May 18, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Leading Off
• No. 25-ranked Stanford (28-18, 10-11 Pac-10), winners of seven of its last 10, will play its final seven regular season games in the Bay Area, starting with No. 27-ranked Arizona (32-17, 11-10 Pac-10) this weekend, Cal Poly on May 24 and at Cal May 27 and 28. Kyle Simon (9-3, 2.69 ERA), Kurt Heyer (7-3, 2.72 ERA) and Tyler Hale (3-4, 5.26 ERA) are slated to go for the Wildcats, while Stanford’s probable rotation will be RHPs Mark Appel (4-6, 3.49 ERA), Danny Sandbrink (3-0, 3.19 ERA) and Jordan Pries (4-5, 4.11 ERA). Stanford dropped a series at Oregon this past weekend. Stanford continues to be led in hitting by sophomore Stephen Piscotty and his .365 average and freshman Brian Ragira’s 40 RBIs. LHP Chris Reed, Stanford’s closer is being talked about as a sandwich pick in the June draft. Reed has a 4-2 record and 3.15 ERA overall.
• 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.
Inside the Numbers
The Cardinal are 16-5 at home this season and 12-1 in midweek games. It is also 12-13 on the road. It is 9-11 against top-25 opponents. The Cardinal have played six top-15 opponents in weekend series, losing four of those six series. Stanford has been swept just once (No. 9 Oregon State) and swept one opponent (Washington). It also has yet to play an extra inning game.
Stanford in the Rankings
• Stanford see sawed back into the top-25 last week, and remain at No. 25 in the USA Today / Coaches Poll. It is unranked in Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball for the third-straight week. 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 22.
Stanford-Arizona Series
(May 20-22 at Sunken Diamond)
• Series: Stanford 99-63; Last: Stanford, 2-1, 2011
Stanford leads the all-time series 99-63 since 1975 and won last year’s series in Tucson, with 3-1 win on Friday and 8-4 win on Sunday. It lost Saturday’s contest 9-8. The series win was the Cardinal’s first series win since 2002, having dropped seven-straight series prior to that.
Last Year Against the ‘Cats:
• Stanford won its final regular season road series at No. 26-ranked Arizona (W 3-1, L 8-9, W 8-4) to equal its win total from 2009. In the opener Colin Walsh drove in all three runs with a two-run homer and an RBI double as Brett Mooneyham (3-5) pitched into the eighth for his second win in three starts. On Saturday, Stanford staked itself to a 5-2 lead before Arizona scored five in the fifth and two runs in the bottom of the eighth to even the series. Stephen Piscotty had five hits in the loss as Kenny Diekroeger’s 23-game hit streak came to an end with an 0-for-4 day. In the Sunday rubber game, Dean McArdle (5-0) pitched into the sixth for the second-straight start and the Cardinal’s 30 wins equaled its win total from last year.
• About the Wildcats: Andy Lopez’ club leads the Pac-10 in hitting at .326 with Joey Rickard (.383) and Cole Frenzel (.375) ranking second and third in the league in hitting. Robert Refsnyder has drive in a Pac-10 best 48 runs, while Frenzel is second with 42 RBIs. Bryce Ortega has stolen 23 bases, best in the conference. On the mound, Heyer leads the club with 112 strikeouts in 106.0 innings, while Simon has struck out 73 in 103.2 innings. Matt Chaffee has six saves in 30 appearances as Arizona has a 3.93 team ERA. Arizona is ranked No. 27 in both Collegiate Baseball and the USA Today’s coaches poll.
Post-Season Schedules
• Sixteen NCAA Regionals will take place June 3-6, eight Super Regionals will take place in a best of three series, June 10-13, and the College World Series, in its first year at TD Ameritrade Ballpark, starts June 18. Selections for the 64-team tournament will take place Memorial Day, live on ESPN with a half-hour telecast at 9:30 a.m. (PDT), Monday, May 30 with a selection show.
Draft Schedule
• The Major League Draft will run from June 6 to 8, with the first round at 4 p.m. PT on June 6, rounds 2-30 on June 7 starting at 9 a.m. PT and finishing on June 8 to through round 50 starting at 9 a.m. PT. Stanford had five players drafted off of last year’s club.
Pac-10 Glimpse
• Oregon State (16-5) continues to lead the pack with a 2.0 game lead over Arizona State (14-7) and UCLA (14-7). Cal (12-9) sits 4.0 games out, followed by Arizona (10-10), Stanford (10-11) and USC (10-11). Arizona leads the league in hitting (.326), UCLA has the best ERA (2.33) and Cal has the best fielding clip (.977). The league on July 1 expands to the Pac-12, and for baseball, welcomes in Utah.
Cardinal Drop Series in Oregon (May 13-15)
• No. 25-ranked Stanford fielded at a .942 clip, committed seven errors, lost a series at Oregon (L 2-6, W 9-8, L 6-5). In the opener, Tyler Anderson, a potential first round pick, gave up unearned run over 7.0 innings, while Mark Appel tried to overcome four errors, leading to six runs in a 6-2 loss. On Saturday, Stanford evened the series, overcoming a seven-run deficit to do so. Trailing 8-1 after Danny Sandbrink and Brian Busick each gave up four runs, the Cardinal rallied for three runs in the sixth and another four in the eighth to tie it at 8-8 on a Danny Diekroeger RBI single. In the eighth, Zach Jones’ RBI single provided the difference as Chris Reed pitched three shutout innings to close things out. On Sunday, in a back-and-forth game, Brett Thomas’ provided the game-winning hit in the seventh in a 6-5 game. Tyler Gaffney had three multi-hit games for the weekend raising his average to .303.
Diekroeger Brothers Agitate Aggies (May 10)
• Danny and Kenny Diekroeger each drove in two runs as No. 25-ranked Stanford won its sixth straight following an 11-4 win over UC Davis. Austin Wilson extended his hit streak to 11 games with three hits and Tyler Gaffney (2 RBIs) and Stephen Piscotty (3 RBIs) also drove in runs. The four-run third and five-run fourth led to Dean McArdle’s (7-2) second-straight midweek win following 6.1 innings.
Seniors Closing Out Careers
• The Cardinal will honor its four seniors-- outfielders Dave Giuliani and Ben Clowe, catcher Zach Jones and righthander Danny Sandbrink prior to Saturday’s game with Arizona. The quartet are the only seniors on the club. Giuliani, a two-year reserve outfielder enters the week with 86 career games. Clowe carries a .289 average in 150 career games with 61 runs and 45 RBIs. Jones, a four-year starter, has played in 217 games with 116 runs and 108 RBIs, along with 44 steals. Sandbrink is 8-4 with a 4.18 ERA over 68 appearances. Clowe, Jones and Sandbrink all played in the 2008 College World Series.
Another Top Closer Prospect
• Stanford closer Chris Reed could be following in National closer’ Drew Storen’s footsteps, as the lefthanded reliever is projected No. 59 in the June draft by Baseball America. He could be as high as a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds. Reed has given up seven earned run as the team’s closer this year, producing six saves and a 2.29 ERA in 22 relief appearances. Storen was the tenth overall selection two years ago. As BA noted on Reed, “Sits 92-94 out of Stanford’s bullpen with good secondary stuff—could start as a pro.”
Road Warriors
• Stanford has played 25 games (12-13) on the road this season. According to Warren Nolan’s website, which breaks down collegiate records, of the teams still in contention for an NCAA berth, the 25 games rank eighth. Of those 20 teams, of which 10 are conference leaders, 13 have RPIs lower than 100, and four have RPIs under 40-- No. 37 Kent State (28 games), No. 13 CS Fullerton (26), No. 25 Georgia (25), No. 23 Stanford (25).
Nice Finish to a Career
• Four-year starter Zach Jones is bordering on a career year. His .267 average is a career-high, while his 28 RBIs is five RBIs from his freshman total of 33, when he hit .249. His four home runs, which co-leads the team is one away from the five he hit as a junior. Jones has played 217 games entering the week. The 28 RBIs have also come over the last two months and his average has risen from the inner depths of the .100’s since late March. Jones’ 14 doubles is also tied for the team lead.
Freshman Power Surge
• Stanford freshmen-- Brian Ragira (.320), Austin Wilson (.318) and Lonnie Kauppila (.309) are three of the Cardinal’s seven hitters batting over .300. Ragira also leads the team in RBIs with 40, which could also continue a recent first for the Cardinal. Kenny Diekroeger last year was the first freshman to lead Stanford in RBIs. Wilson’s 12-game hit streak, which was snapped at Oregon, was the second-longest of hit streak of the season, while Kauppila has made just two errors at second base (.990).
Get Them On, Drive Them In
• Zach Jones’ team-best 35 runs and Tyler Gaffney’s 34 runs, both rank in the top-10 in the Pac-10. Gaffney is coming off of three-straight multi-hit games at Oregon to raise his average to .303. His .418 on-base percentage, thanks to a team-best 27 walks, ranks second to .365 hitter Stephen Piscotty’s .422 percentage.
Piscotty Keeps Hitting
• Third baseman Stephen Piscotty leads the club with a .365 average and team-best 21 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI games. His 33 RBIs ranks second. He also ranks fourth in the Pac-10 in hitting.
McArdle Rebounds
After getting knocked out of the weekend rotation on April 17, the sophomore righthander Dean McArdle has rebounded. After his ERA reached 4.81 in a midweek appearance Cal, McArdle has allowed just five earned runs over 18.1 innings and four appearances (2.45 ERA), lowering his ERA to 3.96. McArdle has a 7-3 record, with the seven wins leading the club following a 5-0 start.
Tough Going for Appel
• Stanford righthander Mark Appel (4-6, 3.49 ERA) has faced maybe the toughest set of arms in the country. Five of his six losses this year have come against the top arms from Vanderbilt, Texas, Long Beach State, Oregon State and Oregon-- all likely first or second round picks. In those five losses, Stanford has managed just 11 runs against the likes of Taylor Jungmann (Texas), Sonny Gray (Vandy), Andrew Gagnon (LBSU), Tyler Anderson (Oregon) and Sam Gaviglio (OSU). Appel did pick up the win against UCLA’s Gerritt Cole with seven strong innings when Stanford beat UCLA 7-4.
Facing the Best
According to Baseball America’s mock draft, Stanford has faced five of the top-10 “picks”, pitchers Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer from UCLA, Sonny Gray from Vandy and Taylor Jungmann from Texas and Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon. Oregon’s Tyler Anderson was rated as a late first round pick.
Still Pretty Young
• After everyday starting catcher Zach Jones, who is a four-year starter, the Cardinal start upwards of eight underclassmen in its everyday lineups from freshmen Brian Ragira (1B), Austin Wilson (RF), Lonnie Kauppila (2B) and Brian Guymon (OF/DH) to sophomores Kenny Diekroeger (SS), Stephen Piscotty (3B) and Tyler Gaffney (LF/CF). Jake Stewart, who hasn’t played since early May is also a starting sophomore centerfielder.
Get Your Degree Under Marquess and Make the Majors
• Of Stanford’s 54 Major Leaguers under Mark Marquess, 46 have earned their degrees. 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.
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.
Major League Style
• Since the turn of the Century, Stanford has had 86 players all-time reach the Majors. Marquess has coached 54 Major Leaguers since 1977 (55 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.