March 1, 2010

STANFORD, Calif. -

Live weekday Stanford TV, radio and webcast schedule listed below.

Baseball
Stanford will play an exhibition against Rikkyo (Japan) on Tuesday. Rikkyo is in the midst of a tour around California playing UC Irvine, USC, Fresno Pacific, Stanford and USF. Rikkyo plays in a collegiate league in Japan – the Tokyo Big 6 – and has won 12 titles since the conference established baseball in 1925. Similar to Stanford, Rikkyo has one of the strictest admissions policies in its country.

Men’s Basketball
Saturday’s contest against Arizona represented just another thrilling chapter in a great rivalry between the two storied programs, as Lamont Jones’ buzzer-beater lifted the Wildcats to a 71-69 victory. But then again, close games have been the norm in the series as 18 of the past 23 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer.

Women’s Basketball
The sombrero award winners for Stanford’s annual Arizona trip were Jayne Appel for total rebounds and J.J. Hones, for shooting percentage. Several years ago, coach Tara VanDerveer created a tradition in which the players with the best weekend stats in those two categories are awarded a sombrero, which they must wear on the trip home. Appel and Nneka Ogwumike tied in total rebounds, with 16, and the first tiebreaker, offensive rebound (five). But Appel got the nod for setting the Pac-10 career rebounding record. Appel, a repeat champion, the sombrero didn’t last long on her head. But Hones, a first-time winner after making 4-of-7 shots, wore hers proudly.

Football
Toby Gerhart’s appears to have improved his draft stock through his performance at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis last weekend. Here are comments from national writers:

From Todd McShay of espn.com:
“Scouts know Gerhart is a bruising runner but he showed more explosiveness and speed in drills than expected on Sunday. He ran an unofficial 40 time in the mid-4.5 range and he finished in the top eight among running backs in bench press (26), vertical jump (38 inches), broad jump (9-10) and three-cone drill (6.94 seconds).”

From Peter King of Sports Illustrated:
“I'm not a big combine guy, as you may know, but I do know NFL teams are pretty happy with what they saw of the running backs here. I was encouraged to see a guy I like a lot, Stanford's big back, Toby Gerhart, run a 4.53, a little better than people thought he would. Anyone who watched Gerhart play last season and who would think he can't play in this league and play at a high level just doesn't know football.”

Men’s Golf
After being sidelined with a wrist injury for most of the past two seasons, senior Joseph Bramlett played his way into the lineup for this week’s USC Invitational. Bramlett was a key contributor to Stanford’s 2007 NCAA Championship team, leading the Cardinal in stroke average at 71.5. However, a nagging wrist injury limited him to just nine events over the last three seasons and forced him to miss all of last spring and this fall. When he tees off Monday at the North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, it will mark his first collegiate event since he finished tied for 20th at the 2008 CordeValle Classic.

Men’s Gymnastics
Tim Gentry nailed a handspring front double on the vault to score a career-best 16.3 on Saturday against Michigan. The score was the best in the nation this year and helped the Cardinal rout the No. 1 Wolverines. Gentry now owns the nation’s top score on both vault and rings.

Women’s Gymnastics
Stanford honored its seniors – Stephanie Carter, Allyse Ishino, Carly Janiga, Blair Ryland and Tenaya West – after its final home meet of the season Sunday. Carter has been unable to compete since her freshman year because of an elbow injury, but has remained a vital part of the program, offering support, advice and even serving in the role of an extra coach. “She's the one who's always there for her teammates, whether they're sick or injured,” Stanford coach Kristen Smyth said. “Any time day or night, they go call her. She's really the anchor, the glue that holds the team together. And to see what she's been able to do, and what affect she's had on our team, even though she's not competing ... you just can't put it into words. The fact that she's sacrificed so much to do this and not have a chance to compete says a lot about her character and how much this means to her. She will be irreplaceable.”

Lacrosse
Don’t look for the Stanford lacrosse team to hang their heads if they find themselves with an early deficit. Over the weekend, the Cardinal rallied from a four-goal deficit to No. 1 Northwestern to tie the game in the second half. Although, the Cardinal lost to the five-time defending national champs, it seemed to create a precedent. Against No. 19 Ohio State on Sunday, the Cardinal trailed by three, only to force overtime with a late rush and win in extra time. “I was proud of how we persevered and kept chipping away,” Stanford coach Amy Bokker said. “I thought this was a great sign of our team's mental toughness.”

Softball
Stanford posted a record of 4-1 last weekend at the Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. The 10th-ranked Cardinal captured its first win over a ranked opponent this season, defeating No. 21 Tennessee, 8-7. Senior outfielder Alissa Haber was 3-for-3 at the plate with back-to-back home runs and four RBI to lead the team.

Squash
Stanford finished sixth in the Howe Cup held at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., last weekend, marking the Cardinal’s best finish in the history of the event. The Cardinal fell to No. 2 Trinity, 9-0 in the opening round, only to rebound to defeat No. 6 Cornell, 5-4 in what coach Mark Talbott called “the biggest win since the program achieved varsity status.” Stanford scored victories at four out of the top five spots in the lineup, with Katy Brewster, Pamela Chua, Kerrie Sample and Samantha Buechner setting the pace. Julie Koenig also won her match at the No. 9 spot. Stanford fell to Princeton, 8-1 in the consolation finals, with Buechner accounting for the only victory, at No. 5.

Women’s Swimming
Elaine Breeden, who won her fifth Pac-10 butterfly championship last weekend, joined an elite group of Cardinal butterfliers. Misty Hyman and Janel Jorgenson each won five butterflies in the 1990s, but Breeden though has them both beat when it comes to the school record. The Lexington, Ky., senior has school marks in the 100- and 200-yard events.

Julia Smit, who broke three of her five school records at the Pac-10 Championships, has always been outstanding in the conference meet. While Jenny Thompson is believed to be the conference leader with 11 individual titles, Smit finished her career with eight – three each in the 200 and 400 individual medleys and twice in the 200 backstroke. Thompson was a four-time champion in her speciality, the 100 free.

Men’s Tennis
Look for Greg Hirshman and Ryan Thacher to earn their first national singles rankings of the season when the ITA rankings are released Tuesday. Hirshman is riding an eight-match winning streak to improve to 15-4 overall and 9-0 in duals, while Thacher has won five straight to improve to 14-4 overall and 10-1 in duals.

Women’s Tennis
Hilary Barte (16-3 overall and 8-0 in duals) has won 11 consecutive matches, with the latest coming in a 7-5, 2-6, (10-7) victory over fifth-ranked Yasmin Schnack of UCLA. Barte needs nine more to surpass her career-best 19-match winning streak, established during her freshman year in 2007-08.

Men’s Track and Field
If the MPSF indoor Championships were any indication, Stanford appears to be in good shape in the throws despite losing 2009 Pac-10 discus champion Daniel Schaerer to graduation. Throws coach Andrew Ninow’s group had a big weekend in Seattle with Carter Wells capturing the MPSF title in the weight throw and Geoffrey Tabor placing second in the shot put. The Cardinal throwers scored 18 points and helped Stanford to a second-place finish.

Women’s Track and Field
Stanford pole vaulter Katerina Stefanidi bettered her own school record with a 14-1¼ to win the MPSF title and puts her among the favorites at the NCAA indoor meet in two weeks. Stefanidi grew up in Greece, and is the daughter of two Greek national team stars. Her father, George was a triple jumper, while her mother Zoi, was a 400-meter runner.

Men’s Volleyball
Stanford (8-4) is in second place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation around the halfway point of the conference season, but, it’s a precarious second place. Five teams are within one loss of each other and nine teams are within two games of the lead. BYU’s Saturday match against Hawaii on Maui may have served to break up the pack a little, but was postponed because of a tsunami warning. It is rescheduled for Monday night in Honolulu.

Women’s Water Polo
Facing their toughest competition of the season so far, No. 1 Stanford reached the championship game of the Irvine Invitational before losing to USC 10-6. Stanford (12-1) fell behind by scores of 4-2 and 8-2 in the first half, before closing the gap.

Wrestling
Sophomore Nick Amuchastegui won the 165-pound title at the Pac-10 Championships in Davis, Calif., over the weekend. He defeated Oregon State's Dan Brascetta, 2-1, in the championship match to earn the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Championships in Omaha, Neb. It was a great wrestling weekend for the Amuchastegui family. Nick’s younger brother Luke, who will be joining the Cardinal in the fall, capped off an undefeated season winning the Oregon state title at 160 pounds.

Weekday media listings for live Cardinal sports: