This week's live Stanford TV, radio and webcast schedule listed below

March 13, 2012

STANFORD, Calif. - March Madness applies to more than just basketball for Stanford athletic teams. The Cardinal women begin the NCAA basketball tournament on Saturday and the men were to open the NIT on Tuesday night. But the Stanford wrestlers, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, and synchronized swimming teams begin competition at their national championships on Thursday. The fencing nationals are a week later. Most of the rest of the Stanford teams have substantial breaks from competition because of Dead Week, finals and spring break.

Baseball
Stanford heads into the finals break with a No. 2 national ranking and 13-2 record. No one expected them to go through the first quarter of the season undefeated, but the team's overpowering of three top-10 foes-- Vanderbilt, Texas and Rice, this past weekend, has been eye-opening. Preseason All-American Stephen Piscotty has driven in a team-best 23 runs and is batting .348, while centerfielder Jake Stewart is batting a team-best .404 in the team's leadoff spot. The pitching staff with potential top-round picks Mark Appel and Brett Mooneyham has developed with freshmen John Hochstatter firing off innings as the Sunday starter with a 3-1 record and 1.09 ERA. New closer David Schmidt has produced an 0.73 ERA in eight appearances. Appel and Mooneyham have been as good as advertised going a combined 6-1 with 77 strikeouts and 26 walks in 58.0 innings. Record: 13-2. Rankings: No. 2 (Baseball America, USA Today Coaches).

Men’s Basketball
Some facts about the Cardinal, which plays host to Cleveland State on Tuesday in the first round of the NIT:
• Of the 32 teams selected for the NIT, Stanford faced three teams and compiled an 0-4 record (0-2 vs. Oregon, 0-1 vs. Arizona and 0-1 vs. Washington).
• Of the 68 teams selected for the NCAA Tournament, Stanford faced five teams and compiled a 5-3 record (2-0 vs. Colorado, 1-0 vs. NC State, 1-0 vs. Colorado State, 1-2 vs. California, 0-1 vs. Syracuse).
• Of the 16 teams selected for the CBI, Stanford faced three teams and compiled a 2-2 record (2-0 vs. Oregon State, 0-1 vs. Washington State, 0-1 vs. Butler).
• Stanford did not play any of the participating teams in the CIT, but combined for a 7-9 record against teams in all the other postseason tournaments.
• Stanford is attempting to become just the fourth team to play at Madison Square Garden in both the Preseason and Postseason NIT during the same season. Also participating in the Preseason and Postseason NIT in the same year were Notre Dame (1999-00), Syracuse (2001-02) and Ohio State (2007-08).
• The Cardinal was the only Pac-12 school with three victories against teams ranked among the RPI's top-50 (Colorado State, California and NC State). Record: 21-11. Ranking: Unranked.

Women’s Basketball
The team’s music video, “Nerd City Kids,” got some play on ESPN’s NCAA Tournament selection show. The song was written and sung by Nnemkadi and Chiney Ogwumike, and showcases the vocals of dance moves of several Stanford student-athletes. The video is part of the “19 Hours” series that showcases various teams on campus. Record: 31-1. Rankings: No. 2 (AP, USA Today/ESPN).

Fencing
Nine Stanford fencers were selected to participate in the NCAA Championships at Ohio State on March 22-25. Stanford competitors will be Kian Ameli (men’s epee), Cole Connelly (men’s epee), Turner Caldwell (men’s foil), Jeremy Klepner (men’s sabre), Cameron Lindsay (men’s sabre), Rebecca Chung (women’s epee), Ashley Titan (women’s epee), Lily McElwee (women’s foil), and Julia Klepner (women’s sabre). Stanford fencing put on a show Saturday, topping the leaderboard in five of the six events at the NCAA Western Regionals, which also included Air Force, UC San Diego and Cal Tech.

At NCAAs, fencers will compete in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. After the round-robin, the top-four finishers will fence in semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine first and second places, and the losers being awarded a tie for third place. Absolute ties for the seeding will be broken as follows: for positions one through three, by a coin toss; for position four, by a fence-off. Rankings: Men and women unranked.

Men’s Golf
David Chung’s 15th place at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters in Las Vegas on Sunday was the first time a golfer other than freshman Patrick Rodgers has led the team this season. In the previous seven tournaments, Rodgers had been the Cardinal’s low scorer. Chung tied for 15th at a 5-over 221 after posting a final round 75. Rodgers was next for Stanford after shooting a 77 on Sunday to finish tied for 23rd at a 6-over 222. Ranking: No. 12 (GolfWeek).

Women’s Golf
The Cardinal has a 23-day break from competition before a pair of final tuneups, at the PING ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., on March 31-April 1, and the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate in Half Moon Bay on April 16-17. After that, Stanford begins the postseason at the Pac-12 Championships April 27-29 in Pullman, Wash. Ranking: No. 44 (GolfWeek).

Men’s Gymnastics
Stanford finished the regular season on a high note, posting its two highest team scores while recording resounding wins against No. 5 Ohio State (355.800-347.400) and Illinois-Chicago (355.500-337.800) in a pair of road dual meets, Friday and Sunday, in the Midwest. Standout Cardinal performances included Cale Robinson's season-highs on floor (15.500) and parallel bars (15.000) at UI-Chicago and on vault (15.500) at Ohio State. James Fosco set a career-high on still rings (16.000) at UI-Chicago. Ranking: No. 2 (GymInfo).

Women’s Gymnastics
Stanford drew closer to having a breakthrough meet during its regular-season finale victory at Arizona State on Friday. Only some stumbles on floor kept the score down. But the Cardinal got a boost on floor with Samantha Shapiro entering the lineup and Ivana Hong producing her best score in three tries in the event. Increased competition for spots, especially with Alyssa Brown drawing closer to her season debut on vault, should make the team even stronger at the Pac-12 Championships on March 24 in Salt Lake City. Record: 10-3. Ranking: No. 11 (GymInfo).

Lacrosse
The Cardinal saw most of it scoring punch leave to graduation after the 2011 season, leaving room for someone to fill the void this year. In have stepped the Boeri twins, Anna Boeri and Emilie Boeri. Emilie leads Stanford with 13 goals and nine assists, while her sister Anna is not far behind with 12 goals and three assists. Last weekend, both sisters had a hat trick, while Emilie had three assists, all going to her sister Anna. Record: 2-4. Ranking: Unranked.

Sailing
Stanford moved up four spots on the final day of the Navy Women's Intersectional and was third in the St. Mary's College Team Intersectional, two giving the program more top-five finishes. Coed ranking: No. 5 (Sailing World). Women's ranking: No. 6 (Sailing World).

Softball
It seems like no team is hotter than the Cardinal, which is on a 19-game winning streak after going 6-0 at the Stanford Louisville Slugger Classic last weekend. However, it was only three years ago that the Cardinal won 28 consecutive games on the way to a 48-11 season. Record: 25-3. Ranking: No. 9 (USA Today/NFCA Coaches).

Men’s Swimming and Diving
Stanford’s diving team earned two spots in the NCAA Championships after Kristian Ipsen's sweep of the men’s 1- and 3-meter events and Stephanie Phipps’ fifth-place in the women’s 1-meter. The future seems bright for Stanford diving, with at least four men in the top-10 in each of the three events. Excluding junior Taylor Sishc, who just missed the championships after a third-place platform finish, the other seven divers are either sophomores or freshmen. Ipsen is the lone freshmen to advance from the Zone E Regional, as the other six qualifiers all are seniors. Ranking: No. 3 (collegeswimming.com/CSCAA).

Women’s Swimming and Diving
The NCAA Championships begin Thursday in Auburn, Ala., and Stanford is shooting for another top-five finish. Lea Maurer has never had a team finish lower than fifth in her six seasons. It will be the final go-round for seniors Betsy Webb and Sam Woodward, two of the nation's top sprinters. The Cardinal has the nation's fastest 200-yard freestyle relay team and is the only team with all four sprinters ranked individually in the top-20. Maya DiRado could score some points in the 200 backstroke, where she won the Pac-12 title, as well as the 200 and 400 individual medleys, where she has been battling with USC's Katinka Hosszu and Cal's Caitlin Leverenz all season. Stephanie Phipps returns after an All-American performance in the 3-meter dive last season. Ranking: No. 8 (collegeswimming.com/CSCAA).

Synchronized Swimming
Stanford travels to Gainesville, Fla., this week to compete at the U.S. Collegiate Nationals. The event, held March 15-17, will take place at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center and be hosted by the University of Florida. The Cardinal is coming off a first-place finish at the Western Regionals in Tucson, Ariz., on March 4. More than 175 of the top athletes from the collegiate scene will vie for titles in the solo, duet, trio and team events. The Championships are an open-class meet, combining competition from NCAA Divisions I, II, and III and NAIA colleges and universities.

Men’s Tennis
Stanford is on a 17-day break from competition before returning for a nonconference match at Pepperdine on March 28 in final preparation for the Pac-12 season, which begins two days later at Arizona. By the time Stanford plays Pepperdine, it will have played only one dual match in 30 days. Record: 10-4. Ranking: No. 9 (ITA).

Women’s Tennis
Stanford remains perfect in both Pac-12 and overall play after trouncing conference newcomer Colorado in Boulder on March 11. Stanford moves up to No. 3 UCLA (14-0) is ranked No. 1, with Florida No. 2. Stanford plays UCLA on April 14 at Stanford. Records: 10-0, 4-0 Pac-12. Ranking: No. 3 (ITA).

Men’s Track and Field
Stanford finished 11th at the NCAA Indoor Championships thanks to Chris Derrick placing second in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters. Derrick is a 13-time All-American, which is third-most is Stanford history. Only Brent Hauser (14) and Jonathon Riley (15) have more. Derrick will have a chance to get to 15 this spring when he is expected to compete in both the 5,000 and 10,000 outdoors. National indoor finish: 11th.

Women’s Track and Field
Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field Edrick Floreal continues to develop women’s jumpers. Erica McLain was an NCAA champion and an Olympian, Arantxa King has been a NCAA runner-up and an Olympian and now Karynn Dunn has burst onto the scene. Dunn leaped a career best 21-0 ½ (6.41m) at the NCAA Indoor Championships to place fourth. Dunn helped the Cardinal women to a tie for 13th. National indoor finish: 13th.

Men’s Volleyball
After holding the No. 1 ranking for a week, on Feb. 20, Stanford has dropped to No. 5 after losing three of its past five. Stanford’s final match before a 22-day break from competition was at home to Hawai’i, which entered the match 11th of 12 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Stanford concludes the regular season with five of seven matches at home. Records: 14-5, 11-4 MPSF. Rankings: No. 5 (AVCA, Volleyball Magazine).

Women’s Water Polo
Stanford has 14 days off before playing a pair of nonconference games in Santa Barbara, against host UCSB and Brown on March 25-26. Records: 14-1, 2-0 MPSF. Ranking: No. 2 (CWPA).

Wrestling
Ryan Mango returns to his hometown of St. Louis to compete in the NCAA Championships Thursday through Saturday at the 22,000-seat Scottrade Center. Mango is seeded eighth in the 125-pound class. He and Nick Amuchastegui, the No. 3 seed at 174, are Stanford’s representatives. Ranking: Unranked.

This week's media listings for live Cardinal sports: