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No. 10 Stanford Heads To Fullerton For Super Regional

Cardinal (37-22-2) look to advance to College World Series for 16th time in program history

Cardinal (37-22-2) look to advance to College World Series for 16th time in program history

June 3, 2008

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STANFORD BASEBALL GAME NOTES (June 6-June 8, 2008)

NO. 10 STANFORD CARDINAL (37-22-2, 14-10 Pac-10)


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CAL STATE FULLERTON TITANS (41-20, 16-8 Big West)

THIS WEEKEND'S PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS

  • Friday, June 6 (7:30 p.m. PT) - TBA vs. TBA (ESPN2)
  • Saturday, June 7 (4:30 p.m. PT) - TBA vs. TBA (ESPN)
  • Sunday, June 8 *if necessary (4:00 p.m. PT)- TBA vs. TBA (ESPN2)


    LIVE GAME COVERAGE:

    TV: ESPN2/ESPN (PxP: Jim Durham, Color: Phil Nevin) | Audio (PxP: Neil Berman, Color: Matt Levine) | Gametracker

    STANFORD-CAL STATE FULLERTON HISTORY

    All-Time Series: Stanford leads 51-38

    2008 Results: (at Stanford, February 29) Stanford 12-5 (12); (at Stanford, March 1) Stanford 11-7; (at Stanford, March 2) Stanford 6-5.
    The Cardinal swept the Titans earlier this season after they scored 29 runs in their three victories. Jeremy Bleich earned the victory in the first meeting behind five RBI's by designated hitter Randy Molina. Erik Davis got the victory in the second game behind a four-hit day by catcher Jason Castro. Stanford won in dramatic fashion in the season finale when Zach Jones hit a walk-off double that brought in Jeff Whitlow to complete the three-game sweep.

    2007 Results:(at Cal State Fullerton, February 2-4) Cal State Fullerton 11-5, Cal State Fullerton 6-5, Cal State Fullerton 11-10).The Titans won all three meetings in 2007 at home as the Cardinal had trouble keeping down the Fullerton bats. The Titans put up 28 runs in their three victories and continued their strong play against the Cardinal at home.

    Current Game Win Streak: Stanford - 3 (February 29- March 2, 2008)

    Current Series Win Streak: Stanford - 1 (February 29- March 2, 2008)

    Current Season Series Win Streak: Stanford - 1 (2008)

    Series Notes: The Cardinal and the Titans have both swept their last three three-game home series against each other, while neither school has won a road series since the Cardinal took two of three games at Cal State Fullerton from February 2-4, 2001. In fact, Stanford has won 12 in a row and 19 of the last 20 games the teams have played at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond. The last time the Titans won a game at Stanford was on February 3, 2002, while Cal State Fullerton has not won a series at Stanford since taking two-of-three from January 28-30, 1994.

    POSTSEASON UPDATE


    Stanford To Play in Super Regional For Seventh Time - The Cardinal will participate in Super Regional action for the seventh time this weekend, as Stanford will travel to Fullerton to take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans in a Fri.-Sun series.The series opener will be played on Friday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2. This weekend is the the second time the Cardinal will have to compete on the road. The last time the Cardinal was in a Super Regional was 2006, when they traveled to Oregon State. Stanford hosted the first five Super Regionals they participated in 1999-2003.

    NOTES


    Cardinal Survives To Win 15th NCAA Regional - Stanford won all four elimination games last weekend to advance to the Super Regional in Fullerton. The Cardinal dropped their opener 4-2 to UC Davis on Friday night, but rebounded the following afternoon to eliminate Arkansas, 5-1. This set up a rematch with the Aggies, which Stanford was able to win, 8-4 behind a five-run ninth inning. The rally was sparked by Brent Milleville's two-run homer, which gave the Cardinal a 5-4 lead and its first victory over UC Davis in four tries this season. The Pepperdine Waves were the next opponent and fell to the Cardinal twice clinching Stanford's Regional championship. Freshman Danny Sandbrink threw a complete game in the first meeting, which Stanford won easily 13-1. The second game was much closer as the Cardinal fell behind early 5-1, but rallied for six fifth-inning runs in a 9-7 victory. Freshman Drew Storen earned victories in two of the games over the weekend to improve to 4-3 on the season.


    Stanford In The National Polls - Stanford rose to No. 10 in the latest polls from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper this past Monday, June 2, marking its highest spots in the various national rankings.


    Marquess 10th On All-Time NCAA Division I Win List - Mark Marquess ranks 10th on the all-time win list for NCAA Division I coaches with an all-time record of 1322-667-7 (.663) over 1996 games. Marquess' current win total (all at Stanford) also ranks him sixth among active coaches.


    History Of Postseason Success- Stanford heads into this weekend's NCAA Super Regional sporting one of the top postseason resumes among the field of 64. Over its previous 27 postseason appearances, the Cardinal has posted a record of 124-61, beenone of only four teams to capture back-to-back College World Series titles (1987 & '88), made five total appearances in the CWS championship game, and punched 15 tickets to the CWS in Omaha since its first trip in 1953. At the regional level, Stanford has captured 15 Regional titles, most recently the 2008 Stanford Regional, where the Cardinal won four straight, culminating in a 9-7 championship game victory over Pepperdine. Stanford boasts a 72-26 overall record over its 15 previous regional appearances, and has also captured fi ve Super Regionals in six appearances.


    Cardinal Hit Parade- The Cardinal got lots of big hits over the past weekend and hit .311 collectively as a team. Stanford pounded out eight home runs over the weekend and fi nished with a team sluggling percentage of .533. Juniors Sean Ratliff and Cord Phelps each had two home runs in the Regional and senior Randy Molina had fi ve extra-base hits in the fi ve games. One of Ratliff's home runs was a grand slam against Pepperdine to give the Cardinal its first lead in the Monday afternoon regional championship. Raliff fi nished with a team-high eight RBI on the weekend. Junior Jason Castro also hit .400 for the weekend and fi nished with 14 total bases in his five starts. For his efforts, Ratliff was named the Regional's most outstanding player.


    Sandbrink Stars- Freshman Danny Sandbrink has put together a fine freshman season out of the bullpen, but had no moment this season more significant than his complete game victory over Pepperdine. With the Cardinal already having played a game against UC Davis just an hour earlier, Sandbrink shut down one of the best offenses on the west coast and more importantly saved the bullpen for Stanford's second regional championship game. Sandbrink has now thrown 53.2 innings this season and has a 2.85 ERA.


    Eight Cardinal Earn All-Pac-10 Honors- Stanford Baseball players Jason Castro, Erik Davis, Randy Molina, Cord Phelps, Sean Ratliff and Drew Storen were selected to the 2008 All-Pac-10 Team announced by Pacific-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen on Thursday. This is the second time Ratliff has been honored on the All-Pac-10 Team, but for the rest of the recipients it is the first time earning the honor. Brent Milleville and Austin Yount also picked up honorable mention All-Pac-10 status in 2008 for the first time at Stanford.


    Double Dip For Storen - Freshman Drew Storen was able to pick up two victories this weekend out of the bullpen to improve his record to 4-3 on the season. Storen came in to pitch the final two innings of Stanford's 8-4 victory over UC Davis on Sunday and threw four innings the next day against Pepperdine in relief of starter Erik Davis. Storen picked up victories in both games and his four innings against Pepperdine was his second-longest outing of the season.


    Pick Your Poison - Stanford will get the opportunity to showcase its stellar pitching rotation at this weekend's Super Regional, as RHP Erik Davis (7-3, 4.59 ERA, 96.0 IP, 91 SO), RHP Austin Yount (5-3, 3.54 ERA, 56.0 IP, 31 SO), and Jeffrey Inman (7-2, 4.22 ERA, 64.0 IP, 40 SO) are set to lead the way for the rotation. Yet RHP Jeremy Bleich (2-2, 1.09 ERA, 33.0 IP, 26 SO), who returned from a layoff two weeks ago to make his first start since March 28, is also waiting in the wings for his opportunity in the Cardinal's potent four-man postseason rotation.


    Winning Weekend Record In 2008 - Stanford captured 10 of its 12 three-game weekend series of 2008, and had won 12 straight dating back to the 2007 season before dropping two of three at home to California from May 9-11. Stanford's longest regular season three-game series win streak was a run of 15 straight regular season three-game series from May 3, 2003 - May 4, 2004. Up until the weekend against California, Stanford had also won seven straight Pac-10 series to tie its longest conference series win streak, when it took seven league series in a row during the same run of 15 straight overall.


    Starting Rotation Pitching Well - Stanford's three primary starters have pitched well in 2008. Erik Davis (7-3, 4.59 ERA, 96.0 IP, 91 SO) struggled early but bounced back to post four consecutive complete games from March 29-April 19, and a 6-1 record in his last 12 starts. Jeffrey Inman (7-2, 4.22 ERA, 64.0 IP, 40 SO) had won five straight starts and given up just two earned runs over 24.2 frames during the period before suffering losses in two starts against UCLA and USC. Jeremy Bleich (2-2, 1.09 ERA, 33.0 IP, 26 SO)equaled his win total in all of 2007 with victories in each of his first two outings of 2008. Although Bleich had suffered two losses and a no decision in his three starts from March 7-28, his ERA actually went down 81 points in those three starts as only one of the 12 runs scored against him was earned.


    Fifth All-Time Winningest Program - Stanford is the fifth all-time winningest program in college baseball history with a record of 2554-1600-34 (.614) in 4188 games over 115-plus seasons. Stanford has won two College World Series titles in its 15 trips to Omaha and finished second on three other occasions, while winning at least one game in every CWS appearance. The Cardinal has added five NCAA Super Regional titles, 15 NCAA Regional crowns and 20 conference championships.


    Home Field Advantage - Stanford has had a nice home field advantage at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond throughout the years. The facility has now served as a host site for 15 NCAA Regionals, as well as NCAA Super Regionals on five occasions. Stanford has clinched 10 of its 15 trips to the CWS at Sunken Diamond. The Cardinal boast an incredible 43-10 (.811) home record in regional play, and an overall mark of 55-14 (.797) in the postseason at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond. Stanford has now had 44 consecutive winning seasons at home and recorded at least 17 home wins in each of its last 13 campaigns with an amazing 331-112 (.747) home mark over the last 12-plus seasons. Stanford has never had a losing season at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond in the school's recorded history. The Cardinal turned in a 20-10 record in its 30 regular-season home games of 2008.


    Castro Named Johnny Bench Finalist- - Jason Castro was named a fi nalist for the Johnny Bench award, annually given out to the nation's top catcher. He is joined by Coastal Carolina's Dock Doyle and Florida State's Buster Posey as finalist and will find out if he is the recipient of the award at the 11th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 27, 2008.


    Significantly Better Pitching And Fielding In 2008- Stanford has had much better pitching and fielding numbers in 2008. Stanford has recorded a 4.43 ERA that is 1.58 points better than the 6.01 the team recorded as the highest mark in school history in 2007. The Cardinal's .974 fielding percentage is 11 points ahead of last year's .963 and only .002 points shy of the school record .977.


    Five Two-Way Players On The Roster - Stanford has five two-way players listed on the roster in Brendan Domaracki (OF/RHP), Michael Marshall (1B/RHP), Sean Ratliff (OF/LHP), Drew Storen (RHP/3B) and Austin Yount (3B/RHP). Ratliff and Yount have both already contributed on the mound and at the plate. Domaracki has played but yet to pitch, while Storen and Marshall have both pitched but are yet to play a position or hit.


    Better Against The Best- Stanford is 11-5-1 against ranked squads (according to Baseball America at the time of the game) and 26-17-1 versus teams not in the Baseball America poll at the time of the game.


    Huge Roster And Pitching Staff - Stanford has 45 players on its 2008 roster with 23 of those listed as either a pitcher or a two-way player.


    2008 Honors - Stanford's Jason Castro, Erik Davis, Cord Phelps and Sean Ratliff have already received 2008 honors. Ratliff is on the 2008 Wallace Award Watch List and was also named the Pac-10 Player of the Week on April 7. Castro was selected as the Stanford Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week on April 29 and is a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award, given annually to the nation's top collegiate catcher, and Phelps earned the Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week honor April 15. Davis, meanwhile, was named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week on April 22.


    Honors Candidates - Stanford has many players worthy of honors consideration in 2008. Jason Castro, Erik Davis, Jeffrey Inman Randy Molina, Cord Phelps, Sean Ratliff, Drew Storen, and Brent Milleville have all been nominated for All-American recognition from the various publications that announce teams (NCBWA).


    Rookies Making Case For Freshmen All-American Honors - Stanford has had a total of 14 freshmen play over its 61 games with three making legitimate noise for Freshman All-American consideration. Reliever Drew Storen (4-3, 2.90, 6 SV, 49.2 IP, 44 SO) arguably has the best case to be considered among the nation's top freshmen. Storen paces the team in both saves and appearances (26). Zach Jones (.259, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 9 SB) and Jake Schlander (.232, 24 RBI, 3 SB) have made the biggest impact among position players and are not far behind Storen in worthiness of a spot on Freshmen All-American squads. The duo has spent nearly the entire season as the team's left side of the infield with Schlander starting all 61 of the team's games at shortstop and Jones making 53 starts (48 at third base). Although Schlander has struggled offensively, he has made just seven errors in the field in 241 defensive chances for a .971 fielding percentage as the team's shortstop. Ben Clowe (.286, 2 HR, 6 RBI) has also had an impact offensively and had a career-high five-game hit streak that included a double, two homers, five RBI and a .400 (6-15) batting average from April 12-18.


    Two Unfinished Games Officially Ruled Ties - Non-conference games against Saint Mary's on March 5 in Moraga and California on April 7 in Berkeley have both officially been ruled as ties. Neither game was able to be completed due to darkness. The Stanford-Saint Mary's contest was tied 7-7 after nine innings, while the Stanford-California game was knotted up at 5-5 after 13 frames.


    Next Up - This weekend's NCAA Super Regional at Goodwin Field determines if Stanford's 2008 season continues or comes to a close. Should the Cardinal capture its sixth Super regional title this weekend, it will advance to the College World Series for the 16th time to face the winner of the Florida State-Wichita State Super Regional, hosted by Florida State.

     

     

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