Publication Date: Friday, April 01, 2005
STANFORD ROUNDUP
The ball's in Hodzic's court now
The ball's in Hodzic's court now
(April 01, 2005) Former Pinewood star renews a rivalry by helping Stanford beat Cal
by Rick Eymer
During her four-year career at Pinewood School, Lejla Hodzic never enjoyed a victory over Menlo School.
The Knights, led by Tiffany Lee, frustrated Pinewood more than once. In 2001, for example, Menlo beat Pinewood in both the Central Coast Section and Northern California championship matches.
In Hodzic's final match with the Panthers, it was Lee and her Knights posting a 5-2 victory in the 2003 semifinals.
Both Hodzic and Lee are now college freshmen - Hodzic at Stanford and Lee at Cal. Their rivalry continued Wednesday when the two faced each other for the first time as collegians.
Evidently, the shoe is now on the other foot. Stanford, with Hodzic playing doubles and singles, handed the Bears and Lee a 5-2 nonconference loss at the Taube Tennis Center.
It's a reversal of fortune for Hodzic, who never won a CCS or NorCal title in high school. Now, however, she's in position to help the top-ranked Cardinal successfully defend its NCAA team championship.
Stanford's win over No. 17 Cal sends the Cardinal into weekend matches against No. 33 Arizona State (today, 1:30 p.m.) and No. 49 Arizona (Saturday, noon) as part of the Stanford Spring Smash, presented by Zoom Marketing.
Stanford is 15-0 and has a 44-match winning streak. The Cardinal hasn't lost since dropping a 4-3 decision to Florida in the 2003 NCAA championship match.
Hodzic faced Lee in the No. 3 doubles match, with Hodzic and fellow freshman Whitney Deason posting an 8-2 win over Lee and partner Cristina Visico. That win, coupled with an 8-0 win at No. 2 doubles by junior Amber Liu and sophomore Anne Yelsey, gave Stanford a 1-0 lead.
Hodzic also got a chance to play singles when senior Erin Burdette sat out with a sore right shoulder. Hodzic battled Visico at No. 6 singles in a match that Hodzic defaulted in the third set after Stanford had clinched the victory.
Sophomore Theresa Logar, who only last week lost her first collegiate dual match after winning 39 straight, clinched the win over Cal with a 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 3 singles.
In men's tennis, Stanford (9-7) dropped a heartbreaker to visiting Illinois, 4-3, on Tuesday in a nonconference match.
The second-ranked Illini won the doubles point, and four of the six singles matches went to three sets and No. 16 Stanford lost its first match at home.
Stanford's top two singles players Sam Warburg and KC Corkery won their matches after dropping a tough 8-6 decision at No. 1 doubles.
Corkery beat sixth-ranked Ryler DeHeart in three sets 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. Eric McKean also won for the Cardinal.
Stanford continues Pac-10 play in the desert. The Cardinal visit Arizona State today and then go to Arizona on Saturday.
Baseball
Stanford will be looking for some offense this weekend when the Pac-10 season makes its debut.
The Cardinal dropped a 2-0 decision in 10 innings to visiting Pacific on Tuesday night in a tuneup for conference play.
Pitching hasn't been a problem for Stanford, and the game against the Tigers, coached by Stanford grad and former major leaguer Ed Sprague, was a good indication of that as six pitchers combined to hold Pacific off the scoreboard through nine innings.
Stanford (14-9) couldn't muster much against the Tigers' pitchers though, scratching out four hits - two by Jed Lowrie - and leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.
Stanford looks for its third straight Pac-10 title when the conference race gets underway this weekend at Washington State beginning today at 6 p.m. The three-game series continues Saturday at 1 p.m. and concludes Sunday at noon.
The 12th-ranked Cardinal have won nine consecutive league-opening series since UCLA took two-of-three in Los Angeles to open the 1996 conference schedule.
Stanford is the two-time defending Pac-10 champions, and has won at least a share of a title in six of the past eight years.
Stanford owns a 20-game winning streak against the Cougars. Washington State last beat the Cardinal on March 28, 1978.
Cardinal pitchers have a 3.70 ERA through 22 games, currently the second-lowest since 1977. Opponents are hitting just .236.
On the other hand, Stanford hitters possess a .286 batting average, the lowest since 1994.
Stanford has lost 12 of its past 20 games on the road, but has won its last two away from Sunken Diamond.
Against Pacific, Matt Leva, Greg Reynolds and Nolan Gallagher combined to throw five hitless innings. Erik Davis, Matt Manship and Blake Holler maintained the shutout in regulation.
Jeff Stimpson (0-1) made just his second appearance of the year - he pitched one shutout inning - and was tagged with the loss.
Mark Romanczuk and Jeff Gilmore will pitch in the first two games against the Cougars. Sunday's starter has yet to be determined.
Softball
Stanford split a nonconference doubleheader with host Fresno State, losing 4-1 before winning the nightcap 14-0, on Monday.
Lauren Lappin drove in the only run of the first game for the Cardinal (24-5), who open Pac-10 play in Arizona this weekend.
Stanford meets the host Wildcats in Tucson today at 7 p.m., and then travels to Arizona State for games Saturday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).
The Cardinal are coming off their best-ever conference mark (13-8), and an appearance in the Women's College World Series.
In the second game, Catalina Morris homered twice and drove in four runs to lead Stanford to victory. Lindsay Key also homered and drove in four runs.
Lappin, Leah Nelson and Meghan Sickler each had two hits.
Freshman pitcher Becky McCullough (7-0) tossed four shutout innings with four strikeouts for the win.
Women's basketball
Susan King Borchardt, Krista Rappahahn and Azella Perryman were honored as Pac-10 All-Academic selections.
Borchardt and Rappahahn were named to the first team, while Perryman was a second-team pick.
Kristin Newlin and Brooke Smith were accorded honorable mention.
Men's volleyball
Stanford looks to improve its postseason hopes this weekend when UC Irvine and UCLA come to Maples Pavilion for a pair of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches.
The 10th-ranked Cardinal (8-9, 9-11) currently reside in seventh place in the 12-team conference. Pepperdine and UCLA have already secured playoff berths.
Stanford, with five of its last six matches at home, hosts the Anteaters today at 7 p.m. and the Bruins on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Women's gymnastics
Stanford junior Natalie Foley and freshman Tabitha Yim were named to the Pac-10 All-Conference Team on Wednesday.
Foley, who earned three all-conference honors last season, was named to the team in the all-around, while Yim received the honors on the uneven bars.
Women's lacrosse
Stanford senior Nina Pantano and sophomore Liz Piselli each scored three goals, but No. 19 Vanderbilt got two late scores to beat the Cardinal, 10-9, on Monday in Nashville.
Stanford (5-4) hosts California today at 7:30 p.m.
Men's golf
Rain cancelled the third round of the Western Collegiate at the Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz.
Oregon won the abbreviated tournament with a 582. Stanford finished fourth at 589.
"The greens became completely saturated and made them unplayable," San Jose State coach and tournament director John Dormann said. "With the accumulation of rain from the last week, there was nowhere for the water to go."
Cardinal senior Kevin Blue (75-70) and sophomore Zack Miller (70-75) tied for 12th individually with a 5-over par 145.
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