Cardinal to Face Tough Schedule

THE SCHEDULE:
Stanford once again will face one of the toughest schedules in the nation this season, facing 11 of the schools in the USA Today/AVCA top 25. Stanford will also face national runner-up Hawaii and 1996 regional finalists Penn State and Brigham Young. The Pac-10 schedule also expects to be a rigorous one against the likes of No. 7 Washington State, No. 19 Washington, No. 20 Arizona and No. 21 UCLA. Stanford opens the season with eight of its first 10 matches on the road, but later concludes the year with six of its final eight matches on The Farm.

May 15 when he recorded his 338th career strikeout, which moved him past Jack McDowell (1985-87) and into first place on Stanford's all-time strikeout list. He also tied the all-time Pac-10 record of 363 set by USC's Brent Strom from 1968-70, and now holds Stanford's single season strikeout record with 156 (Stan Spencer, 145, 1990). On Feb. 7, the junior right-hander threw a complete game four-hitter while striking out 17 and walking none in the Cardinal's 6-1 win over Fresno State. The 17 strikeouts is the most by a Cardinal in a game since Steve Dunning fanned 18 vs. USC twice in 1970. Here's a look at Peterson's career stats and where he stands in Stanford's all-time record book:

 
Year    W-L     ERA     G/GS    CG  IP      H   R-ER    BB  K
1995    14-1    2.96    20/18   10  142.2   129 54-47   35  112
1996    10-5    3.71    17/16   2   111.2   105 60-46   41  95
1997    11-3    4.19    20/19   3   144.0   134 81-67   38  156
TOT.    35-9    3.62    57/53   15  398.1   368 195-160 114 363

CAREER WINS                             CAREER STRIKEOUTS
1. Jeff Ballard (1982-85)   37          1. Kyle Peterson (1995-)    363
2. Jack McDowell (1985-87)  35          2. Jack McDowell (1985-87)  337
2. Kyle Peterson (1995-)    35          3. Lee Plemel (1985-88)     326
4. Lee Plemel (1985-88)     34          4. Jeff Ballard (1982-85)   316
5. Bruce Mignano (1979-82)  28          5. Stan Spencer (1988-90)   297

DRAFT RECAP:
Stanford right-hander Kyle Peterson was just the 13th player chosen in the first round of the 1997 Amateur Baseball Draft when he was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers. The last Stanford player chosen in the first round was David McCarty by the Minnesota Twins in 1991 (fourth pick overall). Here's a complete look at Stanford players who were taken in the 1997 draft:

NAME            ROUND   TEAM (FARM CLUB)
Kyle Peterson   1st     Milwaukee Brewers
Jon Schaeffer   9th     Minnesota Twins
Joe Kilburg     10th    Cleveland Indians
Luke Quaccia    26th    St. Louis Cardinals
Chris Clark     37th    Pittsburgh Pirates

IN SHORT:
Here's a quick look at just some of the other Stanford players to watch in 1997. Jeff Austin - Hard-throwing sophomore has made the 1997 USA National Team. Chris Clark - Homered in each of the three Cal games (Apr. 25-27) to up his season total to nine. Tony Cogan - Sophomore closer picked up the save in Sunday, May 11 division-clinching win at UCLA. John Gall - Freshman first baseman/designated hitter hit a ninth inning grand slam in 9-2 win over Santa Clara at the West Regional. Brent Hoard - Sophomore lefty threw 5.1 scoreless innings in 9-2 victory over Santa Clara at the West Regional. Josh Hochgesang - Named Most Outstanding Player of the West Regional, and is batting .536 (30-for-56) in last his 13 games. Joe Kilburg - Went 5-for-5 with three doubles and a homer in Sunday, May 11 win at UCLA. Edmund Muth - First Team All-Six Pac selection. Jay Pecci -Went 10-for-17 (.588) at the College World Series. Luke Quaccia - Homered in four straight games from Apr. 26-May 2.

OFFENSIVE UPRISING:
The 1997 Stanford squad wrote its name into the school record book on May 22 when Joe Kilburg hit the Cardinal's 94th homer of the year. The 1990 squad needed 71 games to reach that number, while the 1997 squad needed just 57. Stanford now has 99, and needs just one more to become the first team to hit the 100 mark. The Cardinal enters the week hitting .335 as a club, which puts it just behind the .337 mark established in 1981. Stanford has already scored 549 runs in 61 games, which is just 16 short of the school record set in 1985 (565). The Cardinal has also scored 10 or more runs in 23 of its 61 games, and is 23-0 in those games.

Stanford University Baseball