Cardinal baseball on road Cardinal baseball on road (June 01, 2005)

Team must travel in NCAA; first time in 9 years

by Rick Eymer

The Stanford baseball team gets a second chance to make a big impression when it travels to Waco, Texas, home to Baylor University and its resurgent athletic program, to open play in one of 16 NCAA regional tournaments beginning Friday.

Stanford coach Mark Marquess has never been to Waco, and he may feel a little out of place as the other three teams all hail from Texas.

The third-seeded Cardinal (32-23) meets second-seed TCU (40-18) on Friday at noon (PDT) in the double-elimination tournament. Host Baylor (39-21) takes on fourth-seeded Texas-San Antonio (27-32) in another first round affair. The Bears are seeded fourth nationally.

While Stanford has visited Texas several times in the past, including regional play in 1994 and 1981, its never played anywhere outside of Austin.

Stanford will play at noon or 5 p.m. on Saturday depending on Friday's outcome. Sunday's games are also scheduled for noon and 5 p.m., with a game Monday at 4 p.m. if necessary.

Stanford, with advances to the postseason for the 12th straight year, received one of the 34 at-large bids despite finishing in a sixth-place tie in the Pac-10 with a 12-12 mark. California finished fifth and Washington shared sixth with the Cardinal and both teams will be home for the postseason party.

The 23 losses are the most since Stanford finished 40-25 in 1995, when the Cardinal traveled to a regional in Wichita State and secured a spot in the College World Series.

Stanford matched its lowest ever finish in conference play, and lost more conference games in any year since going to a 24-game schedule in 1999. Stanford finished 10-20 in 1993.

Stanford finished the regular season dropping two of three to host USC over the weekend. The Cardinal won Saturday, 14-3, behind Jeff Gilmore's complete-game effort, but lost Friday 5-2, and Sunday, 4-2.

The Trojans won the season series with Stanford for the first time in nine years.

"It's been one of those years where in big spots we haven't gotten the key hits," Stanford third baseman Adam Sorgi said. "But if you look back we've gotten better as the season goes on. You haven't seen the best of a lot of guys yet. We'll be ready."

The Cardinal are 10-16 in games decided by two runs or less, and with a key hit there or a big pitch there, that could change during the postseason.

Chris Minaker takes a 13-game hitting streak into the regional after going 5-for-14 with four doubles against the Trojans. Minaker and John Hester each drove in four runs to support Gilmore's 10th win in 12 decisions.

Sorgi, Minaker, and Ben Summerhays each collected three hits.

Meanwhile, junior second baseman Jed Lowrie earned first team all-American recognition from Sports Weekly, becoming the first Cardinal to be named back-to-back all American since Jeremy Guthrie in 2001-02.

Track and field

Sara Bei and Janice Davis each won an individual title and the 1,600 relay team won as the Stanford women won the team title at the NCAA West Regional in Eugene, Ore., over the weekend.

Michael Robertson won the discus as the Stanford men finished fifth.

Bei won her third consecutive West Regional 5,000 meters, covering the distance in 16:22.41, 10 seconds slower than last year's winning time and 46 seconds off her personal best.

"I'm really better and better each week," Bei said. "I feel like I'm just getting going now. It feels good going into nationals."

Davis won the 100 meters in 11.61, a day after racing 11.47 -- the second-fastest time in school history -- in the preliminaries

"I was just happy to run without pain," Davis said.

Bei and Davis were two of several women to qualify for the NCAA championships in Sacramento beginning June 8. Sarah Hopping (discus), Teresa McWalters (5,000), Ashley Purnell (200), Nashonme Johnson and Christine Moschella (400), Ashley Freeman and Chinny Offor (800), Arianna Lambie (1,500), Jeane Goff (3,000 steepelchase), Undine Becker (400 hurdles) and Erica McLain (triple jump) also qualified.

The 1,600 relay team of Davis, Offor, Freeman and Moschella also qualified.

Robertson, who won the discus in 201-0, was one of seven men to qualify for the championships. He'll be joined by Ryan Hall and Ian Dobson (5,000), Wopamo Osaisai (100), Donald Sage and Russell Brown (1,500) and Solomon Welch (triple jump).

Softball

Stanford's bid to reach the Women's College World Series fell short as the Cardinal dropped two games to visiting Tennessee, 2-0 on Friday and 6-0 on Saturday, in the NCAA Super Regional.

Stanford (43-16) won last week's regional in Columbia, Mo., to reach the Super Regional, which is one step shy of the WCWS.

"First of all unless you win the last game it is a hard way to end your year for a great team," Stanford coach John Rittman said. "In time we will be able to reflect on the great year we had. I am proud of the way we prepared for this weekend and the way we handled ourselves."

Stanford managed just three hits in 14 innings against Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott (47-7), two by Cardinal left fielder Jackie Rinehart. Freshman Erin Howe got Stanford's only hit on Saturday.

"It was definitely frustrating because we could not catch a break," Stanford shortstop Lauren Lappin said. "We were hitting the ball well but to players. They made all the plays and supported Monica defensively."

Stanford returns 14 players, including nine who played a majority of the games. Six seniors participated in their final contest: Michelle Thiry, Katherine Hoffman, Elizabeth Bendig, Heather Shook, Leah Nelson and Meghan Sickler.

"I didn't know this was going to be my last game," Nelson said. "I did enjoy my time here at Stanford and I had a great time here."

Women's volleyball

Stanford coach John Dunning, who led the Cardinal to a national championship in the fall, was named a recipient of the USA Volleyball All-Time Great Coach Award.

Dunning, who will be honored at a Stanford home match during the season, has a 120-20 record with the Cardinal and two national titles.

Men's golf

Stanford opens play at the NCAA championships on Wednesday at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland. The tournament runs through Saturday.

Stanford is making its first appearance at NCAAs since 2001.

Freshman Rob Grube, who won the regional title at Stanford Golf Course, will be joined by Kevin Blue, Pat Phillips, Zack Miller and Matt Savage.

Women's crew

Stanford women's Varsity Eight finished 11th at the NCAA Championships on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova over the weekend.

Seniors Kelly Garneski and Missy Fiesler earned All-West Region honors this season.

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