Publication Date: Friday, February 04, 2005
Stanford's Gilmore hopes a valuable pitching lesson will pay off in 2005
Stanford's Gilmore hopes a valuable pitching lesson will pay off in 2005
(February 04, 2005) by Rick Eymer
Stanford junior pitcher Jeff Gilmore learned how to throw a different kind of curveball from New York Yankees pitcher and former Stanford star Mike Mussina. Gilmore used the pitch to earn a spot as the Cardinal's No. 2 starter behind Mark Romanczuk.
Gilmore learned a new pitch over the summer and it's already translated into six scoreless innings during Stanford's three-game sweep of Fresno State last weekend.
Gilmore hopes the changeup he learned from former USC All-American Jack Krawczyk, now the pitching coach at Arizona State, brings him the same level of success as Stanford prepares to meet host Cal State Fullerton today at 7 p.m. in the opening of a three-game series.
The series continues with a 6 p.m. game on Saturday and a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
With Mussina's help, Gilmore fashioned a 10-2 mark last year. Gilmore hopes to translate his latest pitch into even more success.
"It's probably my best pitch," Gilmore said last week. "If I throw a good one, I'll have success."
Krawczyk, the NCAA career saves leader with 49, served as Gilmore's pitching coach with the Mat-Su Miners in the Alaskan Summer League. The Miners had a cumulative ERA of 2.47 and won the league title. They finished second in the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita. Krawczyk was hired by the Sun Devils in August.
Gilmore had a 1.41 ERA in 32 innings pitched with Mat-Su. He's paying attention to the right people.
"You'd have to be foolish not to listen to them," Gilmore said of Mussina and Krawczyk.
Cal State Fullerton, the defending College World Series champions, serves as a good test for the sixth-ranked Cardinal.
"It will be a test, especially down there," Stanford coach Mark Marquess said. "We're a younger team and this will be our first time on the road. They have a lot of good returning players."
The Waves return six position players and six pitchers who combined for 26 of Fullerton's 47 wins last year.
Preseason All-American Ricky Romero won 14 games, best among returning Division I pitchers. Romero was a United States national teammate of Romanczuk, Jed Lowrie and John Mayberry Jr.
The Waves will be playing their first game since beating Texas for the national title last June. Stanford was 5-1 against the top two teams in the nation last year.
The Cardinal swept Fullerton at Sunken Diamond last year and is only one of two teams, with more than 10 games played, to have a winning record against the Waves.
Gilmore earned his first career save against Fullerton in last year's series.
"We have our work cut out for us," Stanford catcher John Hester said. "The games against Fresno State helped us with a few things we needed to work on. Strong pitching performances are crucial for our ballclub."
Women's tennis
Top-ranked Stanford defeated Harvard, 5-2, in the first round of the USTA/ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship at Wisconsin's A.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium on Thursday.
Cardinal senior Erin Burdette clinched the victory at No. 2 singles with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Susanna Lingman. Two-time defending NCAA singles champion Amber Liu set the pace with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Courtney Bergman at No. 1 singles.
Senior Anne Barnes won at No. 3 singles, beating Elsa O'Riain, 6-4, 6-4 to set up Burdette's clincher.
The Cardinal (2-0) meets Washington, which beat New Mexico, 6-1, in today's quarterfinal at 1 p.m. (PST).
Defending champion Stanford and host Wisconsin are the only schools to have played in all 17 previous USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Stanford has won a record seven titles, including last year, and has reached the finals 12 times. No other team has won more than three titles.
The Cardinal were guests of Wisconsin governor Jim Doyle, who attended Stanford for three years, on Wednesday night.
Men's swimming
Second-ranked Stanford (2-0 in the Pac-10, 5-0 overall) puts it 37-straight dual meet victory streak on the line Saturday when it hosts No. 7 USC at 1 p.m.
It's the Cardinal's final home meet of the season as they begin preparations for the Pac-10 championships which start in early March.
Stanford will visit California on Feb. 19.
Cardinal sophomore Andy Grant has the sixth-fastest time in the 200 free this season at 1:35.77. USC's Ous Mellouli is 10th fastest at 1:36.27.
The Trojans have two of the top times in the 500 free, with Mellouli third in 4:15.53 while teammate Larsen Jensen is second with a 4:15.43. Mellouli owns the top collegiate mark in the 400 individual relay, and is second in the 200 IM.
Stanford counters that with two of the top times in the 100 back. Sophomore Hongzhe Sun has a 47.72, fifth in the nation this year, followed by senior Jayme Cramer in sixth with a 47.88. Sun also has the third fastest 200 back time in 1:43.44 and the sixth fastest in the 200 fly with a 1:45.58. Cramer is 10th in the fly with a 1:46.14.
Women's gymnastics
Stanford is in Mt. Pleasant, MI to meet host Central Michigan (4-1) today at 4 p.m.
The Cardinal (1-1) are seeking their first road win of the season after beating Oregon State last weekend.
Freshman gymnast Liz Tricase was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for her role in the win over the Beavers. She won the vault and uneven bars and was second in the all-around.
Junior All-American Natalie Foley, slowed by an injury, did not compete.
Stanford ranks 27th in the nation on the balance beam with an average score of 48.075, and 27th in the floor exercise with a 48.400 average. Tricase is sixth in vault and bars, averaging a 9.875 on the vault and a 9.887 on the bars.
Men's volleyball
Stanford seeks to reverse its fortune this weekend while playing a pair of Mountain Pacific Sports Federations contests at Hawaii.
The 10th-ranked Cardinal (2-4, 3-6) have lost four of their past five matches while Hawaii (6-0, 8-1) leads the conference and is on a four-match winning streak.
The teams met Thursday night and will meet again today at 7 p.m.
Fifth-year senior setter Kevin Hansen is fourth with 4,231 assists on Stanford's career assists list.
Softball
Stanford, which tied for third in last year's Women's College World Series, lost its All-American catcher and All-American pitcher to graduation, but remains a top contender in the Pac-10.
The fifth-ranked Cardinal opens their season this weekend with the Stanford Classic. Stanford meets Santa Clara today at 3 p.m. and again on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Cardinal also play Pacific on Saturday at 4 p.m. and on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Junior shortstop Lauren Lappin, who joined Stanford's Dana Sorensen (the school's career record holder in wins, strikeouts, ERA and innings pitched) and Jessica Allister as an All-American last year.
Lappin, named the alternate to the United States Olympic team which earned a gold medal in Greece last summer, hopes to help the Cardinal reach the College World Series for a second straight year.
Sophomore outfielder Jackie Rinehart and Lappin were both named to the watch list for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award.
Coach John Rittman (345-165-1 at Stanford) also has Olympic experience, serving as an assistant coach in Athens.
Santa Clara is coached by former Stanford pitcher Jaime Forman-Lau.
Women's volleyball
Stanford's Maples Pavilion was named one of the four regional hosts for the 2005 NCAA tournament.
"Having the opportunity to pre-select our regionals has made these rounds of the championship stronger than ever," NCAA Division I women's volleyball committee chair Julie Hermann said.
The regional weekend is scheduled for Dec. 9-10. The 2005 Final Four will be held at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Future Final Four sites include the Qwest Center in Omaha (2006) and the ARCO Arena in Sacramento (2007).
Field hockey
Stanford announced the signing of four student-athletes to national letters-of-intent: Caroline Hussey of Houston, Elizabeth Rabenstine of Easton, MD, Bailey Richardson of Los Gatos, and Sarah Scheller of Bethlehem, PA.
"Each player brings something different as a strength but all encapsulate what it is to be a Stanford student-athlete," Stanford coach Lesley Irvine said. "This is a very strong class, and we look to them to do wonderful things very early on in their Stanford careers."
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