It's a final road test for Cardinal baseball It's a final road test for Cardinal baseball (May 14, 2004)

Stanford heads to Arizona before returning home for final seven regular-season games, with Pac-10 lead at stake

by Rick Eymer

The Stanford baseball team ends its road portion of the regular season this weekend at Arizona with hopes of regaining some momentum in Pac-10 play, as well as strengthening its lead in the conference race.

Stanford rebounded from a tough weekend in Washington to beat visiting Santa Clara, 3-1, on Tuesday night for its 15th straight home win. The Cardinal (38-8) are 22-1 at Sunken Diamond this season.

After its visit to Arizona, Stanford plays its final seven regular-season games at home, including two important Pac-10 series against USC and Arizona State. The Cardinal will likely host a regional the first weekend of June. Home never looked better.

Stanford maintains a half-game lead over Washington in the Pac-10 race heading into the weekend. While the Cardinal are dueling with the Wildcats, the Huskies travel to USC for a three-game series.

Stanford plays at Arizona on Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m., and on Monday at 1 p.m.

Danny Putnam had a two-run double as the Cardinal scored three times in the first inning and held on to beat the Broncos for the fourth straight time this season. Donny Lucy also doubled home a run.

Putnam, who played with the United States Pan American Games team last summer, took the team batting lead at .393. He's hit safely in 18 of his last 19 games, and has a team-high 25 multi-hit games.

Freshman Blake Holler (4-2) earned the victory and David O'Hagan picked up his fifth save of the season as the pitching staff combined on a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

O'Hagan came on in relief with a 3-1 Stanford lead and the bases loaded with no outs in the top of the eighth and left all three Bronco runners stranded before pitching a perfect ninth.

"I just want to pick up the team when I'm in that situation," said O'Hagan. "The hitter has as much pressure as the pitcher in that situation. The best thing about pitching is that you have the ball in your hand, so you control when the play starts. Nobody wants to let each other down, because we are all working for the same thing."

Jeff Stimpson, Kodiak Quick, Mark Jecmen, Pete Duda (1.0 IP) and Matt Manship also pitched. Duda made his collegiate debut.

Stanford played errorless baseball for the 18th time this season to improve its fielding percentage to .975, two percentage points shy of the school record .977 mark set in 2001.

The first-inning hit by Sam Fuld gives him 341 for his career, while his three at bats give him 1,015. He moved to within 27 hits and 15 at bats of all-time Stanford and Pac-10 record holder John Gall.
Track and field

The Stanford women's team will look to improve on its school-record total of 140 points from last season as the Pac-10 championships get under way today and Saturday at Arizona.

The Cardinal women have finished no lower than fourth in the past four years, and finished second to UCLA last year.

The Stanford men won two of the past four Pac-10 titles, and have not finished lower than third since 1999.

Following the Pac-10 meet, athletes advance to the NCAA West Regional at Cal State Northridge beginning May 28.

Five Stanford athletes will attempt to defend their Pac-10 titles this weekend.

On the women's side, Alicia Craig, who earlier this year set a collegiate record in the 10,000 meters, returns to defend her title in the event. She was also on the 1,600 relay team which captured top honors last year.

On the men's side, Justin Romaniuk returns in the 800 meters, while Grant Robison is the defending Pac-10 champion in the 1,500 meters, as well as Ian Dobson in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and Louie Luchini in both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.
Softball

Eighth-ranked Stanford travels to Oregon for a chance at its best Pac-10 finish ever.

The Cardinal (11-7, 41-15) clinched just their third winning conference season with a victory over Washington, and wins at Oregon on Friday and Oregon State in a doubleheader on Saturday would clinch second place.

Stanford finished third in 1998.

Freshman Jackie Rinehart has made an immediate impact on the program. She ranks 10th in the conference in batting average (.363), tied for 10th in stolen bases (12) and tied for fifth with 66 hits. Senior catcher Jessica Allister continues to enjoy her finest offensive season. She leads the Pac-10 with 18 doubles, is tied for eighth in RBI (42), and is 10th in slugging percentage (.589).
Men's golf

Stanford is the 16th seed in the NCAA West Regional to be held at the Crosswater Club at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore., beginning Thursday, May 20.

The top teams from each of the three regional matches will advance to the NCAA championships starting June 1 at Cascades Golf Course, The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia.
Women's golf

Stanford, the third-place finisher in last week's West Regional, is one of 24 teams which will compete in the NCAA championships beginning Tuesday at Grand National Lake Course, Opelika, Alabama.
Sailing

Stanford was awarded an at-large berth to the Intercollegiate Sailing Association's National Championships.

The ICSA North American Women's Dinghy Championship will begin May 30, and the ICSA/Gill North American Coed Dinghy Championship starts June 2. Both will be held in Cascade Locks, Oregon.

Stanford just missed qualifying out of the Pacific Coast Qualifier earlier in May.

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