STANFORD (5-2) at FRESNO STATE
(3-4)
Friday - 7:05pm
Saturday - 1:05pm
Sunday - 1:05pm
The top ranked Stanford baseball team heads back out on the
road this weekend as they get set to do battle with the Fresno
State Bulldogs in a three-game series. The Cardinal took
two out of three games from the then-6th ranked Florida State
Seminoles last weekend in Tallahassee. Stanford opened the
series with seven runs in the first inning and cruised to a 9-3
victory in game one. Game two saw the Cardinal fall behind
7-1 only to come back and win 15-11 behind the bats of Ryan Garko
(HR, 3 RBI) and Donny Lucy (3 hits, 3 RBI). The Seminoles
bounced back in the series finale coming from behind to claim a
7-6 victory and salvage a game in the series. Earlier this
week, Stanford easily defeated the BYU Cougars 8-1 in their first
mid-week contest of the season.
The theme of this young season for the Stanford Cardinal has
been offense. The Cardinal are hitting at a .345 clip
through their first seven games while averaging 9.3 runs per
game. Currently three hitters are hitting over .400, while
seven of the nine starters are at hitting .333 or above.
The pitching hasn't been too bad either as #1 starter Jeremy
Guthrie has won his first two starts while giving up only four
earned runs in the process. Tim Cunningham and Mark Jecmen
have both been up-and-down to start the season, but it was
expected early on as each gets used to their role as starters.
Probable Starting Lineup :
C - Ryan Garko (.423, 2 HR, 6 RBI)
* Has scored 11 runs and been hit by the pitch five times already
this season.
1B - Donny Lucy (.333, 1 HR, 10 RBI)
* Freshman was inserted into the starting lineup last weekend and
in four games he's already compiled 10 RBI.
2B - Chris O'Riordan (.281, 1 HR, 6 RBI)
* After getting just two hits in his first three games, he's
recorded seven hits over his last four contests.
3B - Andy Topham (.333, 0 HR, 7 RBI)
* Team-leading eight strikeouts in just 27 at-bats.
SS - Scott Dragicevich (.448, 0 HR, 3 RBI)
* Most consistent hitter with six multi-hit games already this
season.
LF - Brian Hall (.259, 1 HR, 8 RBI)
* Was a perfect 3-of-3 in the stolen base category last weekend
at Florida State.
CF - Sam Fuld (.419, 1 HR, 3 RBI)
* Hit first career home run on Tuesday night versus BYU.
RF - Carlos Quentin (.381, 2 HR, 9 RBI)
* After getting plunked again on Tuesday, he's now been hit by
the pitch a team-high seven times this season.
DH - Jason Cooper (.375, 0 HR, 7 RBI)
* Only one extra base hit this season, but has also only struck
out three times.
Probable Starting Pitching Rotation :
Friday - Jeremy Guthrie (RHP; 2-0, 3.00 ERA, 12 IP, 2 BB, 17 SO)
* Has given up 16 hits in 12 innings, but only one of those hits
has gone for extra bases.
Saturday - TBA
* Likely starter is freshman Mark Jecmen who threw much better
last weekend in Florida.
Sunday - Tim Cunningham (LHP; 2-0, 3.27 ERA, 11 IP, 5 BB, 5
SO)
* After not getting out of the second inning last Saturday, threw
four shutout innings on Tuesday versus BYU.
Primary Relief Pitchers :
* J.D. Willcox (0-0, 1.42), Ryan McCally (0-0, 0.00, 2 SV), John
Hudgins (1-0, 4.32), and Drew Ehrlich (0-0, 2.57, 1 SV).
-- Fresno State Bulldogs --
As usual, expectations are high in Fresno as legandary coach
Bob Bennett embarks on his final year at the helm for the
Bulldogs. FSU was ranked 29th in Baseball America's
preseason top 100 and have been picked by many to finish second
in the WAC this season (behind Rice). The Bulldogs are
currently 3-4 on this young 2002 campaign as they've yet to win a
weekend series. They began the year by dropping 2-of-3
games at Santa Clara and then last weekend traveled down to Cal
State Fullerton and again lost 2-of-3. Earlier this week,
Fresno State doubled up Cal Poly 14-7. After scoring only
13 runs in their first four games (1-3), the FSU hitters have
turned it up putting across 35 in their last three contests
(2-1).
Players to watch on this Fresno State team include RHP/1B Ben
Fritz, OF Tobey Riday-White, and RHP Bob Runyon. Fritz is
hitting .312 with a homer so far this year and will start on the
mound on Sunday. Riday-White has been the top Fresno hitter
this season as he's hitting at a .500 clip through the first
seven games. Runyon is FSU's pitching ace and is coming off
a 10-win season. The Bulldogs are hitting at .276 as a team
this year while their team ERA sits at 5.34. Fielding has
been a major problem so far as Fresno State has committed 16
errors through seven games this season.
Probable Starting Lineup :
C - Brad Harper (.118, 0 HR, 1 RBI)
* Four-year starter behind the dish, career .274 hitter.
1B - Ben Fritz (.312, 1 HR, 3 RBI)
* Versatile player, can also catch and is scheduled to start on
the hill on Sunday.
2B - Carl Lipsey (.192, 0 HR, 3 RBI)
* True-freshman, Baseball America's pick to win WAC Newcomer of
the Year.
3B - Casey McGehee (.310, 0 HR, 7 RBI)
* Hit .324 last year as a freshman earning honorable mention
freshman All-American honors.
SS - Chris Patrick (.207, 0 HR, 5 RBI)
* leadoff hitter, already with four errors this season.
LF - Christian Hallaian (.167, 1 HR, 2 RBI) or Brendon Suga
(.200, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
* Position still up for grabs, could see a number of players here
this weekend.
CF - Casey Creamer (.364, 0 HR, 2 RBI)
* Played in only one game last year as a junior (was a JC
transfer).
RF - Tobey Riday-White (.500, 2 HR, 7 RBI)
* Hit .355 last year in 38 games starting part-time.
DH - Brian Pierce (.318, 0 HR, 4 RBI)
* JC transfer, has emerged as one of FSU's top hitters.
Probable Starting Pitching Rotation :
Friday - Bob Runyon (RHP; 1-1, 3.21 ERA, 14 IP, 5 BB, 11 SO)
* Went 10-1 with a 3.54 ERA in 2001, led team in wins, innings
(127), and strikeouts (93).
Saturday - TBA
* Likely candidates include Francisco Nieves (0-0, 2.84), Zach
Minor (0-1, 8.64), or Mike Hernandez (1-1, 5.59).
Sunday - Ben Fritz (RHP; 1-1, 2.65 ERA, 17 IP, 3 BB, 9 SO)
* Has thrown two complete games in two starts this season.
Primary Relief Pitchers :
* Nieves, Minor, Hernandez, and Sean Ruthven (0-0, 16.20).
Keys to the Series :
* Get to their starters ... FSU's strength is their starting
pitching with Runyon and Fritz, so if the Cardinal hitters are
able to knock them out early and get to FSU's extremely thin
bullpen, I like Stanford's chances.
* Tim Cunningham and whoever starts on Saturday ... it appears
that Guthrie has picked up right where he left off last season,
now the Cardinal just needs some consistancy out of the other two
spots in the rotation. It would figure that with Stanford's
potent offense and quality relief pitchers, that if the #2 and #3
starters can just go five or six quality innings, this team has a
great shot to win.
* Tobey Riday-White ... FSU's big bopper who is hitting .500
this year. In a sometimes anemic offense, Riday-White has
been extremely consistant and effective this season. He
needs to have a big series or else Fresno could be in trouble.
JJ's "Super Sixteen"
(Records are through games of Tuesday 2-12)
Rank -- Team -- Record -- P