April 20, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Leading Off
• The No. 26-ranked Stanford (17-12, 3-6 Pac-10) after winning its eighth midweek game of the season, host No. 11-ranked UCLA (20-12, 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. The Cardinal are scheduled to throw RHPs Mark Appel (2-4, 2.86 ERA), Jordan Pries (4-3, 3.26 ERA) and Dean McArdle (5-2, 4.13 ERA) against two of the top junior arms in the country in Gerritt Cole (4-3, 2.22 ERA and Trevor Bauer (7-1, 1.47 ERA). The Bruins’ third starter will be Adam Plutko (2-3, 1.87 ERA).
• Stanford has dropped five-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.
• Stanford enters the weekend having won two of the last seven contests.
• UCLA will be the sixth top-25 opponent of the season (5-8 record against).
• Stanford has a busy week following Easter, hosting Cal on April 25, playing at Saint Mary’s on April 26 and at Arizona State April 29 to May 1.
• 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-UCLA Series
(April 21-23, at Sunken Diamond)
• Series: 148-101 (since 1959); Last: UCLA 2-1, 2011
Stanford leads the all-time 1481-101 since 1959 with UCLA winning last year’s series in Westwood. Stanford has won 10 of the last 13 series with the Bruins dating back to 1998.
Last Year Against the Bruins
• A playoff atmoshere engulfed the second Pac-10 series of the year as UCLA was
riding a 21-game win streak and No. 2 ranking and were glad its guests from the North departed in a series separted by one run (L 5-6 (10), W 8-4, L 5-7). In the opener, Stanford had leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 5-3, and nearly won it in the ninth when Tyler Gaffney, after falling around third, nearly lept over catcher Steve Rodriguez for the go ahead run. Instead UCLA escaped with a 6-5 win, four and a half hours after the start. UCLA’s 22-game win streak was over on Saturday, as Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week Jordan Pries had his second complete game in three weeks, an eight-hitter to even the series. Stanford scored seven runs in the fi fth to take a 7-1 lead, as Pries twice retired seven in a row in the contest and allowed just one unearned run on four hits over the fi rst 7.2 innings. But needing a complete game with a tired bullpen after day one, Pries finished off the night to send the game into Sunday. Stanford starter Bretty Mooneyham struggled, as he did not get out of the fourth as UCLA built a 5-1 lead, which was chipped away to 5-3 in the fifth on a Kenny Diekroeger two-run homer and 7-5 in the eighth on a pinch-hit Jonathan Kaskow two-run single off of Bruin closer Dan Klein. Klein though recovered in the ninth to escape with the series victory
• About the Bruins: Paced by two of the top arms in the country in RHPs Trevor Bauer and Gerritt Cole, UCLA is ranked as high as No. 11 entering the week and at 9-3 in the Pac-10. Bauer has struck out 110 and walked 23 over 73.2 innings, while Cole has 75 strikeouts and 11 walks in 65.0 innings. Nick Vander Tuig is the team’s closer with a 2.04 ERA and four saves. John Savage’s pitching staff has a 2.26 ERA (first in the Pac-10). At the plate, the Bruins are hitting .268 (eighth) with outfielder Beau Amaral hitting .319 with a team-best 10 doubles. Amaral also has a team-best eight steals
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.
Late Rally Propels Cardinal Past SCU
• Kenny Diekroeger drove in four with a three-run homer and an RBI triple and Lonnie Kauppila drove in three as No. 26-ranked Stanford won its eighth midweek game of the season with a four-run, two-out rally in the eighth. Diekroeger’s homer in the first helped the Cardinal build a 5-3 lead, as Stanford added four runs in the eighth and another in the ninth, all with one-out.
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.
Pac-10 Glimpse
With three or four series in the books, Oregon State leads the conference with an 8-1 record with Cal and UCLA both a half game back at 9-3. Arizona State is 8-4. Upwards of seven teams have been ranked in the top-25 this year-- OSU, Cal, UCLA, Arizona State, Stanford, Oregon and Arizona. The league on July 1 expands to the Pac-12, and for baseball, welcomes in Utah.
Top Prospects Nothing New
• Stanford has become a regular opponent to the nation’s top juniors, so this weekend is nothing new. Vanderbilt featured starter Sonny Gray and closer Navery Moore; Long Beach State had Andrew Gagnon; and Texas had Taylor Jungmann. Mark Appel lost to Gray and Jungmann by a single run. The Cardinal limited the nation’s top junior, Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon to a .167 batting average in the Cardinal’s series win in Houston.
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.
Picking Up the Midweek Wins
• Stanford is a perfect 8-0 in midweek games this year, hitting .336 as a team with 57 runs. The Cardinal have scored at least eight runs in three of the games, including a season-high 16 runs against Saint Mary’s. The staff has a 2.88 ERA.
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.
Bullpen Arms
• Along with Chris Reed (1.23 ERA out of the bullpen) and Scott Snodgress (2.49 ERA), RHP Brian Busick returns to the fold for the first time this week. Busick had a 1.78 ERA out of the bullpen last year. He struck out two in 1.2 innings on Tuesday at Santa Clara.
Nice Starts to 2011 MLB Season
• Sam Fuld and Jed Lowrie were expected to come off the bench for the Red Sox and Rays, respectively. Both have earned extended playing time with Fuld batting .368 and .409 over his last 10 games entering Wednesday, and Lowrie posting a .457 average. The New York Times featured Fuld and WEEI.com featured Lowrie this week. Carlos Quentin is hitting .308 for the White Sox, while Jeremy Guthrie has a 3.32 ERA with three starts for the Orioles. Greg Reynolds has a 3.27 ERA as a starter for Colorado, while closer Drew Storen has an 0.87 ERA for the Nationals. The seven Major Leaguers is among the most for Division-I programs, according to collegebaseballinsider.com.
Fuld is Featured Here in the New York Times | Lowrie is Featured Here on WEEI.com
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’s 20 RBIs. 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 at short and third, while the right side has freshmen-- second baseman Lonnie Kauppila and first baseman Brian Ragira. The outfield 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 on Apirl 8, went 1-5, ending with a sweep to No. 9 Oregon State. Stanford hit a meager .226 over that time, watching its average drop from .315 to .298. The OSU series saw Stanford manage just five runs and 19 hits. Stanford had 17 hits on Tuesday, upping the average to .303.
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 1.23 ERA over 14 relief appearances this season. Opponents are hitting just .151 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 16 games. Kenny Diekroeger, after a rare four-error game at mid-season, has made just two errors since, spanning 12 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.
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 close with another three top-20 teams, No. 9 Oregon State, No. 9 UCLA and top-25 Arizona State.
Walk This Way
• Two-way standout Tyler Gaffney, who was a backup running back on the Orange Bowl Champions, has started 26 games in the outfield this year. He also leads the team in walks (22) and on-base percentage (.456) despite a .287 batting average.
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.