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May 30, 2003

Palo Alto Regional Capsules

1. Stanford Cardinal
Stanford, Calif.
Automatic bid - won Pac-10 regular-season title
2003 record - 18-6, 41-15 (first in Pac-10)
Coach: Mark Marquess (Stanford, 1969)
Record at school: 1134-548-5, 27 years
Overall record: Same
Assistant coaches: Dean Stotz, Tom Kunis, Dave Nakama
Team offense: .318 BA, 410 R, 53 HR, .489 SLG%, .390 OBA%, 60/78 SB
Team pitching: 4.05 ERA, 515.2 IP, 479 H, 193 BB, 405 K
Top hitters: Ryan Garko (.406/15/78), Carlos Quentin (.384/8/50), Danny Putnam (.356/11/45), Sam Fuld (.331/2/29), Brian Hall (.309/4/37), Jed Lowrie (.302/0/23), John Mayberry Jr. (.298/4/33), Tobin Swope (.286/1/29), Donny Lucy (.283/2/17), Jonny Ash (.283/0/17).
Top pitchers: John Hudgins (9-3, 3.14, 123.1 IP, 106 H, 25 BB, 110 K), Matt Manship (2-4, 8 saves, 3.20, 50.2 IP, 40 H, 20 BB, 42 K), Mark Romanczuk (10-0, 3.45, 88.2 IP, 70 H, 38 BB, 69 K), Kodiak Quick (2-0, 3 saves, 4.41, 34.2 IP, 33 H, 19 BB, 33 K). Ryan McCally (5-2, 5.35, 74 IP, 94 H, 18 BB, 43 K), Tim Cunningham (3-3, 5.49, 39.1 IP, 37 H, 30 BB, 20 K), David O’Hagan (6-1, 5.88, 41.1 IP, 47 H, 19 BB, 37 K).
Last NCAA appearance: 2002 (3-0 at Stanford Regional, 2-0 at Stanford Super Regional, 2-2 at College World Series)
Notes: The Cardinal is hosting a regional for the eighth straight year and serves as the No. 6 overall seed in the tourney, meaning it would host a Super Regional if it gets out of the regional. Stanford has won 13 of 14 entering the tourney. Senior catcher Ryan Garko was named the Pac-10 player of the year, and junior right-hander John Hudgins was named the pitcher of the year. Coach Mark Marquess was named the coach of the year. Carlos Quentin was named a Golden Spikes Award finalist earlier in the season and put together a solid season. Junior Sam Fuld is hitting .355 for his career. Stanford has won at least 40 games nine straight years.

2. Richmond Spiders
Richmond, Va.
Automatic bid from Atlantic 10 Conference
2003 Record - 46-13, 19-4 in A-10 (first in West)
Coach - Ron Atkins (Virginia Tech, 1967)
Record at school - 602-415-4, 19 years
Overall record - Same
Assistant coaches - Curtis Brown, Adam Taylor, Mike Loyd
Team offense - .310 BA, 386 R, 62 HR, .476 SLG%, .396 OB%, 112-131 SB
Team pitching - 3.09 ERA, 493 IP, 446 H, 174 BB, 503 SO
Top hitters: Ben Zeskind (.379/6/37/16 SB), Jim Fasano (.353/14/63), David Reaver (.324/1/29/28 SB), Bryan Pritz (.324/5/29/21 SB), Michael Galligan (.305/6/29), Vito Chiaravalloti (.305/13/52), Bobby LeNoir (.301/1/24/28 SB), Adam Tidball (.269/8/38).
Top pitchers - Tim Stauffer (9-4, 1.87, 106 IP, 76 H, 16 BB, 135 K), Mike McGirr (9-1, 2.48, 87 IP, 81 H, 22 BB, 84 K), Jason Bolinski (9-1, 2.58, 73.1 IP, 60 H, 28 BB, 83 K), John Cronin (2-0, 1.21, 2 saves, 22.1 IP, 12 H, 14 BB, 20 K), Matt McLoughlin (6-4, 3.30, 2 saves, 57.1 IP, 55 H, 20 BB, 44 K), Andy Givens (3-1, 4.50, 2 saves, 32 IP, 30 H, 20 BB, 26 K), Tim Rice (5-2, 4.97, 54.1 IP, 61 H, 22 BB, 58 K).
Last NCAA appearance - 2002 (3-1 at Winston-Salem Regional, 1-2 at Lincoln Super Regional).
Notes - Richmond followed up 49 regular-season wins with 46 more, and the Spiders did something they didn't in last year's magical season: win the A-10 title. UR has one of the best pitchers in the country in Tim Stauffer, who has combined to go 23-6 with 263 Ks in 237 IP the past two years. Mike McGirr is 20-2 over the past two years. The Spiders shaved nearly seven-tenths off their ERA this year, and struck out 503 batters, compared to 174 walks. Ben Zeskind, a transfer from Florida, is a switch-hitter who bolstered an offense that struggled to begin the year. Jim Fasano was the A-10 player of the year. Richmond has its best team speed in its history, stealing 112 of 131 bases.

3. UC Riverside Highlanders

Riverside, Calif.

At-large bid from Big West Conference

2003 Record – 14-7, 40-15 (third in Big West)

Coach – Jack Smitheran (Arizona State ’68)

Record at school – 980-698-3, 30 years

Overall record – 1,163-759-3, 34 years

Assistant coaches – Doug Smith, Andrew Checketts, Estevan Valencia

Team offense - .337 BA, 426 R, 59 HR, .504 SLG%, .402 OB%, 37/76 SB

Team pitching – 4.47 ERA, 491 IP, 541 H, 173 BB, 406 K

Top hitters – Ryan Harvey (.409/8/39), Randy Blood (.376/5/50), Brian Wahlbrink (.373/11/39), Matt Cunningham (.353/5/41), Tony Festa (.343/5/51), Scott Powis (.341/1/14), Brian Emmons (.319/7/36), Kevin Mangels (.319/10/49), Jason Collette (.290/4/26)

Top pitchers – A.J. Shappi (11-2, 3.14, 106 IP, 88 H, 28 BB, 89 K), Jaymie Torres (10-2, 3.36, 107 IP, 107 H, 23 BB, 74 K), Brian Hoff (3-5, 3 save, 4.55, 61.1 IP, 82 H, 22 BB, 42 K), Julio Fernandez (5-3, 1 save, 4.96, 78 IP, 89 H, 23 BB, 63 K)

Last NCAA appearance – first NCAA appearance

Notes – The Highlanders have won eight of their past 11 and are 17-6 since April 8. UCR is 6-0 in extra inning games. The Highlanders swept a three-game series from then-No. 1 Cal State Fullerton in early May. Coach Jack Smitheran was a second baseman at Arizona State and was a member of the 1965 national championship team. He was a teammate of Reggie Jackson. Smitheran is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He led UCR to two Division II national championships.

4. Illinois-Chicago Flames

Chicago, Ill.

Automatic bid from Horizon League

2003 Record – 15-6, 39-16 (first in Horizon League)

Coach – Mike Dee (Wisconsin-LaCrosse, 1979)

Record at school – 161-116, five years

Overall record - same

Assistant coaches – Sean McDermott, Scott Stahoviak, Troy Stein

Team offense - .331 BA, 397 R, 46 HR, .477 SLG%, .394 OB%, 50/75 SB

Team pitching – 3.09 ERA, 454.2 IP, 462 H, 130 BB, 321 K

Top hitters – Mike Hughes (.384/8/28/10 SB), Chuck Peters (.351/11/56), J.P. Carey (.346/1/17/13 SB), J.P. Moran (.342/2/38), Jordan DeVoir (.341/2/29), Nelson Gord (.328/2/34), Kevin Nelson (.324/4/33), Weber Bowen (.299/2/15)Brad Ryan (.297/7/40), Bryan Russo (.285/4/24/10 SB)

Top pitchers – Ryan Martin (7-0, 2.01, 67 IP, 50 H, 19 BB, 61 K), Ryan Gehring (8-4, 2.34, 96.1 IP, 97 H, 14 BB, 64 K), David Haehnel (6-1, 9 saves, 2.65, 54.1 IP, 58 H, 16 BB, 53 K), John Flood (6-2, 3.68, 71 IP, 74 H, 15 BB, 38 K)

Last NCAA appearance – first NCAA appearance

Notes – Jordan DeVoir hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Flames a 2-1 win over Butler in the Horizon League Tournament championship game. UIC had a 26-game home winning streak over the past two seasons. The Flames were 27-3 at home this season. Opponents only stole 15 bases in 36 attempts against UIC.