May 2, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Leading Off
• The No. 28-ranked Cardinal (21-16, 6-9 Pac-10) returns to the Bay Area this weekend to take on San Jose State (30-16) on Tuesday at Municipal Stadium in San Jose at 6 p.m., before hosting ninth place Washington (13-27, 4-11 Pac-10) on Friday at 6 p.m. on Fireworks Night, followed by a 2 p.m. Saturday game and 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Cardinal dropped a series at No. 7 Arizona State this past weekend and enter the week at 5-4 over its last nine games. The second half of the Cardinal’s Pac-10 schedules features current ninth place Washington, at eighth place Oregon, fifth place Arizona and third place California. Stanford at 6-9 in the Pac-10 are currently seventh. Stanford is 9-1 in midweek affiars this year and 9-11 against top-25 opponents, having faced six top-25 opponents in weekend series. Its RPI is 15.
• 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.
San Jose State - Stanford Series
(April 5 Stanford 5-2, May 3 at Municipal Stadium)
• Series: Stanford 96-36-0 (since 1959); Last: Stanford 1-0 in 2011
• Since 1959, Stanford leads the all-time series 96-36. Stanford has won 23 of the last 27 meetings between the two clubs including a 10-7 win at Sunken Diamond and 8-3 win at Municipal Stadium in 2010. The Cardinal won 5-2 earlier this year.
About the Spartans
• Sam Piraro’s Spartans are 30-16 overall and 9-7 in the WAC, 2.5 games back of front-runner Hawaii and a game behind Fresno State. SJUS won three of four from Louisiana Tech (April 21-23) and at Sacramento State (April 29-May 1) over the last two weekends. The county rivals are batting .267 overall with a 4.23 team ERA and .977 fielding percentage. Danny Stienstra has a team-best 39 RBIs and .366 average, while Jacob Valdez chips in a .314 clip. Zack Jones (no relation to the Stanford catcher) has nine saves and a 1.93 ERA and a .321 average.
Washington - Stanford Series
(May 6-8 at Sunken Diamond)
• Series: Stanford 43-17 (since 1964); Last: Washington 3-0, 2010
• Stanford leads the all-time series since 1964, 43-17, but dropped last year’s meetings in the Emerald City, 3-0 with the middle game played at Safeco Field.
About the Huskies
• Washington, in its second year under Lindsay Meggs is 13-27 overall and in ninth place in the Pac-10 with a 4-11 record. The Huskies are ninth in hitting (.254) and team ERA (4.76) having lost seven of 10 entering the weekend series. UW was swept by UCLA and Cal, won a series at Oregon and dropped series to USC and last weekend at Washington State. Joe Meggs leads the club with a .355 average, while Jacob Lamb has a .331 average and team-best 21 RBIs. Adam Cimber has a 2.77 ERA out of the bullpen, while Jacob Clem is 3-4 with a 3.40 ERA. Dave Nakama, a longtime assistant at Stanford, joined Meggs last year in Seattle.
Stanford in the Rankings
• Stanford dropped back out of the top-25 for the second time in two weeks, but are still receiving votes and rank No. 28 in the USA Today / Coaches Poll. 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.
Cardinal Fall in the Desert (April 29-May 1)
• Playing its fourth top-10 opponent of the season, No. 21-ranked Stanford dropped a three-game series at No. 7-ranked Arizona State (L 10-12, W 6-4, L 1-7). In the opener, ASU erased 3-0, 3-2 and 4-2 leads by scoring nine runs in its final two at-bats. Stanford made it close with five runs in the ninth, but the Sun Devils took the opener 12-10. The Cardinal evened the series behind Danny Sandbrink on Saturday. The senior righthander in his second weekend start of the season, pitched a complete game, five-hitter with a career-best nine strikeouts. It was his longest outing since he beat Pepperdine in the NCAA Regional in 2008 as a freshman. On Sunday it was all Arizona State as Jake Barrett struck out 10 and Joey DeMichelle hit three home runs. Stephen Piscotty had multi-hit games in all three games raising his average to .366.
Late Rally Propels Cardinal Past SCU (April 25)
• Jake Stewart drove in four runs with two, two-run doubles as No. 21-ranked Stanford moved to 9-0 in midweek games following a 9-5 win over No. 20-ranked Cal. Brian Busick (1-0) got the win with three shutout innings as the Cardinal held the Bears scoreless over the first six frames.
Saint Mary’s Nips Cardinal (April 26)
• Saint Mary’s took advantage of a throwing error by Chris Reed (2-2) to nip the Cardinal 3-2 on Tuesday. Reed had left the bases loaded in the eighth before his throwing error following a bunt, put the eventual winning run on third. A fielder’s choice by Michael Melgosa gave SMC its third lead of the game after Brenden Kalfus homered twice to give the Gaels 1-0 and 2-1 leads.
Pac-10 Glimpse
• Oregon State (12-3) leads the pack with a half game lead over Arizona State (13-5). Both Cal (11-7) and UCLA (11-7) are 2.5 games back. Those four all remain ranked in the top-25, with Stanford ranked No. 28 and Arizona No. 30 in the USA Today poll. The league on July 1 expands to the Pac-12, and for baseball, welcomes in Utah.
Rising Piscotty
• Third baseman Stephen Piscotty has watched his average rise to .366 on the season, fourth-best in the Pac-10 after three more multi-hit games at No. 7 Arizona State. One of four sophomores in the starting lineup, Piscotty has a team-best 17 multi-hit games.
Enter Sandman to the Rotation
• Senior righthander Danny Sandbrink had his longest career outing since his freshman year with a complete game five hitter at No. 7-ranked Arizona State to even the series in Tempe. Since moving to the weekend rotation, Sandbrink has allowed just three earned runs over 14.1 innings, striking out 14 following a career-best nine last Saturday. Sandbrink has a 2.27 ERA overall in 39.2 innings with a .201 opponent average. Sandbrink had never gone longer than six innings after that NCAA Regional win in 2008.
Three-Run Jones-ing
• Senior catcher Zach Jones has a team-best four home runs on the season. All three-run home runs, including one last week at No. 7 Arizona State. The Cardinal catcher has watched his average rise to .240 on the season, impressive when you think it hovered in the .130’s in late March. He also has 25 RBIs, second on the team, and all since March 29.
Solid Junior Bullpen
• LHP closer Chris Reed, LHP Scott Snodgress and RHP Brian Busick -- all juniors, make up a solid bullpen for the Cardinal. All former starting pitchers at one point in their careers, Busick has a 2.35 ERA in four appearances this year after a 1.78 bullpen ERA last year; Reed has a 1.65 ERA and four saves in five chances in 18 appearances after giving up seven runs as a starter in the second game of the season; and Scott Snodgress prior to four runs last weekend, had a 3.14 ERA. Snodgress’ ERA is now 4.40.
Working Through That First Season
• Stanford’s freshman class-- rated No. 1 by Baseball America-- has produced three starters for most of the season in RF Austin Wilson, 1B Brian Ragira and 2B Lonnie Kauppila. All three have had their ups and downs with Wilson entering the week at .305 with three homers, Kauppila hitting .304 with a .987 fielding percentage at second and Ragira batting .291 with a team-best 27 RBIs, hitting for the cyle and driving in seven this season.
Vanegas Making Waves
• Another freshman, A.J. Vanegas, is also beginning to find his footing. After a respectable 4.12 ERA over his first nine appearances, the righthander has allowed just two runs over his last eight games and 13.1 innings. After allowing runs in six of his first nine appearances, his ERA has dropped to 2.97 over 17 games this season. Opponents are batting .203 against him.
Impressive Statistics
• 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.