STANFORD (2-1) at FLORIDA STATE
(6-1)
Fri - 12:30pm
Sat - 11:00am
Sun - 10:00am
all times are Pacific
The top ranked Stanford Cardinal baseball team heads out on
their first road trip of the season this weekend when they travel
to Tallahassee to take on the 6th ranked Florida State
Seminoles. The Cardinal, who are the unanimous #1 ranked
team in the country to start the season, took two-of-three games
from #15 Cal State Fullerton this past weekend. Carlos
Quentin picked up right where he left off last season when he
belted a three-run homer in his first at-bat of the year as the
Cardinal took the opening contest 7-4. On Saturday, Ryan
Garko and Jason Cooper went a combined 8-for-8 in the third and
fourth spots of the lineup and Brian Hall drove in a career-high
six runs to lead Stanford to a 17-1 trouncing of the
Titans. The Cardinal though were unable to complete the
sweep as Fullerton came back on Sunday to win 6-3 despite another
home run from Quentin.
This is a big series for the Cardinal as they make their
longest road trip of the season. They've had trouble
beating Florida State outside of Sunken Diamond. Back in
1999, the teams met three times in Omaha with Florida State
winning two of them to knock the Cardinal out of the
tournament. Then in 2000, the teams hooked up in a series
in Tallahassee with the Seminoles taking two-of-three from
Stanford. Florida State made a statement in that series
when they defeated the then-#1 ranked Cardinal 13-1 in the series
finale. Finally last year, the Cardinal got some revenge
when they swept the Seminoles in a three-game series at Sunken
Diamond. Even though it's very early in the season, a
series win in Tallahassee makes an impression on the tournament
committee and could give this team a big boost in confidence as
they continue on this season.
Probable Starting Lineup:
C - Ryan Garko (6-for-12, 1 HR, 3 RBI)
* Hit .423 in the second half of last season and picked up right
where he left off with a 6-for-12 performance to start 2002.
1B - Arik VanZandt (4-for-10, 0 HR, 1 RBI)
* Swung the bat well in opening weekend combined with usual
outstanding defense.
2B - Chris O'Riordan (2-for-12, 0 HR, 2 RBI)
* Team MVP in 2001 struggled last weekend with only two hits in
12 at-bats.
3B - Andy Topham (4-for-11, 0 HR, 1 RBI)
* Struggled in FSU series last year going just 1-for-11.
SS - Scott Dragicevich (6-for-12, 0 HR, 2 RBI)
* Has gone 2-for-4 in each of the first three games this season.
LF - Carlos Quentin (2-for-8, 2 HR, 5 RBI)
* Both hits this year have been home runs, slugging percentage is
at 1.000.
CF - Sam Fuld (4-for-14, 0 HR, 1 RBI)
* Went 3-for-4 in opening game, but only 1-for-10 in the final
two games of the CSF series.
RF - Brian Hall (4-for-13, 1 HR, 7 RBI)
* Had memorable game last Saturday against Fullerton going
3-for-5 with a double, homer, and six RBI.
DH - Jason Cooper (7-for-12, 0 HR, 4 RBI)
* Leading hitter after first weekend with seven hits (all
singles).
Starting Pitching Rotation :
Friday - Jeremy Guthrie (RHP; 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 6 IP, 0 BB, 9 SO)
* Last year versus FSU: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 SO
Saturday - Tim Cunningham (LHP; 1-0, 1.50 ERA, 6 IP, 1 BB, 3
SO)
* Traditionally a fast starter to begin the year as he went 4-0
with a 1.53 ERA in first five outings last season.
Sunday - TBA
* Freshman Mark Jecmen got the start on Sunday last weekend, but
could not get out of the second inning giving up four runs.
Primary Relief Pitchers :
RHP - J.D. Willcox (6 saves in 2001)
* Pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in his first outing
of 2002.
Others : Ryan McCally (0-0, 0.00, 1 SV), Drew Ehrlich (0-0,
0.00, 1 SV), John Hudgins (0-0, 2.08), and Dan Rich (0-0, 27.00).
Florida State Seminoles
The 6th ranked Florida State Seminoles got an early start to
the 2002 season with a seven-game road trip to the Hawaii
islands. Two weekends ago they swept a three-game series
from lowly Hawaii-Hilo scoring 35 runs in the process. Last
weekend, they took 3-of-4 games from Hawaii. After dropping
the opening contest in heartbreaking fashion in the bottom of
ninth inning, the Seminoles rebounded to win the final three
games, 8-5, 7-4, and, 12-1. They hit .344 as a team on the
road trip while averaging nine runs per game. On the
pitching side, they held their opponents to a paltry .233 average
while compiling a 2.82 team ERA.
This is a veteran Seminole baseball team with seven starting
position players and their entire starting rotation returning
from a team that fell just one game shy of Omaha last year.
With all these players coming back plus a very talented freshman
class it's no wonder that Seminoles are considered one of the
elite in college baseball this season. Their top hitter is
first baseman Ryan Barthelemy. The senior clean-up hitter
hit .343 last year with a team leading 14 homers. He's
opened up this season with a bang going 15-for-27 with five
doubles, a homer, and 12 RBI on their trip to Hawaii. Other
top players include centerfielder Nick Rogers who hit .351 last
year and has already belted two homers this season. Another
player to watch is right fielder/DH Mike Futrell. Futrell
was a solid player last season for the Seminoles hitting .345
with eight homers and 56 RBI and will be counted on this year to
be a main power hitter. Florida State was dealt a blow last
weekend when starting shortstop Stephen Drew broke a bone in his
foot. Drew, who was hitting .346 in the young season, will
not play this weekend. The Seminoles starting rotation of
Blair Varnes, Matt Lynch, and Robby Read is one of the top
rotations in the country. They combined to go 25-8 last
year while Varnes is now in his fourth season in the starting
rotation.
Probable Starting Lineup :
C - Tony Richie (8-for-27, 0 HR, 4 RBI)
* Freshman All-American last season, threw out 35% of attempted
base stealers in 2001.
1B - Ryan Barthelemy (15-for-27, 1 HR, 12 RBI)
* Slugging percentage is at .926, on-base percentage at .586,
while batting average is a sizzling .556.
2B - Bryan Zech (4-for-16, 1 HR, 5 RBI)
* Struggled last year in the field making 21 errors in 57 games.
3B - Kevin Richmond (8-for-22, 0 HR, 6 RBI)
* True-Freshman, hit .364 during road trip to the islands.
SS - Jeff Probst (5-for-23, 0 HR, 4 RBI)
* Starting at short for the injured Drew, has struggled to a .217
start this season.
LF - Tony McQuade (9-for-23, 1 HR, 4 RBI)
* Had only 27 at-bats last year as a frosh, already with 23 this
season.
CF - Nick Rogers (9-for-28, 2 HR, 11 RBI)
* Moved from right to center field this season, hits third in the
lineup.
RF - Richie Smith (7-for-18, 0 HR, 4 RBI)
* Went only 12-for-58 last year in a limited role, emerging as a
top hitter on this year's club.
DH - Mike Futrell (6-for-21, 1 HR, 4 RBI)
* A top offensive threat, should hit toward the middle of the
lineup.
Probable Starting Rotation :
Friday - Blair Varnes (RHP; 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 IP, 1 BB, 3 SO)
* Went 9-1 with a 3.61 ERA last season, walking only 27 in 115
innings.
Saturday - Matt Lynch (LHP; 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 12 IP, 2 BB, 8 SO)
* Went 3-2 with a 1.59 ERA this past summer in the Cape Cod
League.
Sunday - Robby Read (R