April 16, 2012
No . 10-ranked Stanford (22-9, 5-7 Pac-12), winners of six of its last nine, will host San Jose State (17-14) on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., before returning to Pac-12 play this weekend with No. 20-ranked and second place Arizona State (23-13, 9-6 Pac-12). Stanford dropped a series to No. 10 Oregon this past weekend, its second-straight top-10 Pac-12 series of the year. Stanford is 9-6 overall against top-25. With the win on Sunday, Mark Marquess is now No. 5 all-time in Division-I history with 1444 career wins.
In the Rankings
• Stanford dropped to No. 10 in the USA Today / Coaches poll, to No. 14 in Baseball America and No. 19 in Colleigate Baseball. A preseason No. 2, Stanford was ranked No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches Poll the last week of February and were in the top-two in each of the first seven weeks of the season. In 12 of the last 25 seasons Stanford has been ranked at No. 1.
About the Spartans
(Bat: .255, Pitch: 3.17, Field: .974)
• Coach Sam Piraro reached the 800 win mark this past weekend as the Spartans swept its WAC opening series with Fresno State. He was the 28th coach to reach that milestone. SJSU enters the game having won six of eight. Andrew Mercurio leads the Spartans with a .300 average and team-high 14 RBIs, while Caleb Notov also has 14 RBIs to go along with a .289 average. From the bullpen, Kalei Contrades has a 1.15 ERA in nine appearances and Jason Kafka has a 1.98 ERA, also in nien games.
Pitching Matchups
• Stanford will pitched RHP Mark Appel (4-1, 2.86), LHP Brett Mooneyham (5-3, 3.18) and RHP A.J. Vanegas (2-0, 2.61) in the three-game series with ASU. The Sun Devils will send RHP Brady Rodgers (6-1, 1.12), Trevor Williams (7-2, 1.41) and Darin Gilles (1-3, 3.67) to the hill.
From Bench to ‘Bench’
• Converted infielder Eric Smith is begining to get recongized for his accomplishments as he was one of five additional catchers added to the Johnny Bench Award watch list, named for college’s top catcher. Former start Ryan Garko was a previous winner of the award. Smith leads the club with a .350 average, and is second with a .505 slugging percentage.
Home Stand
• During this current nine-game home stand, Stanford is 2-2, splitting his games last week with Pacific and Oregon.
Marquess Rising
• Mark Marquess is tied with Virginia Tech’s Chuck Hartman’s 1444 wins (1960-2006). at No. 5 all-time in Division-I wins. Augie Garrido, Gene Stephenson and Mike Martin rank 1-2-3 all-time in wins and are all active coaches. Retired coach Larry Hayes has 1508 wins for fourth place.
RBI Machine
• Twice this season, Stephen Piscotty has driven in seven RBIs in a game, doing it again last Monday at Cal. The preseason All-American and likely first round pick ranks second in the Pac-12 in RBIs with 37, while batting .311 on the year. He leads the Cardinal in slugging (.508) and is the co-leader in homers (4).
Oregon Shuts Down Cardinal
• No. 5-ranked Stanford (22-9, 5-7 Pac-12) dropped its second-straight top-10 series, this time to No. 10 Oregon, managing just one run in the first two games, before salvaging the finale, 4-2. In the opener, a 1-1 battle ensued between Mark Appel, who struck out 13 and gave up an unearned run in the first and Andrew Keudell, who got the eventual win with one run on five hits. Three errors and a wild pitch in the tenth gave Oregon the opener as the Ducks scored three times in the tenth to win 4-2. On Saturday Jake Reed and Jimmie Gold combined on a three-hiter to take the series. On Sunday, A.J. Vanegas stopped the bleeding on the mound with a solid 5.2 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits, before David Schmidt returned to form with 3.1 shutout innings for the save. Brett Michael Doran, an injury replacement in the second, drove in the first two runs and scored the last two in the 4-2 win. DORAN POST-GAME: http://youtu.be/LD4wsmVEQbY
Hughes Takes Care of Pacific
• Lefthander Garrett Hughes (1-0) after missing all of last year with a foot injury, went 5.0 innings against visiting Pacific, giving up a single run on four hits to earn his first career win. The offense continued to click, leading 7-1 after four innings and paced by Kenny Diekroeger’s 3-for-3 day which included a solo homer and two doubles. HUGHES POST-GAME: http://youtu.be/DpBP3CHCd5E
Piscotty and Ragira Drive in 12 at Cal
• Stephen Piscotty drove in seven for the second time this season, Brian Ragira added five hits and five RBIs and No. 5-ranked Stanford (20-7) crushed host California 19-6 in a midweek showdown. The Cardinal jumped out to a 11-0 lead after three innnings to make a winner out of Sahil Bloom (1-0), who gave up two runs over 5.0 innings. Eric Smith, Austin Wilson and Kenny Diekroeger added three hits a piece. PISCOTTY POST-GAME: http://youtu.be/0yoxX8DMc58
Draft Update
• According to Baseball America’s midseason top-60, Mark Appel (No. 4) and Stephen Piscotty (No. 20) are two Cardinal projected to go in the first 60 picks. In the preseason, BA rated six Cardinal players among the top-100 college prospects. According to BA columnist Jim Callis, Appel has “the best pure stuff of any pitcher available.” The Astros, where Appel grew up, have the No. 1 pick.
Reserves Get Chance to Shine
• This past week saw three players step up and prove just out deep the bench is. On Wednesday, LHP Garrett Hughes, who missed all of last season with a foot injury, won his first career game with 5.0 innings. On the year the lefthander has now pitched in four games, producing a 1.23 ERA. RHP Sahil Bloom, who had 12 career appearances coming into the season, appeared in his ninth and tenth games of the year, combining for 9.2 innings and lowering his ERA to 2.16 over 25.0 innings. On Sunday, Brett Michael Doran drove in two runs and scored the last two in a 4-2 win over No. 10 Oregon. It was Doran’s second and third career RBIs.
Double Trouble at Second
• Kenny Diekroeger enters the week second in the Pac-12 with 13 doubles to go along with his .315 average. After starting the season at short, a position he played all of last year, the versatile Diekroeger has played second for much of the 2012 season, fielding at a .975 clip. With four more assists, he will have reached the 100-assist plateau in each of his three seasons, playing third (freshman year), short (all three) and second (this year).
Hit Streak Ends for Ragira
• First Baseman Brian Ragira, one of four players to start all 31 games this season, watched his 13-game hit streak end on Friday, in which hit .397 during the streak. Ragira enters the week batting .328 with 19 runs and 27 RBIs. Ragira and Austin Wilson lead the club with eight multi-RBI games.
Wilson Continues Impressive Campaign
• Rightfielder Austin Wilson caught up to fellow outfielder Tyler Gaffney for the team lead in runs with 30, while batting .310 with 25 RBIs and a .504 slugging percentage. Wilson also is perfect on the base paths, at 5-for-5.
Troubles Multiply in Losses
• Stanford has dropped nine games this season, five by two runs or less. Overall in the team’s nine losses, the Cardinal are hitting just .188, but pitching with a respectable 3.72 ERA. Seventeen of the team’s 42 errors (.952 fielding) have come in those nine losses, leading to 17 unearned runs.
But When It’s Going Good...
• In the Cardinal’s first 22 wins this year, the Cardinal are hitting .330 with a combined 2.78 ERA, outscoring opponents 192-71. They are also fielding at a .971 clip.
Pac-12 Leader in Strikeouts
• Projected first round pick Mark Appel reached double digits in strikeouts for the fourth time this season, striking out 13 in a nine inning no-decision on Friday. He gave up one unearned run in the first as the game was lost in extra innings. Appel, who ranks third in the conference with a .205 opponent average, leads the Pac-12 with 68 punchouts. Saturday starter LHP Brett Mooneyham is second with 65 strikeouts.
Keeping it Close
• Over the last two years, Mark Appel has dropped eight games, all which have been decided by three runs or less at the conclussion. Overall he is 10-8 over his two year’s as the team’s No. 1 starter.
Vanegas Reaching Potential
• A.J. Vanegas put together another strong outing on Sunday, going 5.2 innings, while limiting No. 10 Oregon to two runs (one earned) on five hits. Since giving up five runs in his first two outings (3.1 IP) and knocking him from the weekend rotation, Vanegas has given up three earned runs over 28.2 innings and six games (1.26 ERA). In his last two weekend starts, he has limited Oregon and Washington to two earned runs over 11.2 innings (1.54 ERA).
Game-Winners
• Stanford has five wins in its last at-bat. On Sunday at Washington, an interference call at home followed by a double steal gave Stanford a 9-8 victory. Five days earlier, the Cardinal won 9-8 in 12th innings as Danny Diekroeger drove in the winning run in the 12th after Stanford scored five in the ninth to send it to extra innings against Saint Mary’s on April 2. Homers won three games this year-- Austin Wilson’s walk-off two-run homer in the ninth against USC, Stephen Piscotty’s two-run homer at Pacific in the 11th and Justin Ringo’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth against Rice.
Regular Season Honors
• Stanford righthander Mark Appel was named the Pac-12’s Pitcher of the Week after a career-best 10 strikeouts in the win over No. 7 Texas. For the second-straight week to begin the year, Collegebaseball360 honored a Cardinal performer for its national weekly honor, choosing centerfielder Jake Stewart for his .538 average against Texas as well as his defensive efforts in center. Freshman LHP John Hochstatter was honored the first week after 6.1 no-hit innings of relief work.
Notables Off the Bench
Opening Day on the Farm
• Stanford has had at least one major leaguer in each of the last 54 years, as this year five players are slated to be on opening day rosters. Jeremy Guthrie, traded to the Rockies in the off season, will be the Opening Day starter on Friday when the Rockies are in Houston to take on two Cardinal starters in catcher Jason Castro and shortstop Jed Lowrie. John Mayberry, Jr. is slated to start at first for the Phillies; Sam Fuld is a returning starter for the Rays. New Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin and Nationals closer Drew Storen, will begin the season on the disabled list with a possible return by mid-April. In addition, Ruben Amaro, Jr. (GM with Phillies), Kenny Williams (GM with White Sox) and AJ Hinch (VP of Scouting with Padres) are all in the executive wing. And it doesn’t stop there-- Dave Flemming (Giants), Kris Atteberry (Twins) and Dave Raymond (Astros) are all former Stanford students calling games in the big leagues.
25th Anniversary of Back-to-Back Champions
• The 2012 season marks the 25th Anniversary of the 1987 and 1988 national champions under Mark Marquess. During the final weekend of the year the teams will be honored. That Cal team is coached by former shortstop David Esquer, who was the starting shortstop in 1987. The pregame ceremony will occur May 26. For more information email the baseball office at kjbills@stanford.edu
Number of Straight Years with an Active Major Leaguer
• According to research by Washington State, Stanford has had 54-straight years with at least one Major Leaguer, dating all the way back to 1958 and Chuck Essegian (Phillies) and Dave Melton (Kansas City A’s). USC has had a Major Leaguer every year since 1939, a span of 72 years.
Get Your Degree Under Marquess and Make the Majors
• Of Stanford’s 56 Major Leaguers under Mark Marquess, 47 have earned their degrees. Four of those players-- Drew Storen, Jason Castro, Michael Taylor and Cord Phelps are current Major Leaguers, who take classes in the off season. A 2011 Wall Street Journal report said that only two dozen Major Leaguers had earned their degrees in 2010. Some Cardinal Major Leaguers who have earned their degrees include: Gold Glove catcher Bob Boone, Cy Young Award winner Jack McDowell (communications), All Star Mike Mussina (economics), Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., (biology) former manager A.J. Hinch (psychology) and long-time Major Leaguers Mike Aldrete (communications) and Jeffrey Hammonds (history).Marquess himself was a politics major, whose freshman roommate just happened to be Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Two-Sport Tradition
• 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 Century. That list has included: NFL Hall of Famer John Elway, current coach Mark Marquess (a punter, wide receiver and QB with Jim Plunkett in the late 1960s), NFL Executive Ray Anderson, Major League pitcher Joe Borchard (also a QB), NFL and MLB player Chad Hutchinson (RHP and QB), 1940s Major Leaguer and Korea War pilot Lloyd Merriman, Brian Johnson (QB), Toi Cook (NFL veteran and member of the 1987 CWS team) and John Lynch (QB and RHP).
2011 in Review
Stanford embarked on the 2011 campaign with the nation’s last two top recruiting classes. The Cardinal featured upwards of seven or eight underclassmen in its everyday lineup, surviving top-15 road trips to No. 17-ranked Rice, No. 3 Vandy and No. 6 Texas to begin the year and a road schedule that featured 28 road games. Following a 15-day layoff for finals and unexpected rain, Stanford won nine of 11 to end March and rose to No. 11 nationally. April featured an unexpected series loss at USC and then three-straight weekends against the top-15 of Oregon State (loss), UCLA (win) and at Arizona State (loss). Stanford won six-straight to begin May and after briefly dropping out of the top-25, finished the year as high as No. 13. The Cardinal fought through a tough Fullerton Regional, beating the host Titans 1-0 on day two, before dropping two-straight at North Carolina in the Super Regional to finish the year at 35-22. Following a preseason loss to weekend starter Brett Mooneyham (finger), the weekend staff was relatively stable in Mark Appel and Jordan Pries, with senior Danny Sandbrink replacing Dean McArdle at midseason. Appel has had maybe the toughest road, pitching against a half dozen starters that are likely on the fast track to the majors in the next two years. First round pick and closer Chris Reed anchored the bullpen.