This Week in Pac-10 Baseball

May 2, 2006

May 2, 2006

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WASHINGTON has made its way back into the Baseball America rankings, entering this week at No. 22. The Huskies, who opened up the second half of the Pac-10 schedule by taking two of three games from ARIZONA last week, face Lewis-Clark State on Tuesday before its Conference series at No. 5 OREGON STATE ... Arizona's Tuesday non-conference game at No. 20 ARIZONA STATE will wrap up a busy 12-day stretch in which the Wildcats will have played nine games. Arizona will finish its non-conference regular-season schedule this weekend against UNLV ... UCLA returns to UC Riverside Tuesday to finish its March 28 game that was suspended because of rain. The game vs. the Highlanders will be picked up with the Bruins' leading 6-3 in the top of the fourth inning ... STANFORD will play its fifth game in as many days when the Cardinal hosts San Jose State at Sunken Diamond on Tuesday, before welcoming cross-bay rival, CALIFORNIA, to The Farm for a three-game Pac-10 series this weekend ... WASHINGTON STATE will play host to Utah Valley State for a three-game non-Conference series, while USC will take this week off for final exams. The Trojans will resume play on May 10 at Cal State Fullerton.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

Tues., May 2
ARIZONA at No. 20 ARIZONA STATE, 7 p.m.
CALIFORNIA at Saint Mary's, 2 p.m.
STANFORD vs. San Jose State, 6 p.m.
UCLA at UC Riverside, 5 p.m.
WASHINGTON vs. Lewis-Clark State, 5 p.m.

Fri., May 5
ARIZONA vs. UNLV, 7 p.m.
CALIFORNIA at STANFORD*, 6 p.m. (1)
No. 22 WASHINGTON at No. 5 OREGON STATE*, 1 p.m. (2)

Sat., May 6
ARIZONA vs. UNLV, 6 p.m.
CALIFORNIA at STANFORD*, 4 p.m. (2)
No. 22 WASHINGTON at No. 5 OREGON STATE*, 1 p.m. (2)
WASHINGTON STATE vs. Utah Valley State, 6 p.m.

Sun., May 7
ARIZONA vs. UNLV, 12 p.m.
CALIFORNIA at STANFORD*, 1 p.m.
No. 22 WASHINGTON at No. 5 OREGON STATE*, 1 p.m.
WASHINGTON STATE vs. Utah Valley State, 2 p.m.

Mon., May 8
WASHINGTON vs. Portland, 6:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON STATE vs. Utah Valley State, 12 p.m.

*Pacific-10 Conference Game

(1) To be televised on Comcast
(2) To be televised on FSN

Game times local to site.
Baseball America ranking at game time.

LAST WEEK'S SCHEDULE

Tues., April 25
ARIZONA 18, Southern Utah 0
San Francisco 7, CALIFORNIA 6
Portland 20, No. 5 OREGON STATE 13 (12)
Santa Clara 6, STANFORD 1 (10)
UC Santa Barbara 11, No. 22 UCLA 8
Loyola Marymount 6, USC 5
WASHINGTON 11, St. Martin's 9
WASHINGTON STATE 9, Gonzaga 6

Wed., April 26
ARIZONA 7, Southern Utah 5

Thur., April 27
No. 5 OREGON STATE 3, Cal Poly SLO 0

Fri., April 28
WASHINGTON 7, ARIZONA 5
STANFORD 7, No. 16 ARIZONA STATE 1
No. 22 UCLA 4, CALIFORNIA 2
No. 5 OREGON STATE 16, New Mexico 1
USC 9, WASHINGTON STATE 2

Sat., April 29
ARIZONA 15, WASHINGTON 0
No. 16 ARIZONA STATE 11, STANFORD 7
CALIFORNIA 3, No. 22 UCLA 2
No. 5 OREGON STATE 8, Cal Poly SLO 4
WASHINGTON STATE 13, USC 7

Sun., April 30
WASHINGTON 4, ARIZONA 3
STANFORD 11, No. 16 ARIZONA STATE 4
CALIFORNIA 9, No. 22 UCLA 4
No. 5 OREGON STATE 8, New Mexico 2
WASHINGTON STATE 6, USC 3

Mon., May 1
CALIFORNIA 4, STANFORD 3

PAC-10 NOTES

Three Pac-10 baseball legends will be honored into the first-ever Induction Class of the new College Baseball Hall of Fame. The Class of 2006 includes legendary coaches Bobby Winkles of Arizona State and Rod Dedeaux of USC, in addition to former standout Sun Devil player, Bob Horner. These collegiate greats will be officially enshrined during a two-day celebration of college baseball in Lubbock Texas during the first weekend of July, in conjunction with the third annual Brooks Wallace College Baseball Player of the Year Award dinner. Former California coach Clint Evans was included in the list of veteran pre-1947 candidates. The veteran selections will be named later this fall and will be officially inducted with the Class of 2007.

ARIZONA (20-22, 6-9): Through the first 23 games of the season, Arizona hit just eight home runs but in the last 19 contests, the Wildcats have doubled that number with 16 bombs to raise their homer total to 24 so far this year. Arizona batters have also hit 39 doubles, half of the season total, and seven triples over the last 19 games, helping improve the `Cats slugging percentage from .398 on March 26 to their current .428 as a team ... In the last eight games, Arizona is batting .346 (101-for-292) with 17 doubles, four triples and 10 homers. The `Cats are averaging 12.6 hits, 10 runs and 8.6 RBI per game during that stretch and saw a six-game home-run streak come to an end on Sunday at Washington. The recent offensive tear has improved Arizona's team batting average from .277 on April 18 to its current .291 ... Not to be outdone, the Wildcat pitching staff has chipped in a 3.21 ERA over the last eight games and has limited their opponents to a .233 batting average during that span. Over the last 70 innings, Arizona hurlers have struck out 74 batters while walking only 26 ... Junior shortstop Jason Donald has hit safely in 13 consecutive games. In those games, of UA's last 13 games. During that span, the three-year starter is batting .356 (21 for 59) with five doubles, four home runs, nine runs scored and 14 RBI ... Fellow junior Bill Rhinehart saw his season-high 14-game hitting streak come to an end with a 0-for-4 game at Washington on Sunday. During his streak, Rhinehart owned a .407 average, going 22-for-52 with seven doubles, two triples, two home runs, 18 RBI and 19 runs scored.

ARIZONA STATE (29-16, 8-7): The Sun Devils only garnered three hits on Friday at Stanford, including freshman Preston Paramore's third home run of the season, a solo shot to right in the sixth inning ... Although Arizona State's pitching staff walked 11 on Saturday and their batters struck out in 11 at-bats, the Devils hold on to an 11-7 victory. For the fourth straight game, the Sun Devils gave up a run in the first inning, but struck in the second inning with freshman Ike Davis' 50th RBI. Davis finished Saturday's game 3-for-6 with four RBI. Sophomore Andrew Romine also made three hits, while Paramore and junior CJ Retherford each hit two, aiding to ASU's 12-hit effort ... In the bottom of the seventh, senior left-hander Brett Bordes came in to junior RHP Brady Martinez. That marked the 102nd career appearance for Bordes, tying Kendall Carter's school record for the most appearances in ASU history. The win gave Bordes his third save of the season ... After jumping out to an early 3-0 lead in the rubber game, Arizona State was unable to hold off the Cardinal in an 11-4 loss, dropping freshman LHP Jeff Urlaub's record to 5-2. The loss marked Arizona State's second-straight Pac-10 series loss, but the Sun Devils have held onto their ranking in Baseball America's Top-25, entering this week at No. 20.

CALIFORNIA (22-22, 8-10): In the first collegiate baseball game played at San Francisco's AT&T Park, junior Brennan Boesch hit a three-run homer in the first inning. Boesch also had the game-winning hit in the 11th inning in the Bears' 3-2 Saturday victory over UCLA, and was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI on Sunday. Boesch is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak since Apr. 16, going 15-for-41 (.366) with three doubles, a home run and eight RBI in that span. This season, Boesch is batting .285 and leads Cal with 10 home runs and 35 RBI ... In Sunday's rubber match vs. the Bruins, freshman Matt Gorgen picked up the win, throwing a season-high 3.7 innings with one hit, no runs, no walks and three strikeouts. Gorgen is 3-4 on the year with one save. He has 26 K's in 34 innings and is second on the roster with a 1.85 ERA ... On Sunday, which was Senior Day in Berkeley, senior shortstop Allen Craig went 3-for-5 with a double and a career-high five RBI. Continuing his tear from the plate, Craig is batting .363 this season with a team-best 13 doubles, 32 runs, 105 total bases and 24 multiple-hit games. The senior also ranks second on the Golden Bears' list with nine home runs and 30 RBI ... Junior right-hander Brandon Morrow is holding onto a 7-2 record still having an impressive season as he is 7-2 with a Pac-10 leading 1.59 ERA. In 85.0 innings, Morrow has thrown 85 strikeouts (both third in the Conference) with one complete game. He has only allowed 59 hits and has held his opponents to a .200 batting average (second in the league).

OREGON STATE (32-10, 9-3): Tuesday's 12-inning, five-hour and nine-minute loss to Portland marked Oregon State's latest in the string of long days this season. On Feb. 17, the Beavers played a four-hour and 13-minute game to defeat Pepperdine 7-6. On Mar. 1, OSU played 25 total innings, spread over 10.5 hours, to finish the three-game sweep over Texas Pan-American ... The Beavers have allowed two or fewer runs in eight of their last 11 games and have played errorless defense in nine of their last 12 contests ... Sophomore Mitch Canham drove in nine runs in Oregon State's five games last week, going 7-for-19 (.368) with one home run, one triple, one double and six runs scored. For the week, Canham had a .684 slugging percentage and, after stealing one base, he had a .417 on-base percentage. The sophomore also threw out two of four runners who tried to steal against him ... Sophomore Mike Stutes struck out 11 hitters and earned Oregon State's 16-1 win over New Mexico on Friday. In eight innings, Stutes allowed one run on four hits and two walks. His performance came against a Logo squad that entered the game with a team batting average of .331 and was averaging 9.2 runs and 12 hits per game ... Oregon State's pitching staff is holding on to some impressive streaks. Junior Dallas Buck has won his last 14 decisions, dating back to the middle of last season, and currently has a string of 22 consecutive scoreless innings. His classmate, Jonah Nickerson, has won his last six starts.

STANFORD (19-20, 5-10): In Stanford's first televised game this season, the Cardinal put up six runs in the first four innings against then-No. 16 Arizona State. While the Stanford batters were getting it done from the plate, junior right-hander Greg Reynolds (4-3) got it done from the mound, tossing the first complete game of his collegiate career and the first for a Stanford pitcher this season. Senior Chris Lewis had a career high four hits, including a double and a triple, while fellow senior Chris Minaker added three hits in addition to the three runs he drove in to lead the offense ... Junior Jim Rapoport and sophomore Randy Molina each had three-hit games on Saturday, while junior Ryan Seawell drove in a pair of runs with a key pinch-hit single in the bottom of the seventh of game two ... Both teams combined to walk 21 batters on Saturday, including 10 by Stanford, but the offenses also stranded 25 runners on base (Stanford 13) ... Rapoport's inside-the-park grand slam capped an eight-run fifth inning on Sunday and lifted the Cardinal to an 11-4 win ... The win moved head coach Mark Marquess into sole possession of 13th place on the NCAA's all-time win list with his 1243rd career victory ... Senior RHP Matt Manship gave up just one run and scattered seven hits in 5.0 innings with four strikeouts to get the win in relief of junior starter Matt Leva ... Stanford's win gave the Cardinal a series victory for the first time since the club took two-of-three at Fresno State from February 24-26. The five-series losing streak was Stanford's longest since dropping seven series in a row by losing its final six of 1993 as well as its first series of 1994 ... Through Monday's game at California, Minaker has extended his hit streak to nine games, while going .455 (10-for-22) with three doubles, a triple and six RBI in five contests. He also fielded all 17 of his defensive chances successfully. Minaker leads the Cardinal in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.350), runs scored (24), hits (57), doubles (13), home runs (5), RBI (43), total bases (89), slugging percentage (.546) and stolen bases (5).

UCLA (24-19, 8-7): For only the second time this season, UCLA posted three or more runs in an inning but lost against UC Santa Barbara. The Bruins have scored at least three runs in an inning 36 times this season, and 126 of their 254 total runs (.500) have come when they have posted three or more runs in an inning ... UCLA did not hit a home run in the three-game series at California, marking the first time the Bruins have failed to hit a jack in a three-game series this season. UCLA has 41 home runs on the season, good for second in the Pac-10. In their last 30 games, the Bruins have ripped 33 long balls, including a stretch of homers in 13 consecutive games ... The Bruins could not capitalize on a brilliant performance by junior starter Dave Huff on Saturday, as tossed 10.0 innings with three strikeouts, allowing two runs on seven hits with only one walk. Huff held the Golden Bears scoreless for the final nine innings in his outing, retiring 27 of the final 31 hitters that came to the plate. Huff threw 130 pitches, 91 of which were strikes. The junior has gone nine or more innings in his last three outings in Conference games and in four of his five Pac-10 starts. This season, Huff owns a 5-2 record with a 2.75 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 98.1 innings pitched ... Batting second in the line-up, freshman Jermaine Curtis went 5-for-10 (.500) in Berkeley, scoring three runs, batting in two and walking twice to post a .571 on-base percentage. On the season, Curtis is second on the team with a .327 (32-98) batting average and is hitting .343 (12-35) in Pac-10 play ... UCLA's defense has been superb this year as the Bruins currently rank No. 1 in the Pac-10 Conference with a .977 fielding percentage, a mark that is 10th-best in the nation ... The Bruins have committed only one error in their last six games and have gone a season-high five-straight games without a fielding blunder during that span.

USC (24-22, 10-8): Junior right-hander Shawn Olsen had his longest stint of the season for the Trojans on Tuesday vs. Loyola Marymount. Olsen lasted seven innings, striking out seven without allowing a walk. After a Lion leadoff single, Olsen did not allow a hit for the final five innings of his appearance ... In Friday's opener at Washington State, junior Ian Kennedy allowed just two runs in eight innings to defeat the Cougars, 9-2. Kennedy added four strikeouts in his outing before giving way to freshman John Dunn, who worked a perfect ninth inning ... Junior Daniel Perales went 3-for-5 while seniors Blake Sharpe and Baron Frost and junior Cyle Hankerd each had two hits ... Defensively, the Trojans tied a season-high with four double plays on the evening ... Freshman starter Tommy Milone (7-1) suffered his first loss of the season on Saturday after allowing nine runs in 4 1/3 innings ... Hankerd, who hit three home runs in as many days in Pullman, is the first Trojan to go yard in four straight games since Justin Gemoll hit four from Apr. 1 to Apr. 7, 2000. Hankerd has 10 home runs this year, which ties him for third in the Conference.

WASHINGTON (30-16, 8-7): Senior Zach Clem hit two home runs and drove in five in Tuesday's 11-9 win over Division-II St. Martin's. With 19 games left in the regular season, Clem's 19 home runs this season, which lead the Conference and are second-most in the nation), make him only three shy of the Husky record of 22, which was set by Chad Boudon in 2003. Clem's 40 career homers is only two behind Ed Erickson's all-time mark of 42 (1997-2000) ... In Friday's opener vs Arizona, junior right-hander Tim Lincecum threw eight innings in the Huskies' 7-5 win, allowing five hits, four runs (three earned) and three walks while striking out 11). With the victory, he broke the UW record for career wins with 28, breaking a 26-year-old mark ... Washington suffered its first shutout loss on Saturday night after a five-hour rain delay. The usually high-scoring Diamond Dawgs had only been held to one run once all season and two runs on only three other occasions ... Making his third start this year, sophomore Elliott Cribby suffered his first loss as a starter to fall to 6-4 on the season. Cribby gave up six runs on 10 hits, walking one and striking out three over 7 1/3 innings ... Lincecum came on in the ninth of Sunday's game vs. the Wildcats, notching his third save of the season with the 4-3 victory. Lincecum is now only five K's shy of Rik Currier's Pac-10 record (449) and 56 short of becoming just the seventh pitcher in NCAA history to record 500 career strikeouts. He leads the nation in wins with his 10-2 record.

WASHINGTON STATE (29-16, 7-8): Despite allowing three Gonzaga home runs on Tuesday, Washington State hit 14 total hits in Spokane to earn the 9-6 victory. Freshmen Travis Coulter and Jared Prince each had three of those hits, and sophomore Scott Suttmeier, freshman Greg Lagreid and senior Zach McAngus added two each ... In all, six Cougar pitchers saw action, with senior Reese Baker picking up his first win and junior Travis Webb earning his sixth save ... Washington State's four-game winning streak came to an end on Friday, as the Cougars fell to USC, 9-2. The Cougars had nine hits on the evening, two each by Coulter, sophomore Jim Murphy and junior Jeff Miller ... On the mound, junior RHP Mike Wagner started and suffered the loss as he worked six innings, allowing all nine runs with three strikeouts ... WSU pounded out 15 hits on Saturday, which resulted in 13 runs, the most by a Cougar team in conference action since a 13-3 win over California to end the 2004 season ... On Sunday, freshman Jared Prince earned his sixth win of the season and capped his day with a solo home run as the Cougars took two of three from the Trojans. The win gave Washington State its second Conference-series victory of the season and also marked the first time in five Pac-10 series this season WSU came away victorious in the final game. Washington State's 29 wins also ties for the most by a Cougar team since posting 35 victories during the 1994 season.

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