WOMEN’S BASKETBALL FEATURE: DREW STOREN THE LOOKOUT: ANALYSIS

PAGE 2 PAGE 4 PAGE 7

Weekend of March 6-8, 2009 The Stanford Daily Vol. 235, Issue 2

OUR
HOUSE
SOFTBALL COMES
HOME RED HOT
By CHRIS FITZGERALD
DAILY SPORTS INTERN

The Stanford softball team just kept on rolling last

weekend, adding five victories to bring its current win
streak to 17 games. Now the Cardinal has its sights set
on a six-team tournament on the Farm, beginning Fri-
day at 9 a.m.
No. 5 Stanford (18-1) hosts the Louisville Slugger
Classic over the weekend, playing doubleheaders Fri-
day, Saturday and Sunday. A perfect 5-0 at home, the
Stanford women can claim an 84-10 record in tourna-
ments they have hosted dating back to 2003.
In the midst of the longest winning streak in Cardi-
nal Softball history, head coach John Rittman credit-
ed his team’s depth as the key to its success.
“We know we have a lot of versatility and it makes
us a lot stronger,” he said. “We have had enough depth
to push through two big injuries.”
Senior Maddy Coon rejoined the lineup in Fuller-
ton last weekend after missing five games due to in-
jury. Even with the Stanford veteran’s comeback as
designated player, the Cardinal infield still features
just two upperclassmen and no seniors outside of the
pitching circle. Coach Rittman was proud of his young
squad’s attitude heading back into tournament play
this weekend.
“Our team is mature enough to know we’re only as
good as our last game,” he said.
Stanford has been perfect since a 1-0 loss to Okla-
homa State in Tempe, Ariz. on Feb. 6. During its 17-0
Please see SOFTBALL, page 3
ILLINOIS STATE
(6-7)
Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium 1:30 P.M.
UP NEXT
PENN STATE, SAN DIEGO STATE, VERMONT,
UC-DAVIS
3/6-8 Smith Family Stadium
NOTES: Stanford softball is 18-1 and is currently on a school record
17-game winning streak. The Cardinal hosts its second-to-last tour-
nament of the season this weekend before regular conference play
begins at the end of the month. Stanford will play two games each
day from Friday through Sunday.
The Cardinal offense has struggled so far this season, and the pitching has had a few rough innings as well. It will take a complete
team effort to win against the undefeated Texas Longhorns this weekend.
TURN AROUND TIME
Card looks to get back on track as Texas comes to Stanford
By DENIS GRIFFIN
DESK EDITOR
The Stanford baseball team fell again on
Thursday night, losing 6-5 to St. Mary’s for
its fifth consecutive defeat and second loss to
the Gaels in a little over a week. And it’s not
as if the road gets any easier for the Cardinal
anytime soon — Stanford is set to host a
three-game series against undefeated and
second-ranked Texas this weekend.
The Cardinal (2-6) started off its season
well enough, taking two of three from Van-
derbilt at Sunken Diamond two weeks ago.
But a 5-3 loss to the Gaels on Feb. 25 was fol-
lowed by a three-game sweep on the road
against Cal State-Fullerton and last night’s
defeat has sent Stanford reeling into its third
weekend series of the year. Stanford knows
it needs to regain its footing quickly before
its conference schedule begins.
“As far as our confidence and things like
that go, I think it’s very important to at least
play better and feel like we’re swinging the
bat to our potential and hopefully get a cou-
ple wins,” senior outfielder Joey August
said. “I know [Texas is] a great team, but I
think it’s good to come out and play the way
we know we can — that’ll help our confi-
GIULIO GRATTA/The Stanford Daily
dence . . . People aren’t panicking too much
because we’ve got a long season to go.
Last night against St. Mary’s (7-2), the TEXAS
Cardinal offense again had difficulty getting (10-0)
rolling, as Gaels pitcher Kyle Barraclough
allowed just two runs through six innings, Klein Field at Sunken Diamond 5:05 PM
giving up just four hits and walking three COVERAGE:
while tallying an impressive eight strikeouts.
The Cardinal’s pitching staff, meanwhile, TV: CBS College Sports
combined to allow five runs through the first RADIO:
four innings of play. KZSU 90.1 FM (kzsu.stanford.edu)
The Cardinal’s offense, despite failing
once again to get rolling early in the game,
staged a late rally to put the outcome in UP NEXT
doubt. The team scored one run in the third
on a pair of singles and a wild pitch, then an- CAL
other in the sixth on sophomore Kellen Ki- 3/21 Berkeley
ilsgaard’s solo shot to right center, before
batting around in the eighth to score three. COVERAGE:
August double-scored sophomore leadoff RADIO KZSU 90.1 FM
man Zach Jones and junior Toby Gerhart, (kzsu.stanford.edu)
both of whom had singled to start the inning.
Kiilsgaard then singled and senior Brent NOTES: The Stanford baseball team looks
Milleville hit a sacrifice fly to bring August to break out of a five-game losing streak
home and cap off the Cardinal’s night at five this weekend at home against the Long-
runs. horns. Texas is undefeated and has been
Stanford’s offense has been less than stel- essentially un-hittable so far this season.
Stanford’s biggest weakness has been an
Please see BASEBALL, page 5 extremely inconsistent offense.
2  Weekend of March 6-8, 2009
Women hold on
Wildcats
come close
STANFORD DEFEATS ARIZONA, 70-67
By DANIEL BOHM
STAFF WRITER
The No. 2 Stanford women’s basketball
team shrugged off a sluggish start and then
held off a furious comeback to beat visit-
ing Arizona 70-67, Thursday.
The heavily favored Cardinal (25-4, 16-
1 Pacific-10 Conference) looked to have
pulled away from the Wildcats (11-17, 4-
13) in the second half, behind a career-
high 21 points from sophomore guard
Jeanette Pohlen — but a late, 13-0 Wild-
cats run drew the visitors to within 65-64
with 1:54 to play.
But junior Jayne Appel came up with a
big offensive rebound and put back on a
missed Jillian Harmon jumper to halt Ari-
zona’s run.
Appel had difficulties for much of the
game but felt somewhat vindicated by the
one big play.
“I didn’t play well the entire game,” she
said. “I had a lot of turnovers and strug-
gled inside, but I got the big shot when I
had to.”
After the Appel lay-in, Wildcat Court-
ney Clements then hit a three to pull Ari-
zona within one, but two Pohlen free
throws and a missed, desperation three by
Ashley Frazier left the Cardinal with the
victory.
Arizona led for much of the first half
until an 11-2 Stanford run, highlighted by a
pair of Pohlen three-pointers near the end
of the half, put the Cardinal up for good.
Stanford struggled to adjust to the zone
defense that the Wildcats employed early
on. Appel, the Cardinal’s leading scorer,
was routinely double- and triple-teamed,
leading nine first-half turnovers by the
Cardinal.
Arizona’s zone defense looked vulner-
able as the game progressed, however, as
Stanford shooters Pohlen and sophomore
Kayla Pedersen got hot from the outside
to stretch the Cardinal lead to 65-51 with
7:13 to play. The Cardinal didn’t score
again for almost five minutes.
Pohlen, who knocked down a career-
high five three-pointers, thanked the pres-
ence of her star center for her open shots.
“Jayne gets a lot of attention,” Pohlen
said. “And when she gets doubled, she is a
good passer, so [I] had a lot of open looks.”
Appel, who was held to just nine points
and 11 rebounds, credited the Arizona de-
fense as being one of the toughest she has
gone up against this year.
“I haven’t seen a double that big,” she
said. “It’s tough to make passes against
[two girls] 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-5 that can
jump out of the gym.”
Stanford also struggled getting to the
boards early, as the Cardinal was outre-
bounded in the first half, 16-15.
The Cardinal narrowly avoided a dev-
astating upset loss, but with Cal’s loss to
Arizona State yesterday, the Stanford
women have now clinched at least a share
of the Pac-10 title.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL The Stanford Daily
Playing it out, no
matter what
“We can’t just
show up, put on
the uniform and
pencil in wins.”
— TARA VANDERVEER
head coach
ARIZONA STATE
(23-6, 15-2 Pac-10)
Maples Pavilion 12:30 PM
COVERAGE:
TV: CSN Bay Area
RADIO:
KZSU 90.1 FM, (kzsu.stanford.edu)
UP NEXT
PAC-10 TOURNAMENT
3/13-15 Los Angeles
COVERAGE:
RADIO KZSU 90.1 FM (kzsu.stan-
ford.edu)
NOTES: The Stanford women’s basketball team earned
at least a share of the Pacific-10 Conference title with
a win over Arizona Thursday night at Maples Pavilion.
The Stanford women were led offensively by sopho-
more Jeanette Pohlen’s 21 points on 6-11 shooting
including 5-8 from three-point range. Junior Jayne
Appel, meanwhile, scored nine to move into 13th
place all-time on the Cardinal scoring chart.
Stanford will host the Sun Devils on
Saturday with a chance to win the confer-
ence championship outright. Although
head coach Tara VanDerveer dismissed
the possibility, the Cardinal may have
been looking past Arizona.
“Arizona played a great game,” Van-
Derveer said. “When we had them down,
they didn’t quit . . . We can’t just show up,
put on the uniforms and pencil in wins.”
In addition to Pohlen’s big game, the
Cardinal got a solid performance out of
Pedersen, who put up 16 points, including
two big, second-half threes, along with six
rebounds.
Pedersen, last week’s Pac-10 Player of
the Week, seems to be rounding into
shape at the right part of the season, which
will be key to Stanford’s success come
postseason.
Stanford has now won 12 consecutive
games since losing in Berkeley on Jan. 18.
It will look to wrap up the season with one
more victory on Saturday.
VanDerveer hopes the experience of
hard-fought games, like last night’s against
Arizona, will help the Cardinal going into
tournament time.
“I didn’t see anybody falling apart for
us,” the Stanford coach said. “This was a
great win for us tonight.”
AGUSTIN RAMIREZ/The Stanford Daily
Contact Daniel Bohm at bohmd@stan- Jayne Appel prepares to shoot around a defender on Thursday against Arizona. Stanford has just one game left
ford.edu. to play before heading to the Pac-10 Conference tournament.
The Stanford Daily SOFTBALL Weekend of March 6-8, 2009  3

Keeping up the pace

SOFTBALL Continued from front page

run since the loss, the team has accumulated seven shutouts
between freshman Ashley Chinn and senior Missy Penna.
“We’re only as
The duo has combined for an ERA of just 1.11, and Penna
leads all active pitchers in the nation with 1,003 strikeouts in
her career.
good as our last
Stanford will open its weekend of competition on Friday
against Illinois State (6-7) at 1:30 p.m. before an afternoon
matchup with Penn State. The Nittany Lions (5-4) boast a
game”
pitching tandem of sophomore Jackie Hill and freshman
Lisa Akamine, who have posted a combined 0.87 ERA over
— JOHN RITTMAN
56 innings of work. Akamine also stars on offense, hitting
.375 on the season.
head coach
Illinois State finished second in the Missouri Valley Con-
ference last season. The Redbirds are paced offensively by
senior Amber Smith, who boasts a .405 batting average.
Work in the circle should fall to freshman Jordan Birch.
Birch has 42 strikeouts and a 3-3 record this season.
The Cardinal will finish off its weekend against San
Diego State (9-9) and Vermont (1-4) on Saturday. The
Aztecs are coming off of a division-best 44-17 record last
season. Stanford faces San Diego State for the second time
this year, after winning 9-2 in San Diego on Feb. 15. Stan-
ford, which trailed in its first meeting with the Aztecs until
late, will see either fresh-
man Bailey Micetich or
sophomore Samantha WHO TO WATCH
Beasley in the circle on Sat-
urday. Beasley leads the  SHANNON KOPLITZ,
team with 75 K’s in 68 in-
nings of work. Offensively, SP, STANFORD
meanwhile, sophomore Koplitz punished the Cal State-Fullerton Titans,
Jessica Camello has helped going three-for-three in a win on Sunday. Both
the Aztecs win four of their her .796 slugging percentage and her .544 on
last five, earning MPSF
Player of the Week honors base percentage rank second only to junior
on Tuesday for her efforts. Alissa Haber.
Coach Rittman admit-
ted that his team knows lit-  ASHLEY CHINN, SP, STANFORD
tle about Vermont. But The sophomore gave up just two hits in five in-
Stanford will get a chance nings pitched: a complete game to open the
to adapt, playing the late weekend against Indiana. Chinn picked up her
game on Saturday, and an
11:15 a.m. Sunday game fifth win of the year for her effort, and followed
against the Catamounts. up with win No. 6 in another complete game
Vermont is likely to give Saturday against UC-Riverside. In six starts, she
Jocelyn Abaray the nod in has six complete games, all of them resulting in
the circle; the sophomore wins.
has yet to surrender an
earned run in 16.2 innings  LISA AKAMINE, SP, PENN STATE
of work.
The Cardinal rounds out Akamine claims a 3-1 record in the circle in
its six games in three days five appearances. She holds a 0.64 ERA in 22
against UC-Davis. The Ag- innings of work, having earned the Nittany
gies (10-5) return First Lions three of their five wins. She has struck out
Team All-Big West senior 23 and surrendered just two walks so far this
pitcher Jessica Hancock.
Hancock is in possession of season.
an impressive 0.75 ERA,
good for a 6-2 record on the
season. Stanford sits at 9-3 lifetime against the Aggies, al-
though Rittman acknowledged that Davis always plays
Stanford tough.
The Cardinal can claim a 24-6 mark lifetime against their MASARU OKA/The Stanford Daily
five opponents coming up this weekend. Action begins on
Friday at 1:30 p.m. for Stanford, as it looks to build on its 17-
Missy Penna has been excellent so far in her senior
0 run. season on the Farm. So far, she is 12-1 with an ERA
of just 0.76 and 100 strikeouts in just 83.0 innings
Contact Chris Fitzgerald at chrishfitz@gmail.com. of work in the circle.

GET IN THE GAME

PLACE YOUR AD HERE
650.721.5803
4  Weekend of March 6-8, 2009
Close encounters: Drew Storen
Getting
By ERIK ADAMS
in the
GAMEDAY EDITOR
omebody grab this guy a helmet,” pitching
BOX
“S coach Jeff Austin barked as he gestured at
me, waiting near the bullpen fence.
“Thank god,” I thought. “But a helmet probably isn’t
enough. I should be putting on a full suit of armor.”
Wearing flip-flops, jeans, a wrinkled linen shirt I
hadn’t bothered to iron and holding a 20-dollar softball
bat that had rattled around my trunk since the summer, I
was about to face Stanford’s closer.
A month later, Drew Storen would be suiting up for
the season opener against Vanderbilt. He would jog
down to the bullpen as Stanford rallied to tie the game in
the sixth, and start to throw as Jordan Pries made his col-
legiate debut in the eighth inning.
Crouching on the bullpen mound after he became
warm, the brim of his cap pulled low and casting his face
in a shadow under the bright lights, he would wait and
stare, motionless and focused, waiting for his moment to
strike. But on that night, the freshman would shine. The
closer wouldn’t be needed.
But that was still in the future when he climbed atop
the mound to start his bullpen session on this sunny, Jan-
uary afternoon.
“Just let me throw a few to get warm,” he said. “Then
you can go ahead and step in.”
It had seemed like a great idea when I approached
Drew as we left class and I asked if I could stand in while
he pitched. I thought the chance to face a mid-90s fastball
and watch the sharp hook of his slider would be both fas-
cinating and beneficial to my broadcasting and sports
writing.
As I watched him warm up, I started to wish I hadn’t
asked.
Fifteen years ago, he was just like countless other
American boys: learning to throw and catch from his fa-
ther in the backyard of their Indiana home. He played lit-
tle league and, even when Storen didn’t understand, his
father guided him on a path that would lead him to suc-
cess.
“When I came back from my first practice I was all
upset,” Storen recalled. “I had to hit from both sides of
the tee because my dad made me — he wanted me to be
a switch hitter. None of the other kids did so I felt like a
loner.”
But when he first started pitching at eight years old, he
fell in love with the loneliness of the mound. He liked the
intensity and the feeling of facing the hitter alone in a
“showdown.” When Storen’s attraction to pitching be-
came clear, his dad took him straight to a pitching coach
to teach him the proper mechanics.
Over the next dozen years, he steadily improved. By
his freshman year in high school, he could throw 74 miles
per hour and strike out the seniors with either his curve-
ball or cutter. Each year, he became bigger and stronger
and his fastball got just a little faster until he was break-
ing 90 and his dream of pitching in the big leagues was
suddenly a real possibility.
The Yankees drafted Storen out of high school, and
colleges recruited him. He visited Georgia Tech, Auburn
and Clemson, but after visiting Stanford he knew he be-
longed on the Farm.
“The old-school uniforms matched their style of play
and I liked that,” he said. “I liked that they hustled every-
where and that they ran out almost to the foul line to pick
everyone up as they came off each inning . . . when I was
on the flight home, I turned to my dad and told him that
BASEBALL The Stanford Daily
this was where I needed to be.”
A year later, he would be pitching for the Cardinal in
the College World Series on ESPN and in front of 20,000
fans. I was there too, but perched in the press box and
talking into a microphone. I never thought I would actu-
ally be facing him and seeing the pitches that I had called
both “blistering” and “devastating” coming right at me.
“Ok, I’m pretty close now,” he said as he fired a bullet
over the corner of the plate. “Just a couple more and you
can step in.”
I closed my eyes and tried to prepare for what I had
gotten myself into. Part of me just wanted to mumble
something about “leaving my headlights on” and get out
of there before he could finish — his fastballs were so
quick I could actually hear them hum through the air be-
fore they snapped into the catcher’s mitt.
My eyes reopened just in time to see his next pitch: a
curveball that failed to break and whipped past the catch-
er into the backstop. Had I been standing in the batter’s
box, it would have taken my head off.
“That’s why you’re going to wear a helmet,” he said in
a tone that made me wonder if he had thrown it there on
purpose. He got the ball back, tucked his glove under his
arm, turned to me while rubbing the ball with both hands
and, flashing a mischievous grin, said, “You can step in
whenever you’re ready.”
My heart was pounding now, but I forced myself to
walk towards the plate. I kept telling myself not to flinch
— at this point, I considered being able to stand in for a
dozen pitches without passing out a realistic goal.
Without even asking if I was ready, he lunged forward
and launched a fastball towards me. Coming in about
chest high, it whistled as it cut through the air and banged
into the catcher’s mitt behind me.
It was terrifying.
I straightened up and flicked my bat lightly at him a
few times to disguise my feet slipping toward the back
corner of the box. I could feel my heart pound in every
part of my body. A few more fastballs rocketed from his
hand and I could barely see them before they were past
me. If one had come straight for me, I doubt I would have
had time to duck.
By now, my fear was starting to move into the back-
ground and I realized I might actually survive without in-
jury. But the next pitch he unleashed didn’t look the same
— it was coming right for my knees.
Panic filled me again but I didn’t have time to react.
Just a moment later the pitch was already past, but sever-
al feet in front of me.
It was a slider.
He threw a few more, and each time I was certain they
would either hit me or even pass behind me, but they al-
GET IN THE GAME
ways rapidly cut down and away. Both frightening and
fascinating, it left me baffled over how anyone ever got a
hit at this level in the first place.
Before I could think another thought, though, anoth-
er fastball came zipping in a few inches from my chin. It
came in so fast that I didn’t even have time to feel fear,
but I was sure I could actually smell the leather in the air.
I immediately turned around and walked away.
PLACE YOUR
“Are you done?” he asked as he held out his glove,
waiting for the ball.
“Yeah, I’ve seen enough,” I said in a slightly quivering
voice.
He grinned and went back to work. I rested my soft-
ball bat on my shoulder and tried to get my heart rate
AD HERE
back to normal. I watched a few more pitches and then
turned away, thankful my job kept me safely inside the
press box.
650.721.5803
Contact Erik Adams at ekadams@stanford.edu.
The Stanford Daily BASEBALL Weekend of March 6-8, 2009  5

TEAM STATISTICS 2008-2009 BASEBALL

STANFORD
BATTERS AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B HR RBI SLG OBP SB-ATT E
Brian (Min) Moon .667 2-0 3 1 2 1 0 0 1.000 .667 0-0 0 WHO TO WATCH
Adam Gaylord .455 5-3 11 1 5 1 0 3 .545 .455 0-0 1
Kellen Kiilsgaard .333 5-3 15 3 5 1 1 3 .600 .412 0-0 0  JEFFREY INMAN
Jonathan Kaskow .286 5-3 14 2 4 1 0 2 .357 .412 0-0 0 SP, STANFORD
Joey August .250 7-7 28 3 7 3 0 4 .357 .267 0-0 0 Inman has been Stanford’s most consistent
Christian Griffiths .250 15-1 8 1 2 0 0 0 .250 .400 0-0 0 pitcher so far and has been un-hittable at
Brent Milleville .240 7-7 25 2 6 1 0 2 .280 .269 2-2 0 times. Look for another strong performance
Zach Jones .222 7-7 27 3 6 0 1 5 .333 .300 1-2 0 on Friday.
Colin Walsh .222 6-5 18 0 4 1 0 3 .278 .300 0-1 1
 KELLEN KIILSGAARD, OF/DH,
Toby Gerhart .208 7-7 24 3 5 1 0 3 .250 .333 0-0 0
Jeff Whitlow .200 4-4 10 2 2 0 0 0 .200 .333 1-1 0
STANFORD
Kiilsgaard has possibly the most raw power
Jake Schlander .190 7-7 21 3 4 0 0 0 .190 .292 0-1 0
on the team and will be crucial to the jump-
Ben Clowe .158 6-6 19 1 3 1 0 0 .211 .158 0-0 0
starting of the Cardinal’s stagnant offense.
Kellen McColl .000 3-1 3 1 0 0 0 1 .000 .200 0-0 0
Wande Olabisi .000 3-0 3 1 0 0 0 1 .000 .250 0-0 0  THE ENTIRE PITCHING STAFF,
Mike Garza .000 2-0 2 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .333 0-0 0 TEXAS
J.J. Jelmini .000 3-1 2 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .500 0-0 1 The Longhorns haven’t played the toughest
Jeffrey Inman .000 1-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 0-0 0 schedule so far, but the pitchers have com-
David Giuliani .000 1-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 0-0 0 piled a team ERA of just 1.24 coming into
this weekend. Opponents are only hitting
PITCHERS ERA W-L APP GS SV IP R ER BB SO HR B/AVG .164 this year against the Texas hurlers.
Carey Schwartz 0.00 0-0 3 0 0 3.0 0 0 0 3 0 .182
Brian Busick 0.00 0-0 2 0 0 1.2 0 0 2 1 0 .000
Alex Pracher 0.00 0-0 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 1 1 0 .000
Blake Hancock 0.00 0-0 2 0 0 1.0 0 0 2 1 0 .000
Drew Storen 3.00 1-0 2 0 0 3.0 1 1 1 6 0 .300
Brett Mooneyham 3.68 0-1 2 1 0 7.1 3 3 9 5 0 .238
Jeffrey Inman 4.85 0-1 2 2 0 13.0 9 7 2 6 0 .292
Jordan Pries
Michael Marshall
Brandt Walker
5.14
6.00
6.23
1-0
0-0
0-1
2
3
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
7.0
3.0
4.1
4
2
3
4
2
3
3
0
3
3
1
4
1
2
0
.200
.400
.133
JEFFREY
Chris Reed
Max Fearnow
Scott Snodgress
9.00
10.80
13.50
0-0
0-1
0-0
2
2
3
0
2
0
0
0
0
1.0
6.2
4.0
1
9
6
1
8
6
1
3
2
0
3
5
0
3
1
.500
.407
.438
INMAN
Kyle Thompson 13.50 0-0 1 0 0 1.1 2 2 0 0 1 .429
Danny Sandbrink 17.18 0-1 2 1 0 3.2 7 7 2 0 1 .438 VIVIAN WONG/The Stanford Daily

TEXAS Continued from front page

BASEBALL| Texas untested

BATTERS AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B HR RBI SLG OBP SB-ATT E
David Hernandez .455 10-10 33 5 15 0 0 7 .455 .457 2-2 6
Preston Clark .412 7-5 17 2 7 3 0 2 .588 .565 0-0 0
Tant Shepherd .355 10-10 31 8 11 3 0 6 .581 .412 2-2 0
Brandon Loy .314 10-10 35 6 11 1 0 2 .343 .375 1-1 1 lar to start the year, batting just .237 as a team
and posting an anemic .320 slugging percentage,
Brandon Belt
Cameron Rupp
.290
.290
10-10
10-10
31
31
8
6
9
9
3
3
2
0
8
7
.581
.387
.442
.378
1-1
0-0
0
0
and is averaging just 4.375 runs per game. Mak-
ing matters worse in the immediate future, the
Longhorns’ pitching staff has been dominant to
“We know what
Travis Tucker .282 10-10 39 10 11 3 0 4 .410 .378 0-1 0
start the year, posting a 1.24 team ERA. Bran-
Connor Rowe .280 10-10 25 3 7 0 1 6 .480 .406 0-1 0
Kevin Keyes
Michael Torres
.267
.211
10-10
7-5
30
19
4
1
8
4
2
0
1
0
5
0
.433
.211
.371
.286
1-2
0-0
1
0
don Workman and Cole Green have led the
Texas staff in innings pitched to start the year —
Workman has yet to allow a run through 16 in-
we can do.”
Russell Moldenhauer .500 2-0 2 0 1 0 0 1 .500 .500 0-0 0
nings pitched, while Cole Green has a 0.59 ERA
Kyle Lusson .250 10-0 4 1 1 0 0 0 .250 .400 1-1 0
in 15.1 innings pitched.
“We’re going to have to rely on our staff a lit-
— COLIN WALSH,
Tim Maitland .000 10-0 2 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .333 0-1 0 tle bit to keep their run totals down, and we’re sophomore second baseman
Jordan Etier .000 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 0-0 0 going to have to swing the bats the way we know
how,” August said. “We’re just going to have to
Morgan Mickan .000 1-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 0-0 0 know that they’re going to come after us. We’re much the same: we know what we can do,”
PITCHERS ERA W-L APP GS SV IP R ER BB SO HR B/AVG going to have to be ready for them to attack the sophomore infielder Colin Walsh said. “We
strike zone, and we’re going to have to try to be haven’t seen them play yet; there’s a lot of talk of
Brandon Workman 0.00 2-0 2 2 0 16.0 0 0 2 17 0 .042 aggressive instead of responding to what they’re good pitching, good hitting, et cetera. Basically,
Cole Green 0.59 1-0 2 2 0 15.1 1 1 1 12 0 .151 going to do.” it all comes down to what they can do against us.
Austin Wood 0.77 3-0 6 0 3 11.2 1 1 2 6 1 .105 Offensively, Texas (10-0) has been led by We feel we have the players to match up against
David Hernandez — a Danville, Calif.-native them. We’re going to go into the series with some
Taylor Jungmann 1.50 2-0 2 2 0 12.0 2 2 6 9 0 .146 confidence and try and pull off some good wins.”
who is hitting .455 to start the year. Shepherd
Austin Dicharry 1.74 0-0 3 2 0 10.1 3 2 4 9 0 .205 Tant and Brandon Loy aren’t far behind, batting The Cardinal will first face off against the
Chance Ruffin 3.14 2-0 3 2 0 14.1 5 5 4 13 0 .246 .355 and .314, respectively. Longhorns tonight at 5 p.m. followed by games
Still, the Longhorns have yet to face a team of Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. The series repre-
Andrew McKirahan 0.00 0-0 2 0 0 3.0 0 0 0 2 0 .182
Stanford’s caliber, having played four games sents Stanford’s last chance for a nonconference
Keith Shinaberry 0.00 0-0 1 0 0 2.1 2 0 0 0 0 .400 against UIC, one against UT-Arlington, four tune-up before traveling to Berkeley next Satur-
Sam Stafford 0.00 0-0 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 1 0 0 .250 against Penn State to this point and one on the day to start a three-game series against Cal.
Stayton Thomas 9.00 0-0 2 0 0 1.0 1 1 2 1 0 .333 road at Texas State.
“Our mindset going into any series is pretty Contact Denis Griffin at djgriff@stanford.edu.
6  Weekend of March 6-8, 2009 GAMEDAY The Stanford Daily
The Stanford Daily
THE LOOKOUT: SOFTBALL & BASEBALL ANALYSIS
SOFTBALL
TRULY AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK YOU HAVE TO HIT IF
By DANIEL BOHM
STAFF WRITER YOU WANT TO WIN
The Stanford softball team is off to
yet another great start this season.
The Cardinal is 18-1, having won 17
consecutive games. “So what,” you
might ask. Didn’t they do something
like this to begin last season too?
The short answer to that question
would be yes; this may be the same
song, only the second verse. But I
wouldn’t bet on it. This team has
some things that last year’s team
lacked.
Yes, a year ago the team started
15-0 and looked pretty much unstop-
pable, as it does this year, throughout
non-conference play. However, the
way they were playing was a bit dif-
ferent.
Last year’s team lacked a killer in-
stinct that this year’s team seems to
have. Last weekend’s thrilling 3-2 vic-
tory over Cal Poly was the greatest in-
dicator of that. A year ago when Stan-
ford was down, they were likely out.
This past Saturday, however, the Car-
dinal mounted a torrid comeback
with one out in the bottom of the sev-
enth to beat Cal Poly.
That game happened at the same
stadium in Fullerton as a similar game
for the Cardinal a year ago, however
in that one it was Stanford that came
out on the losing end. The Cardinal
led fifth-ranked Florida 3-1 entering
the bottom of the seventh, only for
now-senior pitcher Missy Penna to
surrender a walk-off three-run homer
to Gator Mary Ratliff.
This year it is Stanford who, as star
left fielder junior Alissa Haber put it,
“always feels it can come back.”
In addition to this shift in attitude,
the Cardinal also has not been as one-
dimensional offensively as it was a
year ago.
Last year the Stanford offense
centered on Haber and junior catcher
Rosey Neill. Neill had a phenomenal
preseason a year ago, hitting 14 home
runs prior to the start of Pacific-10
play. Thus far Neill only has five, but
the Cardinal has been getting produc-
tion from other parts of the lineup to
make up for it.
Yes, Haber is still leading the Car-
dinal in most offensive categories, but
other players are complimenting her,
which only makes her better.
Freshman shortstop Ashley
Hansen is one of these keys. The
highly anticipated recruit is not disap-
pointing, as she is hitting .433 and
leading the team with 28 RBIs in the
early season.
Junior infielder Shannon Koplitz
has also vastly improved from a year
ago. In 2008 she hit just .253 with four
homeruns. Thus far this season, she
has already matched her homerun
total from last year and is hitting .423.
She has also become a fixture in the
middle of the Stanford lineup, hitting
either third or fifth in the order.
In addition to the play of the fresh-
men and the improved play of some
upperclassmen, Stanford is also find-
ing different ways to score.
The Card has already stolen 18
bases this season, being caught just
once. Haber is seven-for-seven and
freshman centerfielder Sarah Hass-
man is four-for-four.
The Cardinal defense is also vastly
improved from a year ago. Although
Neill was Pac-10 co-defensive player
of the year in 2008, the defense over-
all could sometimes be seen as a lia-
bility.
A year ago Haber played center
field and senior Maddy Coon played
shortstop, arguably two of the most
GAMEDAY
important defensive positions on
the field. Each has been replaced
this year by a freshman, Hassman in
center and Hansen at shortstop,
meaning the best defenders from a
year ago have only been improved
on.
With Haber in left field, head
Coach John Rittman feels as though
he has two centerfielders on the dia-
mond at once. The same goes for
Coon at second base.
It is for all of these reasons that
Stanford softball should not face the
same challenges it did a year ago
come conference and tournament
time. Look for the Cardinal to contin-
ue its winning ways, although maybe
not at such a monumental clip,
throughout this season and deep into
the postseason.
Contact Daniel Bohm at bohmd@stan-
ford.edu.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SITES
BASEBALL
By ERIK ADAMS
GAMEDAY EDITOR
Even before this season started, it
was clear the Cardinal’s offense would
be different. Losing players like Jason
Castro (.376/68 runs/14 home runs/73
RBI), Sean Ratliff (.294/52/22/71) and
Cord Phelps (.351/76/13/58) leaves a big
void to fill.
No one expected to make up all of
that power and consistency, but the
plan was that another year of experi-
ence for the young players could help
this team fill the gap in run production.
So far it hasn’t worked that way.
Last year’s team scored over 7.5
runs per game and hit .299 as a team. In
the first two weeks of this season Stan-
ford is averaging more than three runs
CHRIS BAUTISTA/
The Stanford Daily
Weekend of March 6-8, 2009  7
fewer per game and hitting just .236.
Last year’s team hit 81 home runs in 67
games. Through the first seven games,
this team had two. Last weekend at
Fullerton, only three Cardinal base
runners made it past first base safely in
the first two games.
The pitching, except for a few blow-
up innings here and there that have bal-
looned the ERA past 6, has been sur-
prisingly effective. Every freshman
pitcher who has appeared so far this
season has been impressive and junior
Jeffrey Inman is showing he has the
stuff to become a true ace. The rest of
the weekend rotation is still sorting it-
self out, but between freshman Brett
Mooneyham, sophomore Danny Sand-
brink, junior Brandt Walker and senior
Max Fearnow, there is plenty of talent
to spread around.
Still, good pitching doesn’t matter
much if good runs aren’t being scored.
A good pitching staff can save a
weak offense, and a team that scores
ten runs per game can bail out poor per-
formances on the mound. Even if one is
dominant and the other is only decent,
a team can be very difficult to beat.
Texas, for example, arrives this
weekend with a perfect record at 10-0.
They are hitting over .300 as a team but
have just scored 55 runs in the ten
games. That is only about a run better
per game than Stanford, and not overly
impressive at the collegiate level. But
the pitching for the Longhorns has
been nearly perfect.
In 87 innings, they have allowed just
12 earned runs for an ERA of only 1.24.
Perhaps even more impressive is the
.164 batting average and the only 22
walks to 69 strikeouts in that span.
The Longhorns provide an ex-
treme example: there is no way they
can maintain that level of dominance
on the mound over the entire season.
But the point is that even with an of-
fense that is producing just about one
more run per game than Stanford,
Texas is one of the top teams in the
country right now.
If the Card can eliminate those ugly
innings that seem to pop up once or
twice a game, the pitching will keep the
team in a lot of games. And, if the of-
fense starts to gel and gives itself just a
few more chances to score, it will start
winning a lot of those games.
It is still early, but Stanford needs to
start doing those things now. More than
ten percent of this season’s games have
already been played, and after this
weekend and the finals break, confer-
ence play will begin. There isn’t much
time left before this team will need to
be consistently winning weekend series
if it wants to compete in the postseason.
The ability is there, and it has shown
itself at times, but this team needs to at
least give itself the chance to drive in
runs every game, and pitching nine
strong innings instead of seven or eight
fantastic frames and one or two awful
ones wouldn’t hurt. Texas is a tough
squad to break a slump against, but this
team needs to go into the break with
some momentum to build on.
Contact Erik Adams at ekadams@stan-
ford.edu.
8  Weekend of March 6-8, 2009 SCORECARD The Stanford Daily

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