IIt was only for a day, but the Stanford baseball team did return to the top of the Pacific-10 Conference Southern Division standings. That was on Saturday, following Stanford's 4-3 win over California at Sunken Diamond and Southern Cal's 12-5 loss to visiting Arizona State.
Today, however, the Trojans are back in first and Stanford is alone in second. That's the way things will stand for the Cardinal heading into a Six-Pac series against Arizona this weekend at Sunken Diamond.
Stanford is 14-7 in the Six-Pac (26-16 overall) following a 4-3 loss to Cal on Sunday in Berkeley. Southern Cal is 16-8 (30-12 overall) after edging ASU, 8-7, Sunday.
So the stage is set for another weekend where Stanford will make yet another run at first place. Fortunately for the Cardinal, Arizona is no USC. Or even Cal. The Wildcats currently reside in the Six-Pac basement and shouldn't provide the stiff competition as they have in the past.
The Cardinal, of course, is greatly improved over last season heading into its final three Six-Pac series. Against Cal, the pitching of Dan Reed (8-2) led the way in a 5-3 victory in the series opener. On Saturday, Matt Marenghi earned the win in relief of starter Todd Bartels as Dusty Allen's sacrifice fly in the seventh proved to be the difference.
Stanford had the opportunity to remain atop the Six-Pac standings, but a seventh-inning RBI single by Cal's Ivan Lewis knocked the Cardinal out. Stanford starter Jason Middlebrook (5-1) was rocked by a three-run homer in the first.
Cardinal freshman Eric Sees hit a solo homer in the eighth.
While Stanford attempts to move back atop the standings, two other Cardinal teams will be involved in NCAA-related activity.
On Friday, the Stanford men's gymnastics team will begin its quest for a third straight NCAA title when the team competition is held in Lincoln, Neb.
On Saturday, the Stanford men's volleyball team begins play in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament at Maples Pavilion, with two chances to earn a berth in the NCAA Final Four.
The No. 2-ranked Cardinal, which improved to 17-8 overall (14-4 in conference) by defeating both UC San Diego and San Diego State last weekend, needed to beat host Pacific on Tuesday in its final regular-season match to set up the following scenario: a victory means Stanford will play UCLA on Saturday at 7 p.m., with the winner automatically qualifying for the Final Four.
Eight of the nation's top teams will compete this weekend, with matches starting Saturday at 11 a.m.
"Without question, this is the most intense and competitive event of the collegiate men's volleyball season," Stanford coach Ruben Nieves said. "It rivals the NCAA Final Four itself as the premier tournament of the year."
UCLA, ranked No. 1 nationally, is the pre-tournament favorite. If Stanford does play the Bruins on Saturday and loses, the Cardinal will return to the MPSF tourney bracket and be forced to win the event in order to receive a wild-card bid to the Final Four.
Mike Lambert and Matt Fuerbringer continue to lead the Cardinal. Fuerbringer had 32 kills and Lambert had 25 in a 13-15, 15-5, 15-11, 15-9 win over San Diego State. The Cardinal twosome then combined for 22 kills in a 15-9, 15-5, 15-7 win over UC San Diego.
Tennis
It was an interesting weekend for the Stanford men's and women's tennis teams, to say the least.
In Los Angeles, the men split matches with No. 1 Southern Cal (losing 4-3) and UCLA (winning 4-3), while the women defeated USC by forfeit and had its Pac-10 match with UCLA cancelled.
The forfeit came about with two USC players were ruled ineligible for two matches after it was discovered that both received illegal payments after playing in pro tournaments during the summer.
The cancellation on Saturday was necessary after the NCAA asked all member institutions to investigate the amateur status of all its players. The Pac-10 office on Friday sent out a memo to its member schools reiterating that request.
In order to avoid any potential NCAA violations, Stanford coach Frank Brennan and UCLA coach Bill Zaima both regretably determined that it was best to cancel the match.
The Cardinal men (20-2 and 7-2) rebounded from its loss to USC with a strong showing in singles against UCLA. Jeff Salzenstein, Robert Devens, Jim Thomas and Chris Cocotos all won in straight sets after UCLA had swept the doubles and taken a 1-0 lead.
Golf
Andrea Baxter and Mhairi McKay both tied for second overall, but it was defending champion San Jose State which claimed top honors at the annual California Collegiate women's tournament that finished up Saturday at the Stanford Golf Course.
The Spartans shot rounds of 293 and 295 for a 588 total. Stanford finished second at 593. Janice Moodie of SJS won individual honors with a 71-73-144 total. Baxter and McKay were a shot back.
The No. 2-ranked Cardinal men's team, which finished 10th in the Thunderbird ASU Intercollegiate last week, is home this week to host the U.S. Intercollegiates.
The 54-hole tournament begins Saturday with 36 holes, and concludes Sunday with 18. A field of 18 teams will be competing.
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