May 8, 2013
Stanford Notes | Arizona Notes
THIS WEEK:The No. 13 Stanford softball team (36-17, 12-9 Pac-12) will close out the Pac-12 Conference season at home against Arizona (30-23, 7-14 Pac-12), May 9-11. Saturday will be Senior Day as the Cardinal’s four seniors will be honored prior to the start of the game.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Fans can follow this week’s games on Gametracker, available on www.GoStanford.com. Live updates will also be available on Twitter @StanfordSball. KZSU radio will also be broadcasting the Arizona series at 90.1 FM or online at http://kzsu.stanford.edu/. Thursday’s game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
SCOUTING ARIZONA: This year’s Arizona squad enters the final weekend of play unranked in the national polls for the first time in program history. The Wildcats are currently tied for seventh in the Pac-12 standing with Oregon State, but are coming off a 2-1 series victory over rival Arizona State. Arizona is led by a pair of sophomores in Hallie Wilson and Chelsea Goodacre. Wilson leads the team with a .383 batting average and 64 hits, including 12 doubles. Goodacre paces the squad with 16 home runs and 57 RBI. Senior Brigette Del Ponte has been a four-year starter for the ‘Cats and has pitched in with six home runs and 32 RBI. In the circle, junior Shelby Babcock is 16-10 overall with a team-high 126 strikeouts. Junior Estela Pinon is 10-8 overall and has racked up 90 strikeouts.
THE SERIES AGAINST THE WILDCATS: Arizona leads the all-time series against Stanford 9-55-1. The Wildcats won the series last season, but the Cardinal captured the series opener 4-1 in Tucson. UP NEXT: Stanford will learn its postseason fate on Sunday, May 12. The NCAA selections will be revealed on ESPNU at 7 p.m. PT.
LAST WEEK: Stanford is coming off a sweep over Bay Area rival California, its first in school history. Senior Jenna Rich became the school’s RBI leader after hitting a three-run homer in Friday’s game. Stanford’s 17-2 five inning win on Saturday marked the largest margin of victory for the Cardinal over the Golden Bears.
IN THE POLLS: The Cardinal, which has appeared in every regular-season poll for more than a decade, jumped up to No. 13 in both the ESPN.com/USA Softball and the USA Today/NFCA top 25 this week. Six Pac-12 schools appear in the top 25 of both polls.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior shortstop Jenna Rich snagged her first career Pac-12 Player of the Week honors on May 6 after leading the team offensively to a sweep over California. Rich became the school’s RBI leader on Friday and now boasts 212. She is just the second Cardinal player to be honored this season.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Senior shortstop Jenna Rich recently broke into the top-10 on the Cardinal’s career hits list. The El Segundo, Calif., native sits at No. 9 with 241 career hits. She needs just three hits to move into eighth place on the charts.
PAC-12 PLAY: Freshman Kayla Bonstrom has been Stanford’s most consistent threat at the plate all season and has carried that over to conference play. She is second in the conference with a .452 average in Pac-12 games. She boasts an .806 slugging percentage (4th) and a .539 on-base percentage (2nd) against conference opponents. She leads the conference in RBI (25) in Pac-12 games and is second in hits (28) and runs scored (21).
CARDINAL ACE: Senior Teagan Gerhart has been Stanford’s most consistent presence in the circle this year. On the season, Gerhart leads the team with an 19-9 record and holds a 2.54 ERA, 134 strikeouts and five saves, which is second in the Pac-12. She has given up 66 earned runs in 182.0 innings pitched, and is holding opponents to a .222 batting average.
THREE’S COMPANY: This year’s Stanford squad has already hit 18 triples, which is the second-most in a single season in school history. The 2012 team set the school record with 20 triples. Sophomore outfielder Cassandra Roulund leads the team with six, also trying for the second-most in a single season at Stanford. Roulund’s six triples leads the Pac-12 and ranks ninth nationally.
MANUFACTORING RUNS: Stanford is averaging 5.71 runs per game this season, ranking 33rd in the nation. The Cardinal has been shut out just twice all season with the most recent coming against Wisconsin at the Easton Invitational in Fullerton, Calif., on March 1. Stanford is 27-5 when scoring five or more runs in a game this season.
SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Stanford shortstop Jenna Rich has been tabbed a top 10 finalist for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award. She joins California pitcher Jolene Henderson in representing the Pac-12 Conference. Finalists were narrowed down from a list of 30 based on personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete - classroom, community, character and competition. Fan voting at www.seniorCLASSaward.com runs now through May 13 and is also available on the Senior CLASS Award fan page on Facebook.
HEAD COACH John Rittman: In his 17th season at the helm of the Cardinal program, head coach John Rittman is one of the winningest coaches in collegiate softball, boasting a 717-330-3 (.684) career record. Since stepping onto The Farm in July 1996, he has coached the team to 17 consecutive winning seasons, 15 straight NCAA Tournament appearances and 13 40-win seasons. Under Rittman, Stanford has claimed a share of its first conference championship and made two appearances in the Women’s College World Series (2001 & 2004).
MILESTONE FOR RITTMAN: Cardinal head coach John Rittman captured his 700th career win on March 8 in a 2-1 victory over Florida Gulf Coast at the Stanford Louisville Slugger Classic. All 700-plus wins have come during his time on The Farm. He is among the top 20 in the nation of the active winingest head coaches (.684).