03/06-08/09 - Gameday [pdf]

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PAGE 2

Weekend of March 6-8, 2009

FEATURE: DREW STOREN PAGE 4

THE LOOKOUT: ANALYSIS PAGE 7

The Stanford Daily

Vol. 235, Issue 2

OUR HOUSE SOFTBALL COMES HOME RED HOT By CHRIS FITZGERALD DAILY SPORTS INTERN

The Stanford softball team just kept on rolling last weekend, adding five victories to bring its current win streak to 17 games. Now the Cardinal has its sights set on a six-team tournament on the Farm, beginning Friday at 9 a.m. No. 5 Stanford (18-1) hosts the Louisville Slugger Classic over the weekend, playing doubleheaders Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A perfect 5-0 at home, the Stanford women can claim an 84-10 record in tournaments they have hosted dating back to 2003. In the midst of the longest winning streak in Cardinal Softball history, head coach John Rittman credited his team’s depth as the key to its success. “We know we have a lot of versatility and it makes us a lot stronger,” he said. “We have had enough depth to push through two big injuries.” Senior Maddy Coon rejoined the lineup in Fullerton last weekend after missing five games due to injury. Even with the Stanford veteran’s comeback as designated player, the Cardinal infield still features just two upperclassmen and no seniors outside of the pitching circle. Coach Rittman was proud of his young squad’s attitude heading back into tournament play this weekend. “Our team is mature enough to know we’re only as good as our last game,” he said. Stanford has been perfect since a 1-0 loss to Oklahoma State in Tempe, Ariz. on Feb. 6. During its 17-0

Please see SOFTBALL, page 3

ILLINOIS STATE

(6-7) Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium 1:30 P.M.

UP NEXT PENN STATE, SAN DIEGO STATE, VERMONT, UC-DAVIS 3/6-8

Smith Family Stadium

NOTES: Stanford softball is 18-1 and is currently on a school record 17-game winning streak. The Cardinal hosts its second-to-last tournament of the season this weekend before regular conference play begins at the end of the month. Stanford will play two games each day from Friday through Sunday.

GIULIO GRATTA/The Stanford Daily

The Cardinal offense has struggled so far this season, and the pitching has had a few rough innings as well. It will take a complete team effort to win against the undefeated Texas Longhorns this weekend.

TURN AROUND TIME Card looks to get back on track as Texas comes to Stanford By DENIS GRIFFIN DESK EDITOR

The Stanford baseball team fell again on Thursday night, losing 6-5 to St. Mary’s for its fifth consecutive defeat and second loss to the Gaels in a little over a week. And it’s not as if the road gets any easier for the Cardinal anytime soon — Stanford is set to host a three-game series against undefeated and second-ranked Texas this weekend. The Cardinal (2-6) started off its season well enough, taking two of three from Vanderbilt at Sunken Diamond two weeks ago. But a 5-3 loss to the Gaels on Feb. 25 was followed by a three-game sweep on the road against Cal State-Fullerton and last night’s defeat has sent Stanford reeling into its third weekend series of the year. Stanford knows it needs to regain its footing quickly before its conference schedule begins. “As far as our confidence and things like that go, I think it’s very important to at least play better and feel like we’re swinging the bat to our potential and hopefully get a couple wins,” senior outfielder Joey August said. “I know [Texas is] a great team, but I think it’s good to come out and play the way we know we can — that’ll help our confi-

dence . . . People aren’t panicking too much because we’ve got a long season to go. Last night against St. Mary’s (7-2), the Cardinal offense again had difficulty getting rolling, as Gaels pitcher Kyle Barraclough allowed just two runs through six innings, giving up just four hits and walking three while tallying an impressive eight strikeouts. The Cardinal’s pitching staff, meanwhile, combined to allow five runs through the first four innings of play. The Cardinal’s offense, despite failing once again to get rolling early in the game, staged a late rally to put the outcome in doubt. The team scored one run in the third on a pair of singles and a wild pitch, then another in the sixth on sophomore Kellen Kiilsgaard’s solo shot to right center, before batting around in the eighth to score three. August double-scored sophomore leadoff man Zach Jones and junior Toby Gerhart, both of whom had singled to start the inning. Kiilsgaard then singled and senior Brent Milleville hit a sacrifice fly to bring August home and cap off the Cardinal’s night at five runs. Stanford’s offense has been less than stel-

Please see BASEBALL, page 5

TEXAS

(10-0) Klein Field at Sunken Diamond 5:05 PM COVERAGE:

TV: CBS College Sports RADIO:

KZSU 90.1 FM (kzsu.stanford.edu)

UP NEXT CAL 3/21

Berkeley

COVERAGE: RADIO KZSU 90.1 FM (kzsu.stanford.edu) NOTES: The Stanford baseball team looks to break out of a five-game losing streak this weekend at home against the Longhorns. Texas is undefeated and has been essentially un-hittable so far this season. Stanford’s biggest weakness has been an extremely inconsistent offense.

2  Weekend of March 6-8, 2009

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Women hold on

Wildcats come close STANFORD DEFEATS ARIZONA, 70-67

The Stanford Daily

Playing it out, no matter what “We can’t just show up, put on the uniform and pencil in wins.” — TARA VANDERVEER head coach

By DANIEL BOHM STAFF WRITER

The No. 2 Stanford women’s basketball team shrugged off a sluggish start and then held off a furious comeback to beat visiting Arizona 70-67, Thursday. The heavily favored Cardinal (25-4, 161 Pacific-10 Conference) looked to have pulled away from the Wildcats (11-17, 413) in the second half, behind a careerhigh 21 points from sophomore guard Jeanette Pohlen — but a late, 13-0 Wildcats run drew the visitors to within 65-64 with 1:54 to play. But junior Jayne Appel came up with a big offensive rebound and put back on a missed Jillian Harmon jumper to halt Arizona’s run. Appel had difficulties for much of the game but felt somewhat vindicated by the one big play. “I didn’t play well the entire game,” she said. “I had a lot of turnovers and struggled inside, but I got the big shot when I had to.” After the Appel lay-in, Wildcat Courtney Clements then hit a three to pull Arizona within one, but two Pohlen free throws and a missed, desperation three by Ashley Frazier left the Cardinal with the victory. Arizona led for much of the first half until an 11-2 Stanford run, highlighted by a pair of Pohlen three-pointers near the end of the half, put the Cardinal up for good. Stanford struggled to adjust to the zone defense that the Wildcats employed early on. Appel, the Cardinal’s leading scorer, was routinely double- and triple-teamed, leading nine first-half turnovers by the Cardinal. Arizona’s zone defense looked vulnerable as the game progressed, however, as Stanford shooters Pohlen and sophomore Kayla Pedersen got hot from the outside to stretch the Cardinal lead to 65-51 with 7:13 to play. The Cardinal didn’t score again for almost five minutes. Pohlen, who knocked down a careerhigh five three-pointers, thanked the presence of her star center for her open shots. “Jayne gets a lot of attention,” Pohlen said. “And when she gets doubled, she is a good passer, so [I] had a lot of open looks.” Appel, who was held to just nine points and 11 rebounds, credited the Arizona defense as being one of the toughest she has gone up against this year. “I haven’t seen a double that big,” she said. “It’s tough to make passes against [two girls] 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-5 that can jump out of the gym.” Stanford also struggled getting to the boards early, as the Cardinal was outrebounded in the first half, 16-15. The Cardinal narrowly avoided a devastating upset loss, but with Cal’s loss to Arizona State yesterday, the Stanford women have now clinched at least a share of the Pac-10 title.

ARIZONA STATE (23-6, 15-2 Pac-10) Maples Pavilion 12:30 PM COVERAGE:

TV: CSN Bay Area RADIO:

KZSU 90.1 FM, (kzsu.stanford.edu)

UP NEXT PAC-10 TOURNAMENT 3/13-15 Los Angeles

COVERAGE: RADIO

KZSU 90.1 FM (kzsu.stanford.edu)

NOTES: The Stanford women’s basketball team earned at least a share of the Pacific-10 Conference title with a win over Arizona Thursday night at Maples Pavilion. The Stanford women were led offensively by sophomore Jeanette Pohlen’s 21 points on 6-11 shooting including 5-8 from three-point range. Junior Jayne Appel, meanwhile, scored nine to move into 13th place all-time on the Cardinal scoring chart.

Stanford will host the Sun Devils on Saturday with a chance to win the conference championship outright. Although head coach Tara VanDerveer dismissed the possibility, the Cardinal may have been looking past Arizona. “Arizona played a great game,” VanDerveer said. “When we had them down, they didn’t quit . . . We can’t just show up, put on the uniforms and pencil in wins.” In addition to Pohlen’s big game, the Cardinal got a solid performance out of Pedersen, who put up 16 points, including two big, second-half threes, along with six rebounds. Pedersen, last week’s Pac-10 Player of the Week, seems to be rounding into shape at the right part of the season, which will be key to Stanford’s success come postseason. Stanford has now won 12 consecutive games since losing in Berkeley on Jan. 18. It will look to wrap up the season with one more victory on Saturday. VanDerveer hopes the experience of hard-fought games, like last night’s against Arizona, will help the Cardinal going into tournament time. “I didn’t see anybody falling apart for us,” the Stanford coach said. “This was a great win for us tonight.” Contact Daniel Bohm at [email protected].

AGUSTIN RAMIREZ/The Stanford Daily

Jayne Appel prepares to shoot around a defender on Thursday against Arizona. Stanford has just one game left to play before heading to the Pac-10 Conference tournament.

SOFTBALL

The Stanford Daily

SOFTBALL

Keeping up the pace Continued from front page

“We’re only as good as our last game”

run since the loss, the team has accumulated seven shutouts between freshman Ashley Chinn and senior Missy Penna. The duo has combined for an ERA of just 1.11, and Penna leads all active pitchers in the nation with 1,003 strikeouts in her career. Stanford will open its weekend of competition on Friday against Illinois State (6-7) at 1:30 p.m. before an afternoon matchup with Penn State. The Nittany Lions (5-4) boast a pitching tandem of sophomore Jackie Hill and freshman Lisa Akamine, who have posted a combined 0.87 ERA over 56 innings of work. Akamine also stars on offense, hitting .375 on the season. Illinois State finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference last season. The Redbirds are paced offensively by senior Amber Smith, who boasts a .405 batting average. Work in the circle should fall to freshman Jordan Birch. Birch has 42 strikeouts and a 3-3 record this season. The Cardinal will finish off its weekend against San Diego State (9-9) and Vermont (1-4) on Saturday. The Aztecs are coming off of a division-best 44-17 record last season. Stanford faces San Diego State for the second time this year, after winning 9-2 in San Diego on Feb. 15. Stanford, which trailed in its first meeting with the Aztecs until late, will see either freshman Bailey Micetich or WHO TO WATCH sophomore Samantha Beasley in the circle on Saturday. Beasley leads the  SHANNON KOPLITZ, team with 75 K’s in 68 inSP, STANFORD nings of work. Offensively, meanwhile, sophomore Koplitz punished the Cal State-Fullerton Titans, Jessica Camello has helped going three-for-three in a win on Sunday. Both the Aztecs win four of their her .796 slugging percentage and her .544 on last five, earning MPSF base percentage rank second only to junior Player of the Week honors Alissa Haber. on Tuesday for her efforts. Coach Rittman admitted that his team knows lit-  ASHLEY CHINN, SP, STANFORD tle about Vermont. But The sophomore gave up just two hits in five inStanford will get a chance nings pitched: a complete game to open the to adapt, playing the late weekend against Indiana. Chinn picked up her game on Saturday, and an fifth win of the year for her effort, and followed 11:15 a.m. Sunday game up with win No. 6 in another complete game against the Catamounts. Vermont is likely to give Saturday against UC-Riverside. In six starts, she Jocelyn Abaray the nod in has six complete games, all of them resulting in the circle; the sophomore wins. has yet to surrender an earned run in 16.2 innings  LISA AKAMINE, SP, PENN STATE of work. Akamine claims a 3-1 record in the circle in The Cardinal rounds out five appearances. She holds a 0.64 ERA in 22 its six games in three days innings of work, having earned the Nittany against UC-Davis. The Aggies (10-5) return First Lions three of their five wins. She has struck out Team All-Big West senior 23 and surrendered just two walks so far this pitcher Jessica Hancock. season. Hancock is in possession of an impressive 0.75 ERA, good for a 6-2 record on the season. Stanford sits at 9-3 lifetime against the Aggies, although Rittman acknowledged that Davis always plays Stanford tough. The Cardinal can claim a 24-6 mark lifetime against their MASARU OKA/The Stanford Daily five opponents coming up this weekend. Action begins on Missy Penna has been excellent so far in her senior Friday at 1:30 p.m. for Stanford, as it looks to build on its 17season on the Farm. So far, she is 12-1 with an ERA 0 run.

— JOHN RITTMAN head coach

Contact Chris Fitzgerald at [email protected].

of just 0.76 and 100 strikeouts in just 83.0 innings of work in the circle.

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Weekend of March 6-8, 2009  3

4  Weekend of March 6-8, 2009

BASEBALL

The Stanford Daily

Close encounters: Drew Storen

Getting in the By ERIK ADAMS

BOX

GAMEDAY EDITOR

omebody grab this guy a helmet,” pitching coach Jeff Austin barked as he gestured at me, waiting near the bullpen fence.

“S

“Thank god,” I thought. “But a helmet probably isn’t enough. I should be putting on a full suit of armor.” Wearing flip-flops, jeans, a wrinkled linen shirt I hadn’t bothered to iron and holding a 20-dollar softball bat that had rattled around my trunk since the summer, I was about to face Stanford’s closer. A month later, Drew Storen would be suiting up for the season opener against Vanderbilt. He would jog down to the bullpen as Stanford rallied to tie the game in the sixth, and start to throw as Jordan Pries made his collegiate debut in the eighth inning. Crouching on the bullpen mound after he became warm, the brim of his cap pulled low and casting his face in a shadow under the bright lights, he would wait and stare, motionless and focused, waiting for his moment to strike. But on that night, the freshman would shine. The closer wouldn’t be needed. But that was still in the future when he climbed atop the mound to start his bullpen session on this sunny, January afternoon. “Just let me throw a few to get warm,” he said. “Then you can go ahead and step in.” It had seemed like a great idea when I approached Drew as we left class and I asked if I could stand in while he pitched. I thought the chance to face a mid-90s fastball and watch the sharp hook of his slider would be both fascinating and beneficial to my broadcasting and sports writing. As I watched him warm up, I started to wish I hadn’t asked. Fifteen years ago, he was just like countless other American boys: learning to throw and catch from his father in the backyard of their Indiana home. He played little league and, even when Storen didn’t understand, his father guided him on a path that would lead him to success. “When I came back from my first practice I was all upset,” Storen recalled. “I had to hit from both sides of the tee because my dad made me — he wanted me to be a switch hitter. None of the other kids did so I felt like a loner.” But when he first started pitching at eight years old, he fell in love with the loneliness of the mound. He liked the intensity and the feeling of facing the hitter alone in a “showdown.” When Storen’s attraction to pitching became clear, his dad took him straight to a pitching coach to teach him the proper mechanics. Over the next dozen years, he steadily improved. By his freshman year in high school, he could throw 74 miles per hour and strike out the seniors with either his curveball or cutter. Each year, he became bigger and stronger and his fastball got just a little faster until he was breaking 90 and his dream of pitching in the big leagues was suddenly a real possibility. The Yankees drafted Storen out of high school, and colleges recruited him. He visited Georgia Tech, Auburn and Clemson, but after visiting Stanford he knew he belonged on the Farm. “The old-school uniforms matched their style of play and I liked that,” he said. “I liked that they hustled everywhere and that they ran out almost to the foul line to pick everyone up as they came off each inning . . . when I was on the flight home, I turned to my dad and told him that

this was where I needed to be.” A year later, he would be pitching for the Cardinal in the College World Series on ESPN and in front of 20,000 fans. I was there too, but perched in the press box and talking into a microphone. I never thought I would actually be facing him and seeing the pitches that I had called both “blistering” and “devastating” coming right at me. “Ok, I’m pretty close now,” he said as he fired a bullet over the corner of the plate. “Just a couple more and you can step in.” I closed my eyes and tried to prepare for what I had gotten myself into. Part of me just wanted to mumble something about “leaving my headlights on” and get out of there before he could finish — his fastballs were so quick I could actually hear them hum through the air before they snapped into the catcher’s mitt. My eyes reopened just in time to see his next pitch: a curveball that failed to break and whipped past the catcher into the backstop. Had I been standing in the batter’s box, it would have taken my head off. “That’s why you’re going to wear a helmet,” he said in a tone that made me wonder if he had thrown it there on purpose. He got the ball back, tucked his glove under his arm, turned to me while rubbing the ball with both hands and, flashing a mischievous grin, said, “You can step in whenever you’re ready.” My heart was pounding now, but I forced myself to walk towards the plate. I kept telling myself not to flinch — at this point, I considered being able to stand in for a dozen pitches without passing out a realistic goal. Without even asking if I was ready, he lunged forward and launched a fastball towards me. Coming in about chest high, it whistled as it cut through the air and banged into the catcher’s mitt behind me. It was terrifying. I straightened up and flicked my bat lightly at him a few times to disguise my feet slipping toward the back corner of the box. I could feel my heart pound in every part of my body. A few more fastballs rocketed from his hand and I could barely see them before they were past me. If one had come straight for me, I doubt I would have had time to duck. By now, my fear was starting to move into the background and I realized I might actually survive without injury. But the next pitch he unleashed didn’t look the same — it was coming right for my knees. Panic filled me again but I didn’t have time to react. Just a moment later the pitch was already past, but several feet in front of me. It was a slider. He threw a few more, and each time I was certain they would either hit me or even pass behind me, but they always rapidly cut down and away. Both frightening and fascinating, it left me baffled over how anyone ever got a hit at this level in the first place. Before I could think another thought, though, another fastball came zipping in a few inches from my chin. It came in so fast that I didn’t even have time to feel fear, but I was sure I could actually smell the leather in the air. I immediately turned around and walked away. “Are you done?” he asked as he held out his glove, waiting for the ball. “Yeah, I’ve seen enough,” I said in a slightly quivering voice. He grinned and went back to work. I rested my softball bat on my shoulder and tried to get my heart rate back to normal. I watched a few more pitches and then turned away, thankful my job kept me safely inside the press box.

Contact Erik Adams at [email protected].

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BASEBALL

The Stanford Daily

TEAM STATISTICS 2008-2009 STANFORD

AVG GP-GS

AB

R

H

Brian (Min) Moon Adam Gaylord Kellen Kiilsgaard Jonathan Kaskow Joey August Christian Griffiths Brent Milleville Zach Jones Colin Walsh Toby Gerhart Jeff Whitlow Jake Schlander Ben Clowe Kellen McColl Wande Olabisi Mike Garza J.J. Jelmini Jeffrey Inman David Giuliani

.667

2-0

3

1

2

1

0

0

1.000

.667

0-0

0

.455

5-3

11

1

5

1

0

3

.545

.455

0-0

1

.333

5-3

15

3

5

1

1

3

.600

.412

0-0

0

.286

5-3

14

2

4

1

0

2

.357

.412

0-0

0

.250

7-7

28

3

7

3

0

4

.357

.267

0-0

0

.250

15-1

8

1

2

0

0

0

.250

.400

0-0

0

.240

7-7

25

2

6

1

0

2

.280

.269

2-2

0

.222

7-7

27

3

6

0

1

5

.333

.300

1-2

0

.222

6-5

18

0

4

1

0

3

.278

.300

0-1

1

.208

7-7

24

3

5

1

0

3

.250

.333

0-0

0

.200

4-4

10

2

2

0

0

0

.200

.333

1-1

0

.190

7-7

21

3

4

0

0

0

.190

.292

0-1

0

.158

6-6

19

1

3

1

0

0

.211

.158

0-0

0

.000

3-1

3

1

0

0

0

1

.000

.200

0-0

0

.000

3-0

3

1

0

0

0

1

.000

.250

0-0

0

.000

2-0

2

1

0

0

0

0

.000

.333

0-0

0

.000

3-1

2

1

0

0

0

0

.000

.500

0-0

1

.000

1-1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.000

.000

0-0

0

.000

1-0

0

1

0

0

0

0

.000

.000

0-0

0

PITCHERS

ERA

W-L

IP

R

Carey Schwartz Brian Busick Alex Pracher Blake Hancock Drew Storen Brett Mooneyham Jeffrey Inman Jordan Pries Michael Marshall Brandt Walker Chris Reed Max Fearnow Scott Snodgress Kyle Thompson Danny Sandbrink

0.00

0-0

3

0

0

3.0

0

0

0

3

0

.182

0.00

0-0

2

0

0

1.2

0

0

2

1

0

.000

0.00

0-0

1

0

0

1.0

0

0

1

1

0

.000

0.00

0-0

2

0

0

1.0

0

0

2

1

0

.000

3.00

1-0

2

0

0

3.0

1

1

1

6

0

.300

3.68

0-1

2

1

0

7.1

3

3

9

5

0

.238

4.85

0-1

2

2

0

13.0

9

7

2

6

0

.292

5.14

1-0

2

0

0

7.0

4

4

3

3

1

.200

6.00

0-0

3

0

0

3.0

2

2

0

1

2

.400

6.23

0-1

1

1

0

4.1

3

3

3

4

0

.133

9.00

0-0

2

0

0

1.0

1

1

1

0

0

.500

10.80

0-1

2

2

0

6.2

9

8

3

3

3

.407

13.50

0-0

3

0

0

4.0

6

6

2

5

1

.438

13.50

0-0

1

0

0

1.1

2

2

0

0

1

.429

17.18

0-1

2

1

0

3.2

7

7

2

0

1

.438

TEXAS

RBI SLG

BASEBALL

BATTERS

APP GS SV

2B HR

ER BB

OBP SB-ATT

SO

Weekend of March 6-8, 2009  5

E

HR B/AVG

WHO TO WATCH 

JEFFREY INMAN SP, STANFORD Inman has been Stanford’s most consistent pitcher so far and has been un-hittable at times. Look for another strong performance on Friday.



KELLEN KIILSGAARD, OF/DH, STANFORD Kiilsgaard has possibly the most raw power on the team and will be crucial to the jumpstarting of the Cardinal’s stagnant offense.



THE ENTIRE PITCHING STAFF, TEXAS The Longhorns haven’t played the toughest schedule so far, but the pitchers have compiled a team ERA of just 1.24 coming into this weekend. Opponents are only hitting .164 this year against the Texas hurlers.

JEFFREY INMAN VIVIAN WONG/The Stanford Daily

Continued from front page

BATTERS

AVG GP-GS

AB

R

H

OBP SB-ATT

E

David Hernandez Preston Clark Tant Shepherd Brandon Loy Brandon Belt Cameron Rupp Travis Tucker Connor Rowe Kevin Keyes Michael Torres Russell Moldenhauer Kyle Lusson Tim Maitland Jordan Etier Morgan Mickan

.455

10-10

33

5

15

2B HR 0

0

RBI SLG 7

.455

.457

2-2

6

.412

7-5

17

2

7

3

0

2

.588

.565

0-0

0

.355

10-10

31

8

11

3

0

6

.581

.412

2-2

0

.314

10-10

35

6

11

1

0

2

.343

.375

1-1

1

.290

10-10

31

8

9

3

2

8

.581

.442

1-1

0

.290

10-10

31

6

9

3

0

7

.387

.378

0-0

0

.282

10-10

39

10

11

3

0

4

.410

.378

0-1

0

.280

10-10

25

3

7

0

1

6

.480

.406

0-1

0

.267

10-10

30

4

8

2

1

5

.433

.371

1-2

1

.211

7-5

19

1

4

0

0

0

.211

.286

0-0

0

.500

2-0

2

0

1

0

0

1

.500

.500

0-0

0

.250

10-0

4

1

1

0

0

0

.250

.400

1-1

0

.000

10-0

2

1

0

0

0

0

.000

.333

0-1

0

.000

1-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

.000

.000

0-0

0

.000

1-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

.000

.000

0-0

0

PITCHERS

ERA

W-L

Brandon Workman Cole Green Austin Wood Taylor Jungmann Austin Dicharry Chance Ruffin Andrew McKirahan Keith Shinaberry Sam Stafford Stayton Thomas

0.00

2-0

2

0.59

1-0

2

0.77

3-0

6

1.50

2-0

2

1.74

0-0

3.14 0.00 0.00

APP GS SV

IP

R

0

16.0

0

0

2

17

0

.042

2

0

15.1

1

1

1

12

0

.151

0

3

11.2

1

1

2

6

1

.105

2

0

12.0

2

2

6

9

0

.146

3

2

0

10.1

3

2

4

9

0

.205

2-0

3

2

0

14.1

5

5

4

13

0

.246

0-0

2

0

0

3.0

0

0

0

2

0

.182

0-0

1

0

0

2.1

2

0

0

0

0

.400

0.00

0-0

1

0

0

1.0

0

0

1

0

0

.250

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BASEBALL| Texas untested lar to start the year, batting just .237 as a team and posting an anemic .320 slugging percentage, and is averaging just 4.375 runs per game. Making matters worse in the immediate future, the Longhorns’ pitching staff has been dominant to start the year, posting a 1.24 team ERA. Brandon Workman and Cole Green have led the Texas staff in innings pitched to start the year — Workman has yet to allow a run through 16 innings pitched, while Cole Green has a 0.59 ERA in 15.1 innings pitched. “We’re going to have to rely on our staff a little bit to keep their run totals down, and we’re going to have to swing the bats the way we know how,” August said. “We’re just going to have to know that they’re going to come after us. We’re going to have to be ready for them to attack the strike zone, and we’re going to have to try to be aggressive instead of responding to what they’re going to do.” Offensively, Texas (10-0) has been led by David Hernandez — a Danville, Calif.-native who is hitting .455 to start the year. Shepherd Tant and Brandon Loy aren’t far behind, batting .355 and .314, respectively. Still, the Longhorns have yet to face a team of Stanford’s caliber, having played four games against UIC, one against UT-Arlington, four against Penn State to this point and one on the road at Texas State. “Our mindset going into any series is pretty

“We know what we can do.” — COLIN WALSH, sophomore second baseman much the same: we know what we can do,” sophomore infielder Colin Walsh said. “We haven’t seen them play yet; there’s a lot of talk of good pitching, good hitting, et cetera. Basically, it all comes down to what they can do against us. We feel we have the players to match up against them. We’re going to go into the series with some confidence and try and pull off some good wins.” The Cardinal will first face off against the Longhorns tonight at 5 p.m. followed by games Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. The series represents Stanford’s last chance for a nonconference tune-up before traveling to Berkeley next Saturday to start a three-game series against Cal. Contact Denis Griffin at [email protected].

6  Weekend of March 6-8, 2009

GAMEDAY

The Stanford Daily

SOFTBALL

Weekend of March 6-8, 2009  7

GAMEDAY

The Stanford Daily

THE LOOKOUT: SOFTBALL & BASEBALL ANALYSIS BASEBALL

TRULY AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK YOU HAVE TO HIT IF YOU WANT TO WIN By DANIEL BOHM STAFF WRITER

The Stanford softball team is off to yet another great start this season. The Cardinal is 18-1, having won 17 consecutive games. “So what,” you might ask. Didn’t they do something like this to begin last season too? The short answer to that question would be yes; this may be the same song, only the second verse. But I wouldn’t bet on it. This team has some things that last year’s team lacked. Yes, a year ago the team started 15-0 and looked pretty much unstoppable, as it does this year, throughout non-conference play. However, the way they were playing was a bit different. Last year’s team lacked a killer instinct that this year’s team seems to have. Last weekend’s thrilling 3-2 victory over Cal Poly was the greatest indicator of that. A year ago when Stanford was down, they were likely out. This past Saturday, however, the Cardinal mounted a torrid comeback with one out in the bottom of the seventh to beat Cal Poly. That game happened at the same stadium in Fullerton as a similar game for the Cardinal a year ago, however in that one it was Stanford that came out on the losing end. The Cardinal led fifth-ranked Florida 3-1 entering the bottom of the seventh, only for now-senior pitcher Missy Penna to surrender a walk-off three-run homer to Gator Mary Ratliff. This year it is Stanford who, as star left fielder junior Alissa Haber put it, “always feels it can come back.” In addition to this shift in attitude, the Cardinal also has not been as onedimensional offensively as it was a

year ago. Last year the Stanford offense centered on Haber and junior catcher Rosey Neill. Neill had a phenomenal preseason a year ago, hitting 14 home runs prior to the start of Pacific-10 play. Thus far Neill only has five, but the Cardinal has been getting production from other parts of the lineup to make up for it. Yes, Haber is still leading the Cardinal in most offensive categories, but other players are complimenting her, which only makes her better. Freshman shortstop Ashley Hansen is one of these keys. The highly anticipated recruit is not disappointing, as she is hitting .433 and leading the team with 28 RBIs in the early season. Junior infielder Shannon Koplitz has also vastly improved from a year ago. In 2008 she hit just .253 with four homeruns. Thus far this season, she has already matched her homerun total from last year and is hitting .423. She has also become a fixture in the middle of the Stanford lineup, hitting either third or fifth in the order. In addition to the play of the freshmen and the improved play of some upperclassmen, Stanford is also finding different ways to score. The Card has already stolen 18 bases this season, being caught just once. Haber is seven-for-seven and freshman centerfielder Sarah Hassman is four-for-four. The Cardinal defense is also vastly improved from a year ago. Although Neill was Pac-10 co-defensive player of the year in 2008, the defense overall could sometimes be seen as a liability. A year ago Haber played center field and senior Maddy Coon played shortstop, arguably two of the most

important defensive positions on the field. Each has been replaced this year by a freshman, Hassman in center and Hansen at shortstop, meaning the best defenders from a year ago have only been improved on. With Haber in left field, head Coach John Rittman feels as though he has two centerfielders on the diamond at once. The same goes for Coon at second base. It is for all of these reasons that Stanford softball should not face the same challenges it did a year ago come conference and tournament time. Look for the Cardinal to continue its winning ways, although maybe not at such a monumental clip, throughout this season and deep into the postseason.

Contact Daniel Bohm at [email protected].

By ERIK ADAMS GAMEDAY EDITOR

Even before this season started, it was clear the Cardinal’s offense would be different. Losing players like Jason Castro (.376/68 runs/14 home runs/73 RBI), Sean Ratliff (.294/52/22/71) and Cord Phelps (.351/76/13/58) leaves a big void to fill. No one expected to make up all of that power and consistency, but the plan was that another year of experience for the young players could help this team fill the gap in run production. So far it hasn’t worked that way. Last year’s team scored over 7.5 runs per game and hit .299 as a team. In the first two weeks of this season Stanford is averaging more than three runs

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SITES

CHRIS BAUTISTA/ The Stanford Daily

fewer per game and hitting just .236. Last year’s team hit 81 home runs in 67 games. Through the first seven games, this team had two. Last weekend at Fullerton, only three Cardinal base runners made it past first base safely in the first two games. The pitching, except for a few blowup innings here and there that have ballooned the ERA past 6, has been surprisingly effective. Every freshman pitcher who has appeared so far this season has been impressive and junior Jeffrey Inman is showing he has the stuff to become a true ace. The rest of the weekend rotation is still sorting itself out, but between freshman Brett Mooneyham, sophomore Danny Sandbrink, junior Brandt Walker and senior Max Fearnow, there is plenty of talent to spread around. Still, good pitching doesn’t matter much if good runs aren’t being scored. A good pitching staff can save a weak offense, and a team that scores ten runs per game can bail out poor performances on the mound. Even if one is dominant and the other is only decent, a team can be very difficult to beat. Texas, for example, arrives this weekend with a perfect record at 10-0. They are hitting over .300 as a team but have just scored 55 runs in the ten games. That is only about a run better per game than Stanford, and not overly impressive at the collegiate level. But the pitching for the Longhorns has been nearly perfect. In 87 innings, they have allowed just 12 earned runs for an ERA of only 1.24. Perhaps even more impressive is the .164 batting average and the only 22 walks to 69 strikeouts in that span. The Longhorns provide an extreme example: there is no way they can maintain that level of dominance on the mound over the entire season. But the point is that even with an offense that is producing just about one more run per game than Stanford, Texas is one of the top teams in the country right now. If the Card can eliminate those ugly innings that seem to pop up once or twice a game, the pitching will keep the team in a lot of games. And, if the offense starts to gel and gives itself just a few more chances to score, it will start winning a lot of those games. It is still early, but Stanford needs to start doing those things now. More than ten percent of this season’s games have already been played, and after this weekend and the finals break, conference play will begin. There isn’t much time left before this team will need to be consistently winning weekend series if it wants to compete in the postseason. The ability is there, and it has shown itself at times, but this team needs to at least give itself the chance to drive in runs every game, and pitching nine strong innings instead of seven or eight fantastic frames and one or two awful ones wouldn’t hurt. Texas is a tough squad to break a slump against, but this team needs to go into the break with some momentum to build on. Contact Erik Adams at [email protected].

8  Weekend of March 6-8, 2009

SCORECARD

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