short and third, while the right side has freshmen second baseman Lonnie Kauppila and Brian Ragira. The outfield this year features sophomores Tyler Gaffney and Jake Stewart and freshman Austin Wilson from left to right. The only veterans in the lineup are DH Ben Clowe and catcher Zach Jones.
Troubles at the Plate
• Stanford after pounding out eight runs and 17 hits in the Friday night win over USC, has gone 1-5, following its weekend sweep by Oregon State, batting a meager .226 over that time. Stanford was limited to five runs and 19 hits. Stanford’s team batting average has dropped from .315 to .298.
One of Nation’s Top Closers
• Stanford junior lefthander Chris Reed has developed into one of the nation’s top relief arms, saving four games and compiling a 1.29 ERA over 13 relief appearances this season. Opponents are hitting just .157 against him out of the bullpen.
Quick Adjustments on Defense
• After making six errors over the first 13 games, sophomore Stephen Piscotty, who has moved across the diamond to third in 2011, has made just two over the last 15 games. Kenny Diekroeger, after a rare four-error game at mid-season, has made just two errors since, spanning 11 games. He made just two over the first 15. Diekroeger played third as a freshman and was a prep shortstop, taking over the position from Jake Schlander, a three-year starter now in the Mariners organization.
One Year Later
• After batting just .209 as a freshman, a summer in Alaska and another year of development, sophomore center fielder Jake Stewart batting .339 for the season. Stewart has scored a team-best 21 runs and is second in the Pac-10 with 12 doubles. He has started 26 games this year after playing in 55 games last season.
Tough Scheduling
• When the end of April hits, Stanford will have likely opened the season with three top-20 teams in No. 17-ranked Rice, No. 3 Vanderbilt and No. 6 Texas and closed with another three top-20 teams, No. 9 Oregon State, as well as UCLA (currently as high as No. 12) and at Arizona State (No. 10).
Walk This Way
• Two-way standout Tyler Gaffney, who was a backup running back on the Orange Bowl Champions, has started 25 games in the outfield this year. He also leads the team in walks (21) and on-base percentage (.440) despite a .274 batting average.
Tops in the Majors
• According to Collegebaseballinsider.com, Stanford was one of a half dozen programs with seven or more Major Leaguers on 40-man rosters to start the season. Long Beach State led with 11, followed by Arizona State and Miami (nine). Stanford and Cal had nine a piece. Of Stanford’s Major Leaguers, former first round pick Greg Reynolds returned to the Majors after injury, joining Carlos Quentin (White Sox), Drew Storen (Nationals), Jed Lowrie (Red Sox), John Mayberry, Jr. (Phillies), Jeremy Guthrie (Orioles) and Sam Fuld (Rays). Jason Castro, who is on the DL with the Astros, was also on the list.
Top Rated Class
• For the first time in the history of Baseball America’s 11-year annual recruiting survey, Stanford Baseball had the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class. This year’s class is headlined by Los Angeles outfielder Austin Wilson, Texas utility player Brian Ragira, San Lorenzo righthander A.J. Vanegas and Burbank infielder Lonnie Kauppila. This year’s top class, adds to the No. 2 ranked class a year ago that featured Kenny Diekroeger, Stephen Piscotty, Jake Stewart and Mark Appel. Collegiate Baseball rated this year’s class No. 11.
From the Diamond to a Degree
• Stanford academics and athletics continues to rank amongst the nation’s elite as Stanford Baseball, with an academic progress report number of 985, was ranked in the top-10 percent of all Division-I baseball programs. Some Cardinal Major Leaguers who have earned their degrees include: Gold Glove catcher Bob Boone, Cy Young Award winner Jack McDowell, All Star Mike Mussina, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., former manager A.J. Hinch and long-time Major Leaguers Mike Aldrete and Jeffrey Hammonds.
Smart at the Top
• Of the 12 Major Leaguers from Stanford in 2010, nine earned their degrees. An A1 feature in the San Jose Mercury News on February 28, featured both newly minted Major Leaguers, Jason Castro and Drew Storen, headed back to school to finish up. This season, Sam Fuld, Jed Lowrie, John Mayberry and Carlos Quentin all have their degrees among current Big Leaguers. In addition, two general managers, Ruben Amaro, Jr. and Kenny Williams, are Stanford graduates. A Wall Street Journal report said that only two dozen Major Leaguers had earned their degrees in 2010.
Professional Development
• Since the turn of the Century, Stanford has had 86 players all-time reach the Majors. Marquess has coached 52 Major Leaguers since 1977 (53 have made the Majors with current White Sox GM Kenny Williams only playing football at Stanford).
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). Orange Bowl Champion and backup running back Tyler Gaffney is the latest two-sport athlete.