By John Manuel
March 21, 2003

Four years, four College World Series trips.

Stanford's drive for five took the annual break for exams over the last dozen days, keeping the Cardinal off the field last weekend. The team returns at third-ranked Arizona State this weekend, opening Pacific-10 Conference play against a team that has yet to lose a series all year.

The series starts Saturday and ends Monday thanks to the Cardinal's exams schedule. The Sun Devils took advantage of the extra day by playing host to Wichita State and are now 31-3 after splitting the midweek two-game set.

"Oh my gosh, they're amazing," Stanford coach Mark Marquess said from his office Wednesday while going over the Sun Devils' stats. "They're hitting .358 as a team. They've played some people, too--Long Beach State, Oklahoma, BYU.

"They're especially good at home. They have always played well at home and really put a lot of pressure on you offensively, because they're so aggressive. I'm afraid to even go down there."

Suffice it to say Marquess isn't going to Tempe empty-handed. This is Stanford, after all. While many of the stalwarts of those four consecutive Omaha trips are gone--mostly in the infield and on the mound--many key pieces are back, helping Stanford to a 14-7 start, with six of the losses coming against Cal State Fullerton, Florida State and Texas.

Senior catcher Ryan Garko has been in the middle of the lineup for Stanford's last two trips to Omaha and is in the middle of things again. He leads the team in RBIs, is hitting .333-4-25 and drew praise from Marquess for improved receiving behind the plate.

Junior outfielders Sam Fuld and Carlos Quentin are three-year starters for the Cardinal and once again figure prominently into the offense. Quentin is off to a .378-1-12 start, not showing much power but posting a sterling .515 on-base percentage thanks to his 18 walks and five HBPs. Fuld, who struggled last summer with Team USA, got off to a slow start this spring as well but was coming around, Marquess said. He's hitting .297-1-9 with a .363 OBP and four steals in four tries.

"We thought we would hit," Marquess said. "With the guys we had coming back, we liked out lineup, even without (Chris) Carter."

Carter was the team's hottest hitter in Omaha last year but hasn't started his sophomore season yet, thanks to November shoulder surgery. Marquess said he was close to a return and was released this week to begin playing again, but wasn't sure when his first game action would be.

In his absence, several newcomers to the lineup have asserted themselves. Sophomore Danny Putnam has been inconsistent but still is tied for the team lead in homers and ranks second in batting and RBIs at .377-4-19. Senior Tobin Swope, who played sparingly to this point in his career, has been solid at short in the field and at the plate (.321, .387 OBP).

"I'm really proud of Swope because he sat three years, and I thought he deserved a chance to win the job, and he did it," Marquess said. "He's hung in there, he's made all the routine plays, and he's had competition for the job."

That came from freshmen Chris Lewis and Jed Lowrie, primarily, and the pair has now joined Swope in the infield at second and third base. The Cardinal started the year with Brian Hall at third and Jonny Ash at second, but injuries and inconsistent defense opened the door for the freshmen, and they have responded.

The Cardinal's most touted freshman, Mariners' unsigned first-round pick John Mayberry Jr., has been Stanford's most consistent player. He's hitting .371-3-17 with a team-high five triples and has hit safely in 20 of 21 games while providing Marquess with a prerequisite for a first baseman--excellent defense.

"You can really attribute his consistency to his makeup, because he's been around the game, and he's just so solid in his approach to the game," Marquess said. "I think he's going to be a similar player to Joe Borchard for us because he can hit and hit for power.

"He knows how to use the whole field, he's tough with two strikes and he's been a big lift for the offense. And he's a very good defender at first. I tell our infielders to throw high because it's hard to throw it over his head."

The Cardinal's defense has improved since an early sweep at Cal State Fullerton, where the Titans bunted and ran them off the field. And Stanford's defense must be good, because unlike past years, the team lacks a power-pitching No. 1 starter. Righthanders John Hudgins (4-1, 3.35) and Ryan McCally (3-1, 4.08) are solid in the first two spots in the rotation, but not spectacular or overpowering.

"Hudgins is like Jeremy Guthrie without the big fastball," Marquess said of the junior, who has 51 strikeouts and just six walks in 51 innings. "He throws four pitches for strikes and is a good Friday guy, but not our typical Friday guy. McCally's fastball is just 85-86 (mph), but he gives us a chance to win."

Stanford's best arms are on its freshmen, particularly lefty Mark Romanczuk. The Delaware native is 5-0, 3.65 with a pair of saves and will start Sunday if he doesn't relieve in either of the first two games of the series. Righties Matt Manship (three saves, 3.29 ERA) and Kodiak Quick (11 K's in 11 IP, 8.18 ERA) have also been solid in relief with junior David O'Hagan (two saves, 4.14 ERA).

"We knew Romanczuk would be good, but I'm really pleased with how quickly he has come in and adjusted to a relief role," Marquess said. "He's not rattled easily."

Marquess also has hope for sophomore power arms Mark Jecmen and Steve Papazian, big bodies with power stuff who haven't gotten much time in games this season. Jecmen could yet be the power starter the Cardinal is looking for in the rotation, but not this weekend. Against Arizona State's powerful offense--with sophomore first baseman Jeff Larish expected to return to the lineup after missing four games with back spasms--Stanford will need all the pitching it can get.

So as much as this weekend is a test for Arizona State against one of its best opponents and in its start to league play, it's a gauge of how far along this young Stanford team is in its quest for a fifth straight trip to the CWS.

• The rest of the Pac-10 schedule includes two other league series, led by Southern California at Arizona. The Trojans moved back over .500 on Tuesday with a win against San Diego, but remain banged up on the mound.

Senior righthander Anthony Reyes remains officially day-to-day with a right elbow injury, and the elbow has also been the culprit with righties Brett Bannister (on a throwing program but not ready yet) and Jon Williams. Reyes' conditioning has been called into question in the past, and two years of elbow problems seems to back up the charge.

Williams pitched an inning as the starter against the Toreros and didn't allow a baserunner. Senior lefty Jordon Olson got the win in that one after returning from a team suspension, so at least the Trojans have some reinforcements.

And offensively, the Trojans can mash, or have you missed Jeff Clement's 11 homers? But with players like Michael Moon and Joey Metropoulos in the lineup, USC will have to mash, because it's not going to win with pitching and defense. Eric Stephens of the Los Angeles Times reports that coach Mike Gillespie hasn't lost faith in his struggling team by any means.

"Our players have to disappointed with our performance so far," he said. "There's not an area where we haven't been disappointing in. But I don't want to convey that we're not through battling."

Arizona has improved to 19-3 after beating Mountain West leader New Mexico twice this week. The Wildcats also have junior center fielder Brian Anderson on a 25-game hitting streak, tying the program's single-season mark.

Elsewhere in the Pac-10, Washington State visits Cal in the only other league series. Washington puts its 10-game winning streak on the line at UC Irvine in a non-league series while Oregon State plays host to UC Santa Barbara. Wichita State continues its Western trip at UCLA.

• The Big 12 is full of league series with all 10 teams playing internecine affairs. Texas hits the road at Oklahoma State in a series already moved back to Saturday through Monday by inclement weather, which has hit the Cowboys extra hard.

They missed a game during their spring-break trip to North Carolina at Wake Forest, and it would have been their biggest RPI helper on the trip. Previously, OSU had an entire series with Cal snowed out, and the open weekend helped stall both teams' momentum.

Oklahoma State is pitching as well as expected behind the junior trio of reliever Shane Hawk (4-0, 0.74) and starters Scott Baker (3-3, 3.19) and Joe Weaver (2-2, 2.39, two saves). But the 12-7 team's 2.21 ERA is offset somewhat by a pedestrian .275 batting average and just nine home runs.

Texas (18-8) also isn't playing as well as it would like and is coming off a loss Tuesday to Southwest Texas State. The game dropped junior Justin Simmons, who went 16-1 last year, to just 2-3. Simmons' offspeed, groundball approach relies on good defense, and the Longhorns have not been good in the infield.

Seth Johnston has taken over at third base as the starter after an aborted attempt to put sophomore Michael Hollimon back at shortstop last weekend. Hollimon made errors 12 and 13 against Missouri and was replaced in the game by sophomore Huston Street. The closer is probably Texas' best defensive infielder but is too valuable on the mound to be a fulltime position player as well.

No. 9 Baylor plays host to Oklahoma in the league opener for the Sooners, while No. 23 Kansas goes to Missouri and No. 20 Texas A&M visits Texas Tech. Kansas State goes to No. 15 Nebraska, which has lost four straight--two last weekend at Texas A&M to end the series, plus mid-week losses at top-ranked Rice and at Sam Houston State. The 10-3 defeat against SHSU bothered coach Mike Anderson the most.

"It is one of the most disappointing losses because of our effort," Anderson said. "It was extremely disappointing, regardless of who we were playing.

"The most disappointing part for me was that they pulled away and took command. We didn't respond offensively. We didn't respond pitching wise and didn't respond defensively." That pretty much covers it.

• Two pretty good series in the Atlantic Coast Conference this weekend, as No. 13 Wake Forest visits North Carolina, while No. 4 Florida State goes to Kinston, N.C., to play North Carolina State. Second-ranked Georgia Tech plays host to struggling Maryland in its league opener, while Duke visits Virginia. No. 17 Clemson plays host to Maine in non-league action.

The Wolfpack is a surprising 19-4 and will be playing at its sixth home field this weekend when it heads to Kinston's Grainger Stadium. The Seminoles' only previous road trip for a series was at Stanford, but they won that series. NCSU may not have the Cardinal's lineup, but its pitching compares well, especially among its starters.

The Pack is doing it without a pitching coach, as former Cal State Northridge coach Bill Kernan left the program early in the season. Head coach Elliott Avent has taken over some of the duties, but he has had some help.

"I'm very lucky in that two of our injured pitchers, Danny Caldwell and Derek McKee, have been great at working with our guys and staying involved with the program even though they are hurt," Avent said. "And having a junior catcher like Colt Morton, we couldn't be doing this without him. He's really working hard to keep our pitchers successful."

Righthander Vern Sterry, a transfer from Cypress (Calif.) JC, hasn't needed much schooling. Cypress coach Scott Pickler may be the best player-developer among JC coaches in the country, and Sterry has teamed with redshirt freshman Michael Rogers (5-1, 1.82 in the Cape Cod League last summer) to give the Pack a potent 1-2 punch atop the rotation.

The Demon Deacons have won 11 of 12 against the Tar Heels and have been carried lately by junior third baseman Jamie D'Antona. He's batting .456-7-40 through 19 games and has a 15-7 walk-strikeout ratio after clubbing two more homers in a Wednesday win at High Point. But the Deacs have put up a lot of big offensive numbers on teams like High Point and will be challenged by UNC's deep bullpen and top two starters, Gary Bakker and Daniel Moore.

Georgia Tech, coming off a Tuesday loss at home to No. 11 Auburn, is hitting just .277 but has 30 homers to far to help it average more than seven runs per game.

"We have to keep working at it," coach Danny Hall said. "I know that we are a much better offensive team than we have shown. But I look at that as a positive, because we have too good of players and they work too hard for them not to be successful."

• The Southeastern Conference had an odd occurrence last weekend, as all six West Division teams won series against an East Division foe. That makes Mississippi State coach Ron Polk a little worried.

"It's scary," he said. "We've got some good wins, but we haven't really played anyone yet except for Vanderbilt, and that was a tough series last weekend. Tim Corbin has those guys really playing hard and playing well.

"Now we go to Arkansas, and that's going to be a real challenge considering they went to South Carolina and won that series."

The 12th-ranked Bulldogs visit the 22nd-ranked Razorbacks after splitting a pair of games at Memphis. As with most of Polk's teams, they can pitch with lefties Paul Maholm and Todd Nicholas, righty Alan Johnson and closer Jonathan Papelbon, who's off to a strong 4-0, 0.51 start with 24 K's in 17 2/3 innings.

But Mississippi State can hit a bit too, with freshman outfielder Joseph Hunter providing some power (four homers). Senior shortstop Matthew Maniscalco has been the catalyst with a .419-1-13 start and nine stolen bases while playing stellar defense.

"He makes the routine play better than anyone I've had in my 30-plus years as a coach and through seven tours with USA Baseball," Polk said. "His arm is accurate and the only question with him is size. He's not a big kid or a power guy, but he runs good--not great--and has put the bat on the ball consistently this year. That's a good sign for us."

That's the only matchup of ranked teams in the SEC, with the rest of the ranked teams all hitting the road. No. 11 Auburn travels to Kentucky, while No. 21 Alabama visits Florida; No. 16 LSU is at Georgia; Mississippi goes to Vanderbilt; and No. 14 South Carolina takes on Tennessee. The Vols dropped a midweek game to Purdue, with Boilermakers DH John Manuel--no relation, I think--providing the game-winning RBI. Gotta root for that guy.

• League play continues in Conference USA, where Southern Mississippi leads the league at 3-0. The Golden Eagles visit Louisville. The league's lone ranked club, No. 25 Tulane, plays host to Memphis, while Charlotte visits East Carolina; UAB goes to South Florida; Saint Louis plays host to Texas Christian; and disappointing Houston (8-12) visits Cincinnati.

• Loyola Marymount has won 14 of 17 and gets a chance to take that hot streak into West Coast Conference play now at San Francisco. Pepperdine plays host to Saint Mary's while Santa Clara visits Gonzaga and Portland goes to San Diego elsewhere in the WCC.

• The Sun Belt also has league play going on with Florida International going to Arkansas State; UL Lafayette at Western Kentucky; New Orleans at Arkansas State; and New Mexico State at Middle Tennessee State.

South Alabama plays host to Murray State as the Jaguars continue to recover from their disastrous 0-4 start. They've improved to 14-7 on the strength of a current eight-game winning streak, during which senior outfielder Ryan Mulhern has seven home runs, and have junior righthander Clark Girardeau back from an early-season elbow tweak.

Girardeau fanned eight in five two-hit innings against Temple last weekend and continues to work back into shape prior to the Jaguars' league slate, which begins next weekend at Arkansas State.

"Clark was devastating tonight," Kittrell said after the Temple game. "He threw the ball extremely well. He had a good fastball and slider."

• The Atlantic Sun's big matchup has Stetson playing host to Belmont. The Bears are off to a 7-2 league start and are tied with No. 24 Florida Atlantic for first place in the league, with the Hatters--winners of five straight and 10 of 12--third at 6-3. FAU plays at Jacksonville State, which is tied with the Hatters at 6-3.

Running down the rest of the Top 25:

• Top-ranked Rice goes outside of conference play in the WAC as it plays host to Liberty. The Owls got a pair of midweek wins, beating Nebraska on Tuesday behind 12 more strikeouts by sophomore righty Wade Townsend, who has been just filthy all season. Wednesday, Rice clinched the Silver Glove series with Houston with a 13-inning win that featured 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief by closer David Aardsma.

Elsewhere in the WAC, San Jose State visits Louisiana Tech and Nevada goes to Hawaii in league play. Fresno State plays host to Minnesota as the Golden Gophers finish their California tour.

• No. 5 Long Beach State has the weekend off, but sixth-ranked Cal State Fullerton plays host to Cal State Northridge.

CSUF's players probably can't wait to get back on the field as they deal with their first dose of adversity this season. The 18-5 Titans have now lost four of seven after a midweek loss to streaking Loyola Marymount by a 3-2 score Tuesday. Righthander Wes Littleton remains suspended; all that the Titans have let on is that there's no police blotter and that Littleton violated team rules.

• Tenth-ranked Richmond plays host to Temple to open Atlantic-10 play. The Spiders have won a pair of midweek games to run their home winning streak to 12. Their most likely challenger in the league, George Washington, is off to a 15-4 start and plays at Rhode Island as the league schedule begins in earnest.

• No. 18 Miami plays host to another Big East school this weekend, this time with Boston College coming to Mark Light Stadium. The Eagles have rebounded from an 0-4 start to improve to 8-7 and feature one of the nation's best sophomore classes.

Speaking of the Big East, No. 19 Notre Dame opens its league slate at Villanova. The other league series have Seton Hall at Pittsburgh and Connecticut at Georgetown.