Cardinal baseball off to a great start Cardinal baseball off to a great start (April 23, 2004)

Team's 30 wins in first 35 games is second only to the 1967 squad; softball team heads for UCLA after splitting a doubleheader

by Rick Eymer

The second-ranked Stanford baseball team takes a break from conference action this weekend, hosting Sacramento State on Friday at p.m. before traveling to Sacramento on Saturday.

The Pac-10 leading Cardinal (30-5) enter the weekend on a six-game winning streak after beating visiting St. Mary's, 10-5, on Tuesday night.

Stanford is off to the second best start in school history only to the 1967 team's 30-3-2 start after 35 games.

Junior outfielder Danny Putnam is the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Week, becoming the 55th time a Stanford player has been chosen for the award.

"There's a lot of season left and a lot of tough games to be played, but you have to give this team its due for what it's done through 35 games to date," said Stanford coach Mark Marquess. "We play a tough schedule and usually your record suffers a little bit when you do that, but ours hasn't really suffered much. It's a credit to this team and the way it has played so far."

Stanford beat the Gaels for the 19th game in a row, dating to Feb. 1, 1994. The Cardinal have won a season-high nine straight games at home, has won 25 of its past 26 home games. Greg Reynolds (2-0) earned the win in his first collegiate start. He pitched five innings and recorded four strikeouts.

Chris Lewis hit his first homer of the season and drove in a pair of runs, while Chris Minaker and Sam Fuld each had three hits.

Fuld has 331 career hits, tied for second on the career list with Paul Carey.

Brian Hall extended his career-high hit streak to 20 games with a pair of hits, while Fuld has an 11-game hitting streak.

Jed Lowrie drove in a pair of runs and now has a team-high 49 and Chris Carter added two hits. Former team manager Cameron Matthews scored his first collegiate run after pinch-running in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Lewis' homer snapped an 0-for-16 streak.

"I was just looking for a pitch that I could hit hard and break out that huge slump," said Lewis. "Fortunately, I got a pitch up in the zone that I could hit hard and got under it enough to get it over the fence. It has been frustrating, but if you keep working at it, it all comes, and luckily it came in a big way."
Softball

Stanford sophomore Laura Severson threw a two-hit shutout and the Cardinal defeated host St. Mary's, 7-0, in the second game of a doubleheader on Tuesday.

Stanford lost, 2-1, in the first game.

Catcher Jessica Allister continued her hot streak with a 2-for-4 effort to go with four RBI and a run scored, while shortstop Lauren Lappin had two hits and drove in three runs.

Stanford (35-12) travels to UCLA today for a 1 p.m. Pac-10 contest.

In the first game, sophomore Catalina Morris had two hits.
Women's water polo

Second-ranked Stanford (9-1, 17-3) travels down the road for a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest today at 4 p.m.

It's the final regular-season match before the MPSF tournament, which will go a long way in determining who reached the NCAA Final Four.

Senior 2-meter defender Wendy Watkins leads Stanford with 25 goals this season, followed by junior Hannah Luber with 23 scores. Freshman goalkeeper Meridith McColl, who earned Player of the Week honors for her effort in Stanford's win over UCLA last week, leads the MPSF with 4.31 goals against per game.
Women's diving

Stanford's Cassidy Krug recently qualified for the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials, to be held June 7-13 in St. Louis, by placing seventh in the 3-meter diving competition at the American Cup Meet held April 8-10.

Krug finished the competition with 721.80 points.

"This is a very pleasant surprise for both Cassidy and myself," said Stanford coach Rick Schavone. "She worked very hard this season and just continues to improve."
Men's tennis

Stanford is in Ojai for the Pac-10 singles and doubles championship tournament which began Thursday.

Juniors Sam Warburg and Phil Sheng, along with sophomore KC Corkery and freshman James Wan will compete in the singles main draw.

Senior captain Carter Morris and Warburg, along with sophomore James Pade and Corkery, will compete in the doubles main draw.

Senior Joe Kao, Morris, Pade, and freshmen Eric McKean and Chris Rasmussen will compete in the invitational singles draw.

The Cardinal (5-2, 16-7) finished third in the Pac-10 and enters the weekend with a No. 9 national ranking.
Women's tennis

Top-ranked and unbeaten Stanford are in Ojai for the Pac-10 individual championships, which began Thursday.

Since the first tournament in 1987, Stanford has boasted nine singles champions.

For Stanford, the singles bracket features junior Erin Burdette, senior Emilia Anderson, sophomore Alice Barnes and freshman Theresa Logar.

In the doubles bracket are Alice Barnes and Erin Burdette, and Theresa Logar and Story Tweedie-Yates.

The duo of Lauren Barnikow and Erin Burdette are ranked No. 1 in the nation in doubles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Amber Liu and Alice Barnes are ranked No. 58.
Women's golf

Stanford shot a 309 on the final day of competition at the Pac-10 championships at the Saticoy Country Club in Somis. on Wednesday to finish seventh with a three-day total of 932.

UCLA won the championship with a 902, followed by California (920), Arizona (923), Southern California (928) and Arizona State (928).

UCLA's Charlotte Mayorkas won the conference individual champion, with a two-over par 218 for the tournament.

The Cardinal were led by Jennifer Tangtiphaiboontana, who tied for seventh after shooting an even-par 72 on Wednesday.
Women's lacrosse

Stanford (4-0, 8-8) hosts fifth-ranked Loyola on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the home finale.

The 20th-ranked Cardinal will be the top seed in next month's MPSF Championship.

Abbi Hills leads the team with 30 goals on the season and has scored 112 goals in her four years, second in Stanford history. Senior goalkeeper Christina Saikus has registered 127 saves on the season and ranks eighth in the country in save percentage (.572) and 13th in goals against average (8.12). Her 20 saves versus Ohio State rank as the ninth highest single-game total this season.
Men's basketball

Junior Josh Childress, who was named to nine All-America teams and was the Pac-10 Player of the Year, was honored as Stanford's Hank Luisetti Most Valuable Player at the tream banquet.

Nick Robinson and Justin Davis were named co-winners of the Howie Dallmar Coaches Award, presented to the Stanford players who displayed excellence on-and-off the court.

Chris Hernandez was named winner of the Roy Young Toughness Award, while Robinson and Hernandez were also named Best Defensive Players.

Matt Lottich was named winner of the Most Inspirational Player, and the Most Improved Player Award went to sophomore forward Matt Haryasz.

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