By FullertonBaseballFan
No. 2 Seed – Stanford Cardinal
Overall Record – 31-23
Conference Record – 14-13 (4th place)
How they qualified for a regional – At large
Last Regional Appearance – 2008 (Tied for 3rd, College World Series)
RPI/ISR – 36/18
SOS – 20 (RPI)/2 (ISR)
Record vs. tournament field – 16-13
Record vs. top 50/top 100 RPI – 15-13/18-17
Season Summary
Stanford went 30-25, tied for 5th at 13-14 in the Pac 10 and missed qualifying for a regional in 2009 for the second time in three years after playing in the post-season every year from 1994-2006. The Cardinal had issues both offensively with a .279 team average and on the mound with a 5.12 team ERA that they needed to address if they were going to be better this season in what ended up being a much improved Pac 10 conference that went from having three teams play in regionals last season to having eight teams qualify for the post-season this year. Stanford lost several regular position players but brought in a strong recruiting class and they will often have four FR in their starting lineup. The Cardinal lost two SP’s and a closer that was a 1st round draft pick but their pitching has improved due to the development of some of their Sophs in a recruiting class last year that was pitching heavy last year. Stanford’s offense was slightly improved this year with a .288 team average with slightly more scoring and their pitching was slightly improved with a 4.77 team ERA. As to be expected with such a young team, Stanford has had their ups and downs with playing up to their ability level due to their inexperience. The Cardinal started the season by sweeping perennial national title contender Rice at home and followed that up by getting swept at Texas, one of the top teams in the country. Stanford won their next three series against sub .500 teams UCSB, Pepperdine and USC before their schedule toughened up and they lost series at UCLA and home to Oregon. When it looked like Stanford was in trouble the Cardinal turned around and swept both Oregon State on the road and California at home. Stanford lost three of their last five series against Washington (swept on the road), Long Beach (2-1 on the road), Washington State (1-2 at home), Arizona (2-1 on the road) and ASU, the top seed in the tournament (1-2 at home).
Offense
Park Factor according to Boyd’s World – 88 (decreases offense by 12%).
Batting Average – .288 (NCAA ranking – 225, Conf ranking 8)
Runs Per Game – 6.0 (225, 8)
Home Runs – 34 (226, 8)
Stolen Bases – 37 (250, 9)
Slugging Percentage – .409 (245, 8)
On Base Percentage – .367 (DNR, 10)
Walks – 202 (167, 6)
Strikeouts – 347 (DNR, 6)
HBP’s – 46 (220, 8)
Sac Bunts – 17 (258, 10)
Stanford is pretty much a station to station offense that looks to put together rallies by stringing together several hits and doesn’t rely too much on hitting HR’s or small ball with either bunting or the running game. The Cardinal has had some issues offensively and over the course of their last ten weekend series have been held to four runs or less nine times and scored five runs six on six other occasions.
Batting Order
RF #7 FR Tyler Gaffney (RH – .319/.402/.436, 1-22-2). Gaffney is similar to the previous OF who played RB on the football team (Heisman runner-up Toby Gerhart) but is known more for his speed while Gerhart was known for his power. He is a good athlete who can also play CF. Gaffney leads the team with 10 HBP.
2B #13 JR Colin Walsh (Both – .321/.432/.505, 7-41-2). Walsh has some interesting stats and leads the team and is 2nd in the Pac 10 with 40 BB’s and 51 K’s. He also led the team in HR, RBI and SLG and tied for 2nd in R. Walsh hit .320 in 2009 with no HR’s. He is 2-11 in his career against Fullerton.
1B/LF #25 FR Stephen Piscotty (RH – .321/.382/.440, 3-32-5). Piscotty is one of several good athletes in the FR class. He is 2nd on the team in H and leads the team with 17 doubles (6th in the Pac 10). Piscotty only had 17 K’s in 218 AB’s.
3B #3 FR Kenny Diekroger (RH – .351/.384/.486, 5-39-1). Diekroger was a 2nd round draft pick out of HS but decided to go to school. He leads the team in BA (10th in the Pac 10) and H (8th in the Pac 10) and is 2nd on the team in HR and RBI. Diekroger needs to work on his plate discipline with a 12/44 BB/K ratio.
C #29 JR Ben Clowe (RH – .351/.413/.436, 1-13-5 in 94 AB’s). Clowe has started only 21 games this year, mostly at 1B/DH but has played C the last two weekends due to Stanford losing starting C Zach Jones to a broken finger. Clowe hit .274 in part-time duty as a DH/backup C in 2009 and went 2-6 last year at Fullerton.
DH #4 FR Eric Smith (LH – .286/.333/.371, 0-12-0). Smith moved into the lineup the last two weekends to give the lineup another LH bat. JR #20 Jonathon Kaskow (Both – .344/.469/.453, 1-28-0) was in the 1B/DH mix with Clowe but has only started once in the past two weeks. He is a very patient hitter and is 9th in the Pac 10 with 31 BB. Kaskow went 2-9 last season at Fullerton.
LF #11 JR Dave Giuliani (Both –.265 in 83 AB’s). Giuliani was a part-time player most of the season but has been in the lineup the last two weekends and gives the lineup another LH bat. He has good speed and can play all 3 OF positions.
SS #6 JR Jake Schlander (RH – .256/.355/.366, 3-37-1). Schlander is primarily in the lineup for his defense but has improved offensively from 2009 (.232-1-22) and is 3rd on the team in RBI. He is 3-28 in his career against Fullerton.
CF #24 FR Jake Stewart (RH – .211/.269/.304, 2-16-5). Stewart is a very good athlete with good speed but has struggled offensively.
Defense
Fielding .971 (54, 3) – 61 errors. Good fielding team around the infield, especially up the middle with Schlander and Walsh, although Walsh has gone from making 5 E’s in 2009 to 12 this season. Diekroger will end up at SS in the future but has struggled some at 3B (14 E’s). All of their OF’s have very good range, especially Stewart, Giuliani and Gaffney.
Double Plays – 59 (29, 3)
Stolen Base Attempts – Baserunners are 23-32 against Clowe over the last two seasons. Runners were 36-44 against Jones.
WP’s/PB’s Allowed – 34, mostly against Jones who is a good athlete behind the plate and does a good job of blocking pitches.
Pitching
ERA – 4.77 (51, 8)
BA – .266 (DNR, 5)
HR – 47 (DNR, 9)
BB’s/9 IP – 4.79 (248, 10)
K’s/9 IP – 6.9 (135, 7)
Stanford has gotten pretty consistent efforts from their first two SP’s during the course of the Pac 10 season but have had issues in trying to find a consistent third SP. The bullpen has been pretty solid with several RHP and LHP options.
Starting Pitchers
#34 Soph Brett Mooneyham (LHP – 3-6, 4.74 ERA, 16 starts, 1 CG, 82 IP, 71 H, 60 BB, 94 K, .243 BA, 6 HR, 4 HBP, 5 WP). He is a hard thrower who will be an early draft pick in 2011. Mooneyham has struggled with his control his first two years (114 BB in 149 IP) but has also been very tough to hit in that time (.225 opps BA). Over his last six starts he has averaged 7 IP and has a 2.95 ERA. Mooneyham has had better control in his last three starts with only 8 BB allowed in 20 IP. He has had trouble with holding runners (12-14 SB’s). Mooneyham allowed 3 R on 4 H and 6 BB in 5 IP in his start at Fullerton in 2009 and was 6-3, 4.14 in 67 IP with 72 K last season.
#16 Soph Jordan Pries (RHP – 4-3, 3.86 ERA, 14 starts, 91 IP, 90 H, 41 BB, 61 K, .264 BA, 12 HR, 9 HBP, 2 WP). Pries has been the most consistent SP and has allowed 3 ER or less in 12 of his 14 starts. He isn’t a hard thrower but relies on spotting his fastball and gets in trouble when he gets his pitches up (most HR’s allowed on the staff). Pries beat ASU last week when he held the Sun Devils to 2 R on 6 H in 8 IP. He has allowed 7-11 on SB attempts. Pries allowed 4 R in 4 IP in his relief appearance at Fullerton in 2009 and was 4-4, 4.62 ERA in 76 IP with 50 K last season.
Stanford has had all sorts of issues finding a 3rd SP behind Mooneyham and Pries. #19 FR Dean McArdle (RHP – 5-0, 5.25 ERA, 2 saves, 21 apps, 4 starts, 48 IP, 43 H, 18 BB, 33 K, .251 BA, 9 HR, 5 HBP, 1 WP) is similar to Pries because he’s not a big guy but he’s a battler on the mound. He has started the last three weekends and allowed 9 R on 14 H and only 1 BB in 15 2/3 IP against WSU, Arizona and ASU. McArdle is 2nd on the team with 9 HR’s allowed.
The most likely other option if Stanford had to come out of the losers bracket would be #23 Soph Brian Busick (RHP – 5-2, 3.67 ERA, 1 save, 21 apps, 6 starts, 54 IP, 58 H, 17 BB, 31 K, .282 BA, 5 HR, 5 HBP, 2 WP) was the other weekend SP but was replaced by McArdle after going only 18 IP in 4 starts.
Relief Pitchers
Closer – #39 JR Alex Pracher (RHP – 6-4, 3.15 ERA, 25 apps, 4 saves, 46 IP, 42 H, 21 BB, 28 K, .255 BA, 1 HR, 2 HBP, 3 WP). Pracher is able to go several innings and went a season high 7 2/3 IP in a 15 inning game at Washington.
#28 JR Danny Sandbrink (RHP – 2-2, 4.79 ERA, 16 apps, 3 starts, 41 IP, 47 H, 14 BB, 23 K, .292 BA, 6 HR, 2 HBP, 1 WP).
#26 FR Mark Appel (RHP – 2-1, 5.92 ERA, 2 saves, 24 apps, 3 starts, 38 IP, 44 H, 19 BB, 26 K, .295 BA, 3 HR, 2 HBP, 4 WP).
#36 Soph Scott Snodgress (LHP – 1-2, 5.59 ERA, 1 save, 21 apps, 4 starts, 37 IP, 33 H, 28 BB, 38 K, .248 BA, 2 HR, 5 HBP, 3 WP).
#33 Chris Reed (LHP – 2-0, 5.23 ERA, 18 apps, 21 IP, 23 H, 13 BB, 14 K, .295 BA, 1 HR, 1 HBP, 3 WP).
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